ABOUT

Professor Isaac Adewole

President

Professor Isaac Adewole is currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He undertook a research fellowship in the Department of Medical Oncology at Charring Cross Hospital in London (1985-86). He was Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences & Dentistry (2000-2002), and Provost at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan from 2002-2006.
Professor Adewole is Principal Investigator of the Harvard PEPFAR (APIN Plus) programme at the University College Hospital, Ibadan and Chairman of the PMTCT National Task Team Subcommittee on anti-retrovirals. He is also the country’s Principal Investigator for ‘Operation Stop Cervical Cancer’ in Nigeria. Secretary-General of the Confederation of African Medical Associations and Societies (CAMAS) from 1997-2003. Professor Adewole holds memberships of many learned societies, including the Nigerian Medical Association, the Society of Gynaecology & Obstetrics of Nigeria, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), International AIDS Society (IAS), and the International Gynecological Cancer Society(IGCS) and the African Organisation for Research and Training In Cancer (AORTIC).
Professor Adewole’s research interests include evaluating strategies for promoting cervical cancer prevention in developing countries, a multi-country study on HPV in cervical cancer among African women. He has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and books on gynaecological oncology, abortion, HIV/AIDS and perinatal medicine. He is the Guttmacher Institute’s 2008 Bixby Leadership Fellow in Reproductive health and the current chair of the sub-Saharan African Cervical Cancer Working Group (CCWG).

President-Elect - Ahmed Elzawawy

President-elect

Professor Ahmed Elzawawy

Internationally and in Africa:

Council Member at Large and special representative for Egypt of AORTIC.

President of the International Campaign for Establishment and Development of Oncology Centers (ICEDOC) & ICEDOC’s Experts in Cancer Without Borders . A non governmental organisation , registered in Texas, USA. Co- President and Director of South and East Mediterranean College of Oncology (SEMCO).

Member on the Special panel, Advisory Board, International network for cancer treatment and research (INCTR) & Member of INCTR’s Breast Cancer Strategy Group.

Locally in Egypt :

•  Chairman & Professor of Clinical Oncology (Radiation and Medical Oncology) and Nuclear Medicine department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University Hospital, Ismailia, Egypt. I am a Professor of clinical oncology since 1992. Before that date I was Assistant Professor (1987), and Lecturer (1983-1987) in the same faculty of medicine, Suez Canal University. I therefore have more than 25 years experience in university education.

•  Chairman and senior consultant of Al Soliman Radiation Oncology Centre (ASROC) Al Soliman Hospital, Port Said, Egypt (since its foundation in 1993, till present).

•  Consultant and Supervisor of Cancer Chemotherapy Unit, Port Said General Hospital, Egypt. (Since 1983 till present).

I am also one of the six senior professors who are members of the Permanent Scientific Committee appointed by the Supreme council of Egyptian Universities and the decree of The of Minister of High Education in Egypt. This committee evaluates researchers, university teaching and clinical work of all candidates for the posts of professors and associate professors in Clinical Oncology, Surgical Oncology and related clinical disciplines in all the Egyptian Universities.

Professor Serigne Magueye Gueye

Immediate Past President

Serigne Gueye, MD, FWACS – is a Professor of Urology at University Cheikh Anta DIOP in Dakar, Senegal and Chair and consultant Urologist – Andrologist at Grand Yoff General Hospital .

Dr Gueye graduated from University Cheikh Anta DIOP in 1985 where he earned a Medical degree and completed his surgical and urology training at University of Dakar teaching hospitals. He joined University of Dakar School of Medicine as faculty member in January 1988.
He completed in Bordeaux and Paris, France fellowships in Urologic oncology and pediatric urology (1989-1992).

Dr Gueye became Associate Professor of Surgery/Urology in 1996 and was appointed Full Professor of Urology in 2000. Thereafter, he moved to Grand Yoff General Hospital in Dakar as chairman of the newly opened Department of Urology.
He is former Fulbright senior scholar at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA. He is an expert in Medical Pedagogy for the CIDMEF (International Conference of Deans of Francophone Medical Schools.

His main research activities are in the field of uro-genital malignancies especially on prostate cancer in men of African descent and bladder cancer. He is Principal Investigator of an NIH/NCI funded project on molecular epidemiology of prostate cancer in Africans. In Collaboration of Dr Timothy Rebbeck at the CCEB University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he as set up research facilities in Dakar under a program named “PROGRES” (Prostate Genetic Research Senegal). He is broadly involved in a variety of clinical, scientific and social endeavors. He has extensive community commitment serving on many national, regional and international academic society committees. Dr Gueye is member of the Council of the West African College of Surgeons and has been elected as member of the Board of chairmen of the SIU since 2007.
He is currently President of African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) and the Pan African Association of Urological Surgeons (PAUSA). Dr Gueye has published numerous peer-review articles in International journals.
He served as field surgeon during the Rwandese genocide under the banner of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) and has been awarded the United Nations Medal for Peace in Rwanda.  Dr Gueye holds many national and international medals in Senegal, in France and Chad Republic.  Serigne Gueye’s professional life is dedicated to patient care, research and training health care workers especially in Africa.

Secretary Treasurer

Professor Lynette Denny

Lynette Denny is a gynaecological oncologist working as a principal specialist and Head of Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Groote Schuur Hospital/University of Cape Town. Her work includes clinical service, teaching and training and research. Her two main research interests have centred around prevention of cervical cancer in low resource settings and violence against women.

In the former, she has collaborated with researchers from Columbia University in New York in three large community-based cervical cancer screening projects located in informal housing settlements outside Cape Town since 1996. This work has been funded by Engender Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To date over 18 000 indigent women have been screened in this project, which has just completed a randomised trial of screening and treatment using visual inspection and HPV DNA testing as primary screening tests.
She is currently conducting a randomised trial of the safety and immunogenicity of the bivalent HPV vaccine in HIV Positive women.

She was appointed Secretary Treasurer of AORTIC in 2003 and has held this position to date. She has organised two very successful conferences and is busy organising the third AORTIC international conference and has been instrumental in building up the infrastructure and capacity of the organisation.

Professor Denny has received a number of awards, including being the first recipient of the Shoprite Checkers/SABC 2 Woman of the Year award for Science and Technology in 2003. She has published in international peer reviewed journals and is a member of a number of international committees in her field of gynaecological oncology

Vice-President: Southern Africa

Dr Anna Nyakabau

Dr Anna Mary Nyakabau completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 1985 and graduated with honors in pathology, biochemistry, and obstetrics and gynecology. She was also awarded the Harrison Wulf Prize in Obstetrics and Gynecology in that same year. She then studied for a Master of Medicine (M Med) in Radiotherapy and Oncology at Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine and   graduated with an honors degree in 1993. 

From 2004 to 2006 she earned a diploma in Palliative Medicine with the University of Cape Town, South Africa. In November 2011, Dr. Nyakabau completed a Masters in Public Health in 2011, from the University of Zimbabwe, College of Health Sciences and she again graduated with a merit.

Currently she is employed by the Ministry of Health as a consultant radiotherapist and oncologist in the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare. Alongside these duties, she is a part-time private oncologist who also gives regular, public presentations and talks regarding cancer prevention, treatment and control. Dr. Nyakabau is a board member of various organizations in Zimbabwe including Island Hospice, Cancer Association, National Cancer Registry and Brain Tumor Association. She is also the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe HPV Vaccine Advocacy Team and Prevention and Control of Cancer in Zimbabwe.

Internationally she is a board member of 4 A Woman (Madagascar) and a member of the sub-Saharan Africa cervical cancer Advisory committee. Dr Nyakabau’s vision is to see collaboration in Cancer Prevention and control in Southern Africa and the rest of Africa.

Vice-President: Central Africa

Professor Jean-Marie Kabongo Mpolesha

Professor Jean-Marie Kabongo Mpolesha was born in Mikalayi, Democratic Republic of Congo. He received his MD Diploma from the University of Zaire in 1976, Diploma in Pathology from the University of Kinshasha in 1994 and a PhD also from the University of Kinshasa in 2003.

He has published many articles in peer-reviewed journals and is a member of the Académie Internationale de Pathologie (AIP), Division Française et Division d’Afrique Francophone (DAF); Association Panafricaine des Pathologistes and the Association des Professeurs de l’Université de Kinshasa APUKIN).

 

Vice-President: North Africa

Dr Kamal Eldein Hamed Mohamed

Kamal Eldein Hamed Mohamed, Dr FFRRCSI ( Dublin ),DMRT (Edinburgh), DSN( Vienna ).

Associate Professor of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum , SUDAN .

Senior Consultant of Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, the Radiation and Isotopes Centre of Khartoum , RICK.

Academic Secretary of the Postgraduate Board of Oncology at the Sudanese Medical Specialization Board.

Representative of Sudan in UNSCEAR IAEA.

Ex Nuclear Medicine IAEA Coordinator for Sudan .

Representative of Sudan in the Arab Association of Doctors Against Cancer, AMAAC.

Representative of Sudan in the European Arab School of Oncology Board, EASO.

Principal Investigator of the Sudan and European School of Oncology, ESO, Early Detection of Breast Cancer, Multicentre controlled Study.

Member of: ESMO, AORTIC, EORTIC, EASO, ESTRO & AMAAC

Vice-President: West Africa

Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai

Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai is the Chief Executive Officer of the Peace and Love Hospitals in Ghana (based in Accra and Kumasi); and the President of Breast Care International, a Non- Governmental Organization in Ghana. BCI is a subsidiary of the Peace and Love Hospitals; as a specialist surgeon and consultant in breast pathology, she works in her hospitals from Mondays through to Saturdays and on Sundays she heads the BCI team to outreach programs which they organize for various women groups in churches, communities, secondary and tertiary institutions, etc. At these programs, she gives lectures to the women and the people gathered, clinically screen them for various breast diseases, especially breast cancer, and all suspicious cases are referred to the hospitals.
She graduated from the Medical School in 1989; entered into the Residency program as a Resident Surgeon at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in 1994; she received the Best worker award for the Department in 1995.
In 2001, she specialized in General Surgery at the Moscow Medical Academy, followed by a PhD, and became the first Ghanaian Female General surgeon. She majored in Breast Cancer management, Breast Pathology, ultrasonography and Oncology. She is a member of Ghana Medical Association, Patron of the Ghana Association of Female Medical and Dental Practitioners, Member of the Surgical Society of Moscow, Russia; Member of the Board of Directors of the Mpraeso Senior High School. Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai is also the founder of Wiafe Scholarship Foundation, founded in honor of her late mother Madam Juliana Wiafe because of the importance of education to her.
Dr. Wiafe received an International award in Geneva, Switzerland, in September 2010 - the International Gold Star for leadership in quality. In April 2011, she received the International award for Leadership in the Platinum Category, in Paris, France. She is the Race Chair for the first ever Susan G Komen Ghana Race for the cure event held on 25th May 2011, where more than 10,000 people, including the Vice President of Ghana participated.
In July 2011, Dr. Wiafe signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Breast Care International/Peace and Love Hospitals and Loma Linda University of California in the area of collaborative research in Breast Cancer and creation of the first cancer registry in Ghana, among other things.

Vice-President: East Africa

Professor Nicholas Othieno Abinya

Nicholas Anthony Othieno-Abinya is Associate Professor of Medicine, head of section of Haematology/Oncology, Department of Clinical Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Nairobi.  He was previously head of oncology at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi.
He has a masters degree in internal medicine, trained in medical oncology at the Royal London Hospital, and is a Fellorw of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
He has written a text book on ‘Drug Treatment of Neoplastic Disorders of the Haematopoietic and Lymphoreticular System’, and chapters in three books. His research interests are in Haematologic neoplasms and breast cancer, and also takes keen interest in molecular oncology.
Dr. Othieno-Abinya was founder and first chairman of Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology (KESHO). He is also a member of ESMO , and ASCO , of which he is a member of the International Affairs Committe;,  and AORTIC.  He is also a member of the Scientific Committee of African Journal of Cancer, and Chairman of Cancer Research and Communications Organizatoin, Nairobi, Kenya.

Vice-President: North America

Professor Folakemi Odedina

Prof. Folakemi T. Odedina, PhD is Professor of Pharmacy, Director of the Prostate Disease Center Outreach Program, and Associate Director of Health Disparities for Shands Cancer Center at the University of Florida. Her research program focuses on understanding and developing interventions to reduce the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer among Black men globally. Through her research program, she has facilitated global collaborations among scientists, clinicians, survivors and advocates to better understand the etiology of prostate cancer. Her accomplishments include: the Biennial conference on the Science of Global Prostate Cancer Disparities; U.S. Fulbright Scholar Award to promote cancer awareness in Africa (2006/2007); and a National Cancer Institute grant to support cancer advocacy in Africa. The later provided travel awards to about 20 African cancer advocates to participate in the 1st AORTIC Cancer Advocacy workshop this year. Prof. Odedina’s landmark research has been recognized by many organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research and the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program. Her work has also been featured in multiple medical news including the Medscape Medical News and Oncology News. Prof. Odedina founded and leads the Florida Prostate Cancer Disparity Group and the Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium. She also serves on several international cancer committees.

Nurse Representative

Dr Karima Elshamy

Dr. Karima Elshamy has a doctorate degree in nursing science from Cairo University (D.N.Sc). Dr. Karima Elshamy is a Lecturer of Adult Nursing – Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University, Egypt and has more than ten years in teaching experience for under and postgraduate. She represent nursing in North Africa in AORTIC. Reviewer of accreditation program, Quality and accreditation unit, Ministry of health, Egypt and shared in reviewing more than 200 health agencies for accreditation .She is a Peer reviewer in health agencies as well as universities, Trainer in FLDP project in Mansoura University, Egypt. She is a founder and executive director of Breast Cancer Awareness and Early Detection. She is a founder and executive director of the Egyptian Society for Promotion of Women’s Health (ESPWH).She is expert and consultant of infection control and has been asked to assess and investigate healthcare associated infections in governmental and non-governmental organizations, and to design infection control protocols and programs to different healthcare setting.

Dr. Karima Elshamy is a trainer in to all nursing staff in both governmental and non-governmental sectors, and her focus work is the prevention and control of diseases through awareness and early detection programs especially for cancer, cardiac, hypertension and occupational diseases and also infection control, quality and accreditation. Prior to her academic work, she has worked as a manager of cardiothoracic intensive care unites Cairo University, Egypt for more than 10 years and has extensive experience in open heart and chest surgeries.

Council Member at Large

Ms Barrie Adedeji

Barrie Adedeji is a Certified Public Accountant in private practice and Financial Controller/Treasurer of AORTIC in New York. She is also Executive Director of ENHICA International, Inc. and has developed and organized workshops and seminars that address health and environmental issues in Africa and the Caribbean. She was a member of the steering committee that organized the AORTIC conference in Accra, Ghana in 2003, and is a member of the fund raising committee for AORTIC in the United States. Barrie sits on the board of several health-related institutions and acts as mentor/advisor to professional women’s groups in the international community. She has also served on the Budget and Finance Committee of New York’s Riverside Church.

Ms. Adedeji attended New York University and completed her graduate work in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management with concentrations in Sustainable Development and Conflict Transformation at The School for International Training in Vermont.

Council Member at Large

Professor Olufunmilayo Olopade

Dr Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade graduated with distinction from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1980. She subsequently did her house job at the University College Hospital Ibadan after which she proceeded to the Nigerian Navy Hospital, Lagos for her National Youth Service Corps. She left for the United States of American soon thereafter and studied Internal Medicine at the famous Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois where she was named Chief Resident in 1986. Upon completion of her Hematology/Oncology Fellowship training at the University of Chicago, she was appointed to the faculty in 1991 in recognition of her brilliance and talent. In 1992, she was appointed the Director of the Cancer Risk Clinic, and in 1998, she was appointed Director of the Fellowship Program in the Section of Hematology/Oncology of the same institution. Dr Olopade is now the Director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics in the Department of Medicine and holds many other faculty, hospital, and administrative posts.

Dr Olopade received the “Phenomenal Woman Award” in recognition of her work within the African American community. She received the Heroes in Health care award from the Access Community Network in 2005. Also, as recently as September 2005, Dr Olopade was awarded the prestigious McArthur Fellows program.

Council Member at Large

Professor Sulma I Mohammed

Sulma Mohammed, DVM, MS, PhD.  Dr Mohammed earned her MS and PhD degrees from Cornell and Purdue University, USA, respectively. She is a dual citizen of Sudan and United States of America. Dr. Mohammed is Assistant Professor of Cancer Biology, Director of Purdue University Cancer Center Drug Discovery Shared Resource, and Adjunct Professor of Medical Microbiology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Mohammed was a Walther Cancer Institute fellow and American association for Cancer Research-Cancer Research Foundation of America- Prevention Research Fellow.

Dr. Mohammed has a well funded laboratory (1 million US Dollars) to conduct studies on breast and bladder cancer. One of her research projects focuses on identification of models to study ER-negative breast cancer development and progression in women, especially African-American and African women (the majority of African and African-American women develop ER-negative tumors at a young age). Up to now, no specific treatment regime is found to treat ER-negative tumors as their counterpart ER-positive tumors.

In addition, Dr. Mohammed is working to identify biomarkers for early detection of breast cancer metastasis using proteomic-based approaches. Lately, she developed an interest in cervical cancer in collaboration with oncologists from Nigeria and Emory University, US. Dr. Mohammed has received a number of awards, including African American Institute award, African women leaders in science award, and many American Association for Cancer Research travel awards. She has published her research findings in reputable journals that include Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer Therapeutic journals. She is a member of the editorial board of the Cancer Chemoprevention journal.

Council Member at Large

Dr Timothy R. Rebbeck

Timothy R. Rebbeck, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology, CCEB Senior Scholar, Director of the Center for Genetics and Complex Traits, Director of the Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Epidemiology, and Associate Director for Population Science in the Abramson Cancer Center. His research focuses on the genetic and molecular epidemiology of cancer. He has directed multiple molecular epidemiologic studies to identify and characterize genes that are candidates for involvement in cancer etiology, and to describe the relationship of allelic variation of these genes with biochemical or physiological traits, cancer occurrences, and cancer outcomes. These studies have been undertaken to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between genetic, demographic, biochemical, environmental, and physiological risk factors and cancer in human populations. Dr. Rebbeck’s research uses a multidisciplinary approach that combines methods from epidemiology, statistics, molecular biology, and classical genetics.

Council Member at Large

Dr Paul Ndom

Dr Ndom is a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (FMSB) and is Head of the Medical Oncology Service of Yaounde General Hospital. He is the Director of INCTR in Cameroon ( http://www.inctr.org ) and Permanent Secretary of the EURO-AFRICAN Congress of Oncology. He is also the assistant Permanent Secretary of the National Cancer Control Committee in Cameroon and the founding President of a Non-governmental Organisation called Chemotherapy Solidarity (SOCHIMIO) ( www. Sochimio.org)

Dr Ndom is a former President of AORTIC.

 

Council Member at Large

Dr Marian Johnson-Thompson

Marian Johnson-Thompson, PhD, is Professor Emerita of Biology and Environmental Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. She is also Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of NC-Chapel Hill and has had faculty appointments at Howard University and Georgetown University; and she retired in 2008, after 16 year, as Director of Education and Biomedical Research Development, NIEHS, NIH. Her relevant research and policy experiences have been in breast cancer and she’s served on the Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s African American Advisory Committee, the Intercultural Cancer Council; and currently, she is on the Board of Directors of the NC Triangle Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

A member of several local, national and international committees and advisory boards that address her professional interests, Dr. Johnson-Thompson, is frequently invited to address issues related to science equity, health disparities and environmental justice, human subjects protection and emerging infectious agents. She’s served as a reviewer/consultant for the NIH, NSF, EPA, Homeland Security and NASA. Her active memberships include the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society for Cell Biology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Society of Sigma Xi.

Dr. Johnson-Thompson’s awards and honors are many and include the 1999 ONI Award from the International Congress of Black Women, several NIEHS and NIH Director’s Awards, and the 2003 Thurgood Marshall Alumni Award.  She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science.  In 2009 she received the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from Howard University.

Dr. Johnson-Thompson received the BS and MS degrees in microbiology from Howard University and the PhD in molecular virology from Georgetown University Medical School. She resides in Durham, NC, USA.

Council Member at Large

Dr Doris Browne

Dr Doris Browne is also President and CEO, Browne and Associates, Inc., a health consultancy company, which manages diversified health programs that address the health status and disparities of national and international populations through the use of health information and communication technologies to enhance positive health outcomes. Browne and Associates’ activities are primarily focused in the areas of breast and prostate cancers, women ’ s health, disaster management, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases with emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. Her international work has focused on breast cancer and HIV/AIDs. Dr. Browne recently retired (2009) from the National Cancer Institute where she managed the breast cancer portfolio for the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group in the Division of Cancer Prevention. Her primary focus was centered on the development of chemoprevention agents for breast cancer and the identification of surrogate endpoint biomarkers. She is also a Woodrow Wilson Public Policy Scholar (2007) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where her research focused on estrogen receptor negative breast cancer health disparities. Dr Browne is a retired Colonel of the US Army Medical Corps and former Director, Medical Research and Development, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command where she was responsible for the biomedical research programs for the Army and the Department of Defense (DoD). Previously, Colonel Browne was Director, Prevention and Standards, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs with responsibility for analysis, review, and formulation of policies, guidelines and programs on women ’ s health issues, oversight for health promotion and disease prevention, and TRICARE preventive benefits. She served as Chairperson, DoD Breast Cancer Prevention, Education, and Diagnosis Initiative and DoD’s representatives to the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer.

Dr. Browne graduated from Tougaloo College (BS), University of California at Los Angeles (MPH), and Georgetown University (M.D.) and completed an internship, residency, and fellowship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center . She achieved national and international recognition as an expert in the medical management of radiation casualties, women’s health, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDs and is well published including textbooks, book chapters, and articles. She is a former Chair of the Cancer Research Committee of the National Medical Association and is its representative to the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) Board of Sponsors. Dr. Browne served as Chair of the Government Liaison Committee for the American Medical Women’s Association and a member of the Governing Board of the Intercultural Cancer Council. She has served as a reviewer for both public and private grant applications. She was Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Tougaloo College, member of numerous professional societies and organizations including the National Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology, African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer, American College of Physician, American College of Physician Executive, Leadership Washington, Trinity Episcopal Church, and other organizations. She is the 2007 recipient of the Minorities in Research Sciences’ award for Professional Achievement. She is the mother of one daughter, Nicole, son-in-law, Kevin, and grandmother of Payton Arianna.

Council Member at Large

Dr Bakary Sylla

Dr Sylla has a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec , Canada ) and is currently a scientist in the Infections & Cancer Biology Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organisation (IARC/WHO), France.

Postdoctoral Training:

1983-86 : Post-Doctoral training on retrovirus-induced cancer in the Laboratory of Pr Howard M. Temin, Nobel Prize of Medicine and Physiology, 1975, for the discovery of reverse transcriptase, a replicating enzyme of retroviruses, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison WI 53706, USA

Professional Positions:

1986-Present Scientist, Infections and Cancer Biology Group

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)

•  Visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School , Boston , MA , USA , in the Laboratory of Pr   Elliott   Kieff (Channing Laboratory, BWH, Harvard Medical School )

Honors:

Member of American Society of Microbiology, USA

1987: International Union Against Cancer Research Fellowship

1983 - 1986: National Cancer Institute of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship

1983 - 1984: Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec Fellowship (declined)

2006: Award for Scientific Research from the University of Conakry
(Guinea )

Major Research Interests:

•  Role of infectious agents (mainly HPV, HBV, and EBV) in the etiology of human cancer, as well as the cellular signaling pathways that are targeted, combining basic molecular and cellular biology with epidemiological studies.

•  Role and functions of human genes predisposing to cancer, and their interaction with environmental factors during human carcinogenesis.

Major Scientific achievements and contributions:

•  Identification and characterization of the viral genome integration site in mouse cells transformed by a temperature sensitive mutant (ts) of polyoma virus

•  Elucidation of the mechanisms of activation of the proto-oncogene c- rel in v- rel during the transduction in the transforming retrovirus REV-T

•  Mapping and cloning the susceptibility gene of the X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome (XLP), a rare immunodeficiency syndrome with the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) susceptibility

•  Role of the oncoprotein LMP1-mediated NF-?B activation in EBV-induced B-cell immortalization

•  Characterization of the tumour suppressive activities of the adaptor protein Dok1 in human cancers

•  Mechanisms of cutaneous HPV-induced keratinocyte immortalization.

Other related contributions: Cancer in Africa

Setting up of cancer research and prevention programs in Africa, particularly in Guinea :

•  Training African scientists, organizing seminars and courses in many African countries
•  Establishing the first Cancer Registry in Guinea
•  Projects on aflatoxin and liver cancer in Guinea
•  Studies on the prevalence of high risk cutaneous HPV in Guinea
•  Visual inspection approach to detect and treat precancerous lesions of the cervix in Guinea
•  Implementation of the Regional African Francophone Centre for the Detection and Treatment of Gynecological Cancers.

Training of several graduate students for DEA, M.Sc., and PhD, and supervision of several trainees .

Awards for External Research Grants from various French institutions, including: Ligue contre le Cancer, Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer, Canceropôle CLARA, Lyon, INCa.

Administrative duties:

•  Member of the IARC Occupational Health and Safety Committee
•  Member of IARC Ethical Committee
•  Chairman of IARC Seminar Committee
•  Adviser on IARC epidemiological studies in Africa (Cancer Registries, cervix cancer screening)
•  Coordinator of “Infections and Cancer” at the Cancéropôle Lyon Auvergne Rhône-Alpes (CLARA), France
•  Member of the AORTIC Scientific Committee.

Invited speaker in many scientific meetings with several abstracts for communication.

Author or co-author of 50 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Council Member at Large

Dr Twalib Ngoma

Dr Twalib A. Ngoma is the Executive Director of the Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es salaam, Tanzania. In this position he supervises the day-to-day running of the Institute and advises the Ministry of Health in Tanzania on Cancer Control Policies. He is also the head of the Tanzania office of the International Network for Cancer Treatment.

Honorary Member

Dr James Holland

Dr James F. Holland met with Dr Victor Anomah Ngu, an old friend, then Dean of the Ibadan School of Medicine,  Dr Christopher Williams, Oncologist at Ibadan, a former student of Dr Holland"s, and the late Dr Tori Solanke, Professor of Surgery at Ibadan at the International Cancer Congress in Seattle in 1984. Out of a pleasant reunion sprang the idea for AORTIC.

Chris Williams traveled extensively in Africa to recruit physicians interested in cancer. The first meeting in Lome, Togo, was a great success. Dr Jan Stjernsward, Chief of the WHO Cancer Program attended and WHO helped with expenses. The remainder of the history of AORTIC is told elsewhere, but the effort to help African cancer patients and doctors gain access to the world’s resources, intellectual and material, has been a driving force from the start.

Dr Holland attended Princeton University and Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. He worked at the National Cancer Institute and at Roswell Park Cancer Institute before joining the faculty of Mount Sinai School of Medicine as Director of the Cancer Center in 1973, where he still works. He was a founder and Chairman of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, and has been elected to the Presidency of the American Association for Cancer Research and of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The text Holland -Frei Cancer Medicine is in its 6th Edition.

Dr James Holland is married to Dr Jimmie Holland. They have six children and six grandchildren.

Honorary Member

Professor Seth Ayettey

Seth Ayettey is a Professor of Anatomy with a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a MBChB degree from the University of Ghana. His research interest lies in the study of the ultrastructure of vertebrate cardiac muscles with special reference to the transverse tubular system, innervation, cell junctions and distribution of cytoplasmic organelles. The Primary aim of these studies is to determine morphometric differences in cardiac cells of mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrate species and the possible relationship of these to design and function of the cardiac myocyte.

Professor Ayettey is a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and member of the Board of Directors of World Vision and of the Executive Committee of that Board, Chairman of the Prison Council in Ghana and Honorary Member of AORTIC Africa.

Honorary Member

Dr Christopher Williams

Christopher Williams, MD, FRCPC, FWACP, DABIM, is a dual citizen of Nigeria and Canada and had his bas ic medical education at the University of Munich, Germany. He obtained his postgraduate medical training at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada where he trained in Internal Medicine, followed by training in Clinical Haematology at the McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and in Medical Oncology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY, USA. He then returned to Nigeria to work at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria and was on the faculty of the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan from 1978 to 1986. During this period, he served the institution as the Foundation Subdean of the Faculty of Basic Science and Pharmacy. It was during this period that he teamed up with two senior African colleagues, Dr. Victor Ngu of the Cameroon, and Dr. Toriola Solanke of Nigeria, and his American mentor, James F. Holland, to found the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), serving the organization as its Founding Secretary-General. In 2000 he was involved in the process of reactivating the then moribund AORTIC, thereby helping to create AORTIC International, which has recently succeeded in reactivating the Africa-based organization.

Dr. Williams, who has practiced medicine in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, has published about 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, abstracts in international conference proceedings and chapters in books. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the book “Breast Cancer in Women of African Descent”, which is about to be published by Spinger. He is a pioneer researcher in clinical retrovirology in Africa and was the first biomedical researcher to alert Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, to the earliest epidemiological data of HIV/AIDS. His work in Nigeria also encompasses the earliest attempt to establish Medical Oncology as a discipline in a major Sub-Saharan Hospital.