Society Updates

22/04/2019

New SIOP Europe President 


We are very pleased to announce that Professor Pamela Kearns has taken the Presidency of SIOP Europe for the years 2019-2021.  Pamela Kearns succeeds Professor Martin Schrappe, who has been President for the past three years and has served on the board since 2009.  As a SIOP Europe board member for the past 6 years, Pam has a solid understanding of our organisation, mission and strategy. The SIOP Europe board and staff thanked Martin Schrappe for his dedication as President over the past years.  SIOP Europe made tremendous strides under Martin’s leadership.  Amongst his significant accomplishment is navigating the organisation to explore and launch a key flagship event: the first SIOP Europe Annual Meeting, which will take place on 20-24 May 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic. Martin is passionate about the SIOP Europe Annual Meeting and will carry on championing the necessity of bringing together all the diverse stakeholders together once a year to exchange, learn from each other and network.  

We therefore look forward to building on this and more as we enter the next chapter. Samira Essiaf, SIOP Europe CEO said: “We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Martin Schrappe for his dedicated service, insights, and contribution and we are looking forward to working with Pam Kearns in her role as President of SIOP Europe.” Read the President's Message here.

 

New SIOP Europe Board Members

Joining the SIOP Europe board are Tomasz Szczepański, Carmelo Rizzari, Andishe Attarbaschi and Reineke Schoot.  We are very pleased to welcome all four to the SIOP Europe board.

Tomasz Szczepański is an Independent Scientist at Medical University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland) and since 2009 the Head of the Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology in Zabrze.  He is also full professor at Medical University of Silesia, serves as Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs, member of the Board of the Polish Paediatric Association and the President of the Polish Society of Paediatric Oncology and Haematology.

Carmelo Rizzari has been involved in the field of paediatric leukaemias with a special interest for both traditional and innovative chemotherapy agents.  He is currently running the Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Unit in Monza (within the frame of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy), which is one of the largest centres for the diagnosis and treatment of haematological malignancies in Italy.

Andishe Attarbaschi dedicated 20 years career as a physician, scientist and ‘teacher’ to paediatric haemato-oncology, especially leukaemia and lymphoma.  As Associate Professor of paediatrics/adolescent medicine, with specialisation in paediatric haemato-oncology at the Medical University of Vienna.  He is responsible for training both residents and students during their first clinical year at the St. Anna Children’s Hospital in Vienna.

Reineke Schoot is currently a clinical fellow and Postdoctoral researcher at Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology.  She is chair of the European Young SIOPE Group and prior to that, as chair of SIOP YI-NET, she was involved with the development of several projects such as the SIOP educational day, SIOP mentorship program and collaborative event. These new board members fill vacancies and replace board members who have served on the SIOP Europe’s board for many years. 

Also, a special note of thanks and appreciation to all our board members (new, current and past) for their dedication to the children and young people we serve.  Given the impressive track records and diverse backgrounds of our board members, we are confident of their leadership and impact. Pam Kearns said: “SIOP Europe is founded on a strong ethos of collaboration and all of our Board members bring their individual expertise, talent and energy to the table.  We feel fortunate to have their knowledge and leadership collectively striving for a brighter future for children and young people with cancer.”

 

Young SIOPE Group

A new group within SIOP Europe has been formed: Young SIOPE.  This group was created in recognition of the need to support the future of Europe’s healthcare and future paediatric oncologists. The initial aims of the group are to develop a platform for collaboration with the European Clinical Trial Groups, to facilitate active participation in the SIOP Europe Annual Meeting and to broaden members’ networks. Young SIOPE will officially be launched at the SIOP Europe Annual Meeting and the group has organised several sessions as well as a social event.