Anne Laprie (MD, PhD, Full Professor), Chair of the Radiation Oncology Working Group
Institut Claudius Regaud & Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III - France
Anne Laprie , is a radiation oncologist and Professor of Oncology.
Her clinical activity is fully dedicated to pediatric and AYA radiation oncolog at Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse-Oncopole (IUCT-O). She leads research at INSERM Toulouse neuroimaging Center (ToNIC), on pediatric and AYA brain tumors using metabolic and molecular imaging as well as ballistics for the optimization of radiotherapy and neurocognition. She drives the national radiomics Ependymomics project to define prognostic and predictive markers of relapse and toxicity for pediatric ependymoma and the IPANEMA national prospective trial to improve the study and prevention of neurocognitive effects in all brain tumor types.
She is co-author of more than 110 peer reviewed scientific papers and several book chapters.
She is vice-president of the French Group of Pediatric Radiation Oncology, member of the scientific committee of the French Society of Children's Cancer (SFCE), vice-chair of the SIOPEN RT committee, treasurer of PROS and has a strong interest in teaching pediatric radiotherapy at national and international level as teacher for the ESTRO/PROS Pediatric Radiation Oncology Course.
Her ambition is to contribute to shape the future of clinical, teaching and research of European pediatric radiation oncology in an inclusive and multidisciplinary setting.
Yasmin Lassen, Steering Committee Member (Elected Chair)
Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
In 2002, Yasmin Lassen finished her specialization in Radiation Oncology. She has worked in several radiotherapy departments in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark. Since 2018 she is employed at the Danish Center for Particle Therapy at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. For the last 12 years, she has worked with great enthusiasm in pediatric radiation oncology. Her main interests are late effects and pediatric brain tumors. Recent projects, have the focus on the development of neurovascular and neurocognitive side effects after pediatric radiotherapy as well as brain stem toxicity and image changes after proton therapy. She is also very interested in projects about communication with children and their families about radiation treatment, which she thinks is a topic that needs to be more studied. Education is another important aspect of her career. She has organized multiple workshops about pediatric radiation oncology in the frame of the Nordic/Baltic Pediatric Oncology Society (NOPHO). She has also been involved in the establishment of a mandatory course in radiation oncology for the residents in pediatric oncology and it will have a first pilot course this year. She thinks that education in radiation oncology is not only important for us but also for the other specialties in our multidisciplinary team. She is also the educational chair for Europe in the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society (PROS). International collaborations in pediatric radiation oncology are very important in our rapidly developing field. She is an active member of SIOPE, where she participates in the Radiotherapy Working Group, the Brain Tumour Group and the radiotherapy quality assurance QUARTET project.
Andrada Turcas, Steering Committee Member
Oncology Institute Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Andrada is a radiation oncologist at the Oncology Institute in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and a collaborating assistant professor in the Radiotherapy Department of "Iuliu HaĊ£ieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy. With a PhD in neuro-oncology, her clinical and research focus includes pediatric cancers and adult brain tumors. As a former research fellow at the EORTC in Brussels, she contributed to SIOP Europe's QUARTET project on quality assurance in pediatric radiotherapy trials.
She is an active member of several international groups, including EANO Youngsters, the ESTRO CNS Focus Group, and EORTC-YECI-ROSC steering committee. Passionate about cross-border collaboration, she stands for harmonization of practice across Europe and advocates for a greater inclusion of Eastern European countries in international research and clinical trials to improve patient care.
Enrica Seravalli, Steering Committee Member
University Medical Center Utrecht
Enrica Seravalli is a medical physicist at the radiotherapy department of the University Medical Center Utrecht (NL) with a special focus on pediatrics and stereotactic image-guided radiotherapy. She is dedicated to clinical translational research, with the goal of enhancing and harmonizing the evidence base for pediatric radiotherapy across the European centers. Previously, she led a multi-center dosimetric comparison of different techniques for cranio-spinal-axis irradiation within the SIOPE brain tumor group (2018), and co-organized a workshop on optimal treatment plan selection based on evidence-based criteria (2019) . In 2021, together with colleagues from SIOPE and COG, she investigated the potential role of MR-guided adaptive radiotherapy in pediatrics. More recently, she mapped the practice of surface guided radiotherapy across the SIOPE affiliated centers. Also, she has played an active role in the guidelines of total body irradiation using conformal techniques. For the next-coming years, her goal is to advance standards in pediatric radiation oncology, particularly focusing on advancements in radiotherapy techniques and workflows. Her ultimate aspiration is to ensure every pediatric patient receives the most appropriate radiotherapy technique.
Monica Ramos Albiac, Steering Committee Member
Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona
Mónica Ramos Albiac (MD) was graduated in Medicine in 2003 at the University of Barcelona (Spain) and obtained the Radiation Oncologist specialization certificate in 2008 at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital. In 2009 she moved for 6 monthd to a Clinical Rersearch Fellowship in Royal Marsden Hospital, then focused on CNS and Lung tumors. Since 2010 she went back to Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona (Spain) and since then she is focused mainly in pediatric tumors, but also has adult practice in lung and brain metastases. She is a member of EpSSG (with an active participation specially in the management of RMS) and RSTG.
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital is the referral center for radiotherapy of pediatric patients in Catalunya, treating around 90 patients per year. Since october 2022 she is the chair of the Pediatric Tumor Group of SEOR (Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology). The main objectives of the group are helping to validate QUARTET in the Spanish centers, review clinical indications and to improve the access to protontherapy for pediatric patients who need it. She initiated several research projects for paediatric radiotherapy in the radiation oncology department, in an effort to improve the local research landscape and motivate peers to participate in research activities; for example we look into developing alternatives for repetitive anaesthesia, we look at the impact of radiotherapy on neurocognition, we collaborate with an AI company to develop tools for auto-contouring and planning for paediatric CSI, etc.
It has been a pleasure to be elected to participate in the Steering Committee of SIOP Europe Radiation Oncology Working Group in order to contribute to the incorporation of QA of radiation therapy treatments in clinical practice. The objective would be not only to continue doing it (as with QUARTET) in external beam radiotherapy with photons, but also including other techniques as brachytherapy, protons or stereotactic radiotherapy. She is interested in getting more involved in SIOP Europe’s Radiation Oncology Working Group, mostly motivated by the fact that in Spain we lack international collaborations, clinical trial participation and research initiatives in this field. Cross-border collaboration is key in such a small but important niche, and Eastern European countries should be included in the European activities and projects, in order to improve patient care and bridge the gap.
Raquel Davila Fajardo, Steering Committee Member
UMCU and PMC
Raquel Dávila Fajardo (MD, PhD) obtained her Medical Degree in 2000 at the University of Granada (Spain) and her Board Certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2006 at Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville (Spain). She was medical staff member at the University Hospital Virgen Arrixaca in Murcia (Spain) after what she moved to The Netherlands in 2010 and started working at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. During these years, the pediatric radiation oncology grew on her, and, by the time the Dutch pediatric oncology care was centralized at Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, she decided to join the project and, in November 2015, she started working at University Medical Center Utrecht and Princess Máxima Center. Her practice focuses on the treatment of tumors in childhood, brachytherapy and gynecology. She is responsible for the pediatric brachytherapy. She is an active member of the international collaborative groups around pediatric soft tissue- and bone sarcomas, kidney tumor and extracranial germ-cell tumor. The implementation of the most advanced radiotherapy techniques to the pediatric oncology field drives her daily work, with the intention of helping improve the outcomes and the quality of life of our young patients. She is involved in the following working groups/organizations:
ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology), PROS (Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society), EEC (European Ewing Consortium), EpSSG; current chair of the radiotherapy discipline panel, SIOPe radiation oncology working group, QUARTET Research Council, SIOP-Renal Tumour Study Group, NVRO (Dutch Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology).
Based on the experience acquired throughout the past years, I believe I can strongly contribute to the reinforcement of international collaboration between the different disciplines involved in the treatment of the pediatric cancer patients, defending the interests of the radiation oncology community at the highest SIOP Europe level , and, thereby, helping find the ways to take care of the radiotherapy inequities across SIOP Europe affiliated countries. My big research interest has been crystallized in numerous peer review publications in the past 18 years. Creating scientific evidence on existing gaps of knowledge on the role of radiotherapy for the treatment of pediatric malignancies is key to improve outcomes and reduce treatment-related toxicities in childhood cancer survivors. I would be honored if the current SIOP Europe Radiation Oncology Working Group Steering Committee and the working group members trusted me with the possibility of joining the board.
Stephanie Bolle, Steering Committee Member
Centro de Protonterapia Quironsalud, Spain
Stephanie Bolle graduated in Medicine in 1998 at Liege University (Belgium) and obtained her Board Certificate in Radiation Oncology in 2003. After a fellowship in 2006 at F. Burr Proton Therapy Center of Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), she moved to France in 2007 and worked in Radiation Oncology Department at Institut Curie in Paris until 2011 before to become referring radiation oncologist for paediatric patients at Gustave Roussy in Villejuif.
Since July 2024, she is head of department at Protontherapy Center Quironsalud in Madrid, first proton therapy facility opened in Spain in 2019 and treating patients from whole Spain.
She has a large experience in proton therapy working at Institut Curie – Proton therapy Center of Orsay over 15 years.
Her particular interest are brain and skull base tumours in children, adolescents and young adults being an active member in SIOPe Brain tumour group as chair of radiotherapy subgroup and past co-chair of ependymoma subgroup.
She is involved in international clinical trials as investigator in HARMONIC project (European-funded project aiming at better understanding the long-term effect of medical expose to ionising radiation in children treated with modern radiotherapy techniques) and co-investigator in BIOMEDE 2.0 study (personalized treatment in diffuse midline glioma).
She is participating in QUARTET project (quality insurance project in paediatric radiation therapy) as reviewer for HRNBL2 trial.
In 2023, she launched a group of European radiation oncologists and anaesthesiologists working together to set up recommendations regarding use of iterative anaesthesia in radiation therapy.
As member of ROWG, her goal is participating to diffusion of high-quality radiation therapy in paediatric cancer in aim to improve outcome and patient quality of life.
Sabina Vennarini, Steering Committee Member
IRCCS Fondazione Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy
Doctor Sabina Vennarini is currently in clinical practice, since November 2021, as Head of the Pediatric Radiotherapy Unit at the IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori Foundation in Milan, Italy and as Senior Consultant and Head of Pediatric Proton Therapy at the National Center of Oncologic Adroterapa in Pavia (CNAO), Italy. Prior to these job positions, she worked at the Protontherapy center in Trento, Italy, where she contributed to the development of proton therapy in Italy and treated the first pediatric patient in Italy in June 2015. Also in Trento, she was the physician in charge of the Safety and Clinical Performance of the 1.5T Philips Magnet of the Proton therapy Center in Trento, Italy; contributing to the development and implementation of clinical protocols for preparation for radiation treatment, focusing on MRI sequence acquisition for pediatric neuro-oncology patients. She obtained in November 2021 a highly specialized position in "Proton treatments for Pediatric sarcomas" at the Proton therapy Center in Trento, Italy where she conducted and coordinated several clinical studies and developed protontherapy not only in the pediatric field but also in the field of treatment or soft tissue sarcomas. Conducted clinical studies and developed the use of proton therapy in the treatment of all pediatric bone or soft tissue sarcomas. Her clinical scientific practice is accompanied by an equally vivid activity. In fact, Dr. Vennarini is a participant in multiple research groups in the international arena; since 2022 she has held the position of Chair and reviewer for QUARTET-EORTC of the SIOP protocol High Risk Medulloblastoma: An international prospective trial on clinically high-risk medulloblastoma in patients older than 3 years." For ependymomas, she is an expert and national reviewer for the treatment plans of the SIOPe-Ependymoma II Study. Also since 2022, she has been head of the Ependimoma group for the Brain Tumor Group-SIOPe. An active member of SIOPe and other international associations, Dr. Vennarini shows her versatility as a radiation oncologist and neuroradiologist.