Dr Mario Sideri, head of Preventive Gynaecology at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan (IEO), died tragically in a motorbike accident last Saturday.

Dr Sideri was a keen activist in the international fight against gynaecological cancers and was one of the first international doctors to realize the connection between Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and cervical cancer.

He was one of the first to encourage the diffusion of the test to identify women at risk in Italy and worked hard with local government and school boards to promote the vaccination of adolescent girls.

The doctors and nurses who worked with him at the IEO remember Mario as "a man dedicated to his job, a person of great intelligence, always attentive to the needs of patients and to the continuous improvement of the clinical and research. Recognized throughout the world for his contribution to the understanding, prevention and early diagnosis of gynaecologic cancers, he was a constant guide for us and for our patients."

Umberto Veronesi, the scientific director and founder of the IEO, remembers him as a friend and a great scholar of the viral origin of cancer.

He was much loved by his colleagues and his patients for his extraordinary intelligence and humanity.  "Sideri developed the principles and methods for early diagnosis and prevention of gynaecologic cancers and was committed to effectively changing the clinical history of cancer for women."

Dr Sideri was an author and interviewee for ecancer and will be greatly missed.