The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the leading pan-European organisation in medical oncology, announced that the President for the 2018-2019 period will be Josep Tabernero, Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, and Director of the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona, Spain.

“I would like to thank all members who voted for me by ensuring them that I will be worthy of their trust,” says Dr Tabernero.

“I have already been privileged to have served for ESMO for several years, affording me an in-depth and intricate understanding of the mechanisms and driving influences that have led our Society to become as great as it is today. Becoming president of such a thriving society makes me feel deeply honoured and reinforces my desire and commitment to best serve and further grow our ESMO.”

“Being president of a society like ESMO requires experience, drive and compassion, to work together with the Society’s leadership, the numerous committees as well as the staff, with one important objective in mind: to serve all members,” says Tabernero.

“I believe in turning current challenges that are impacting on our ability to more rapidly and precisely advance our specialty into opportunity and better outcomes for our Society, its members, our patients and all stakeholders in oncology. I will also seek to support actions aimed at making precision medicine more accessible across borders,” says Tabernero.

Tabernero is currently ESMO Treasurer and Chair of the ESMO Audit Committee; he has been Chair of the ESMO Fellowship & Award Committee, Scientific Chair of the ESMO 2012 Congress, member of the ESMO Press & Media Committee, member of the MOSES (Medical Oncology Status in Europe Survey) Task Force and member of the ESMO Faculty.

He is also Vice-Chair of the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.

He serves on various committees of highly-recognised, international oncology societies such as ASCO and AACR; Tabernero sits in the editorial board of numerous scientific journals and is associate or senior editor of some of the most important international publications, among others Annals of Oncology, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology.

He has contributed to almost 300 peer-reviewed, PubMed-listed scientific papers, has authored or co-authored over 400 between abstracts and book chapters mostly covering his main areas of interest which are gastrointestinal malignancies, early clinical research and drug development, with a special focus on the definition of the optimal biological dose of molecular targeted therapies by using pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic endpoints.

Tabernero is also a well-appreciated international lecturer having been invited to 150 lectures in 15 years.

The ESMO President is elected by ESMO Full and Junior members, who can choose between two candidates put forward by the ESMO Nominating Committee following the recommendations from the Society’s Leadership.

The current ESMO President is Rolf A. Stahel, Head of the Centre for Lung and Thoracic Oncology and Senior Staff Physician at the Clinic of Oncology, University Hospital of Zürich and Titular Professor of Medicine at the University of Zürich, Switzerland.

The President-Elect for 2016-2017 is Fortunato Ciardiello, Full Professor of Medical Oncology and Director of the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine and Surgery of the Second University of Naples, Italy.

“ESMO is an outstanding organisation, both in terms of connecting with its members and its commitment to serving medical oncology and integrated oncology across Europe and beyond,” says Tabernero.

“One thing is certain: ESMO could not be what it is today without the relentless dedication and work of those who have led the Society until now and whom I would like to thank for their leadership, their support and for the collaboration that I am looking forward to during my presidency, for the benefit of our members, for the good of our patients,” Tabernero says.

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Source: ESMO