Awards

Dr. Yang is involved in several large scale RCT’s for gastric cancer treatment. He is Korean PI of REGATTA study (Phase III study for the role of gastrectomy in stage IV gastric cancer with a single incurable factor; a collaborative study between JCOG and KGCA). He is investigators of CLASSIC trial, KLASS trials as well as the Korean PI of a phase II study for the role of neoadjuvant imatinib treatment in large gastric GIST (a collaborator study between Japan and Korea). He is the founding chairman of KLASS (Korean Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study Group).

His translational research interests are gastric carcinogenesis, DDS, familial gastric cancer, biomarkers and developing PDX model for gastric cancer. He is Chairman of Board of directors Korean Society of Surgical Oncology, executive council member of IGCA, Honorary fellow of American Surgical Association, Honorary member of European Surgical Association, Honorary International Fellow of Japanese Society of Endoscopic Surgery and a member of Korea Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST).

He is editor or editorial member of The Journal of Gastric Cancer (official journal of International Gastric Cancer Association), Asian Journal of Endoscopic Surgery, Annals of Surgery, World Journal of Surgery, Annals of Surgical Oncology. Dr. Yang gave over 230 invited lectures to international meetings and oversea institutes with occasional live demonstration of gastrectomy (open, laparoscopic or robotic).

Cornelis van de Velde’s research has had a major impact on the treatment of rectal, breast and gastric cancer patients. One of his distinguishing qualities is the design and execution of large multi-center and multinational studies, to translate research results into clinical practice. Specifically, his TME trial (rectal cancer) and D1/D2 trial (gastric cancer) have changed clinical practice of rectal and gastric cancer worldwide. Overall, his clinical studies have contributed to a significant decrease in both the recurrence rate (from 11 % to 5% in rectal cancer) and mortality rate (reduction of deaths from gastric cancer from 63% to 52%).

He also founded collaborative organizations: on a national level – the NABON (National Breast Cancer Group) and DCCG (Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group), and on an international level – the EURECCA (EUropean REgistry of Cancer CAre) and the EORTC Breast Cancer Group. Within these organizations, he has initiated ground-breaking studies that impact daily cancer care. Examples are the RAPIDO trial on neoadjuvant treatment in rectal cancer, the CRITICS study on adjuvant treatment in gastric cancer, and the TEAM trial, which has been one of the largest randomized controlled trials ever performed, with almost 10,000 breast cancer patients included.
Based on the trials performed by Van de Velde, there has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of solid tumors. Where in the past, most of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was administered after tumor resection (adjuvant therapy), there has been a switch to performing chemotherapy and radiotherapy preoperatively (neoadjuvant) to improve clinical outcomes and adapt surgery to organ preservation. For example, in gastric cancer, 5 year survival rates have improved by 10%. Furthermore, as a result of these neoadjuvant treatment strategies, it is currently being investigated if resection can be omitted in patients in whom a clinical complete response is observed (Watch & Wait strategy).

Cornelis van de Velde has dedicated his entire career to improving the care for cancer patients. Together with his group he has performed basic research with a focus on clinical applications. He has pioneered new treatment options for colorectal, gastric and breast cancer patients and performed large multinational studies to establish clinical benefit. His study on preoperative radiotherapy in rectal cancer patients has changed the standard of care, and so have also his gastric cancer studies. He has initiated large international studies with quality assurance, which have led to standardization of treatment as well as improved cancer treatment and care world-wide. In addition, he also played a major role in setting up the tumor bank in LUMC, as his research lab systematically categorizes and stores all tissue samples from these studies since 1989. The samples of the tumor bank have been used world-wide for answering important clinical research questions.

Van de Velde has been on the forefront of clinical cancer auditing, with the initiating of EURECCA (the EUropean REgistry of Cancer CAre). Auditing has been essential to benchmark outcomes of cancer treatment and enables caregivers to improve. Van de Velde has published more than 900 scientific articles and supervised 88 PhD students, whose careers he assisted further. Several of his PhD students are now Professors, including Prof. R.A.E.M. Tollenaar (LUMC, Leiden), Prof. C.A.M. Marijnen (LUMC, Leiden), Prof. I. Nagtegaal (Radboud University, Nijmegen), Prof. J.F. Hamming (LUMC, Leiden), and Prof. J.A. van der Hage (LUMC, Leiden). As means of his recognition, he is invited on a regular basis to share his knowledge with surgical and oncological societies world-wide.

Peter Naredi is Professor of Surgery and Head of the Institute of Clinical Sciences at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. After medical school at the University of Lund he trained as Resident in surgery. After defending his thesis on Tumour blood flow at the University of Gothenburg he did his postdoc at the Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, USA.

In 1997 he moved to the University of Umeå and was appointed professor of surgery and chairman of the academic unit of surgery in 2003. He has specialized in cancer surgery, especially hepatopancreaticobiliary surgery and melanoma. In 2012 he moved back to the University of Gothenburg and the Sahlgrenska university hospital. His main research areas are in clinical and basic research of cancers in the liver and pancreas. He has over 130 publications in highly ranked journals as the Cell, Lancet Oncol, JCO, PNAS, Nature Med, Nature Rev Clin Oncol, Cancer Res and Clin Ca Res.

Peter Naredi was for many years part of the ESSO educational and training committee and he has been president of ESSO and also of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO), the Swedish surgical society and the Scandinavian surgical society.

Prof. Dr. Emiel Rutgers professional life has been fully dedicated to the advancement of surgical oncology as a discipline, and he has led a fruitful activity in clinical practice, research, teaching and leadership in this field.

He is the author of more than 300 articles and book chapters on different aspects of breast cancer. His main field of interest, breast cancer research in prognostic and predictive factors, risk management and prevention, and optimisation of surgical procedures including neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, sentinel node procedure and immediate breast reconstruction.

Prof. Dr. Emiel Rutgers gained his medical degree in 1981 from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Currently, he is a Surgical Oncologist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam (since 1987), Head of the Department of Surgery (since 2006) and Professor in Surgical Oncology at the University of Amsterdam. He earned his PhD degree in 1986 at the University of Amsterdam.

Prof. Marjut Leidenius´ professional life has been fully dedicated to the advancement of surgical oncology and especially high-quality breast cancer surgery. She has had numerable activities in clinical practice, research, education and certification in this field.

As the President of UEMS Breast Surgery Division, Prof Leidenius launched UEMS European Board of Surgery examination in Breast Surgery in 2010. This examination has currently an established role in European certification in Breast Surgery. She has also collaborated in building and developing the Core Curriculum and the UEMS examination in Surgical Oncology

Prof. Leidenius has contributed the ESSO activities for 16 years, as a member in the Education and Training Committee, as a Board Member and from 2014 as the ESSO Honorary Secretary. She is also the author of more than 100 articles and book chapters on different aspects of breast cancer.

Marjut Leidenius gained her medical degree in 1983 and the PhD degree 1997 from Helsinki University, Finland. Currently, she is the Head of Breast Surgery, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University Hospital. She was nominated as Professor in Breast Surgery 2018.

Prof. Riccardo A. Audisio’s professional life has been fully dedicated to the advancement of surgical oncology as a discipline, and he has led a fruitful activity in clinical practice, research, teaching and leadership in this field.

Riccardo A. Audisio was born in Milan, graduated in Padua (1980) and specialized in General Surgery (University of Verona-1985) and in Radiology (University of Milan-1994).

Trained at the National Cancer Institute of Milan (1980-94) he was appointed deputy director at the Department of General Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Milan (1994-8). He moved to the UK 1999 to become Consultant Surgical Oncologist and Honorary Professor at the University of Liverpool. As of February 2018 he is Professor at the Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Göteborg, Sweden.

Past Editor of Surgical Oncology, Elsevier Publisher (2007-13) he is Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology (2013-present). Author of 260 peer-reviewed publications and 36 book chapters, Professor Audisio edited 23 book projects and is guest reviewer to 39 international scientific journals.

Professor Audisio is past-president of SIOG (International Society of Geriatric Oncology), BASO (British Association of Surgical Oncology) and ESSO (European Society of Surgical Oncology). He served as an advisor to the Department of Health, UK and to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer in Older Women. His clinical research focuses on Breast Cancer, Geriatric Oncology, Education/Certification in Surgical Oncology and the optimization of Surgical Oncology in Low/Middle Income Countries.

Dr. Klimberg has over 30 years of experience in breast surgical oncology. She has pioneered innovative breast cancer treatment methods for patients, authored over 350 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 15 books, and has held over 25 editorial board positions for surgical journals and publications. Additionally, Dr. Klimberg has won over 75 awards in teaching, research, and clinical care, and is the past president of three major American surgical organizations and current President of the Southern Surgical Association. She is also the Chair for the UTMB Cancer Committee and was a founding member of the ACS NAPBC (National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers). She is a Senior Director for the American Board of Surgery, the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and the American Board of Complex Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Klimberg chairs the Oncoplastic Breast Hands-on Skills Course at the American College of Cancer and has chaired this course for the U.S. Fellows in Diseased of the Breast. She is currently and previously funded by the NIH, American Cancer Society, Merit Review, the Susan G. Komen Society, the Fashion Footwear Association of New York, and the Alliance Cooperative Group for the ARM trial.

She has held the Muriel Balsam Kohn Chair in Breast Surgical Oncology which was given in her honor and was presented with her own named lectureship by her colleagues and friends at UAMS. Her proudest accomplishment is the success of the nearly 40 breast fellows that she has trained.

Prof. Mitsuru Sasako is the Chairperson of the board of directors of Yodogawa Christian Hospital, Professor Emeritus at Hyogo College of Medicine and Past Chairman of the Stomach Cancer Group of Japan Clinical Oncology Group (JCOG).

He was born on July 20, 1950 at Nishinomiya Japan and grown up in Kobe. Graduated from Tokyo University School of Medicine in 1976, he got his PhD in 1984.

Specialized in Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery and Surgical Oncology he spent 20 years at National Cancer Center Hospital (NCCH) in Tokyo and established a method and system of evaluating oncological surgical procedures.

He contributed enormously the globalization of D2 surgery for potentially curable gastric cancer. He demonstrated D2 surgery in more than 15 countries to teach how to perform it. He accepted many foreign visitors from various European countries to teach tips and knacks of D2 surgery.

He was one of pioneers who realized the telling the truth to patients, real informed consent and shared decision making in Japanese medical practice.

Prof. Sylvie Bonvalot received her MD with a surgical specialty in 1990 and completed her PhD in 2006. She held the position of Chief of Sarcoma Surgery at Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, from 1997 to 2005 before joining Institut Curie, Paris, in May 2015.

With a clinical practice and research focus on sarcoma and desmoids, she has been an Investigator or Principal Investigator of National and International trials on desmoid and sarcoma. She has authored more than 280 scientific publications on this topic and serves as Editor for the sarcoma section of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology.

Actively involved in professional societies, she chairs the regional treatments of soft tissue sarcoma of the French Sarcoma Group, is a member of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group, and co-founded the Trans-Atlantic Retro Peritoneal Sarcoma Working Group (TARPSWG). She also holds a membership on the Scientific Committee of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). She served on the Board of Directors of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) from 2005 to 2008. Her dedication and contributions to the field were further recognized when she was honored with the 2020 Nina Axelrad gratification from the same society. She is a full Member of the National Academy of Surgery in France, and holds the position of Professor at the University of Paris Cité.

Notably, she initiated and directs the Sarcoma National University Diploma in France, which is specifically tailored for surgical, medical, and radiation oncologists. This diploma serves as a pivotal qualification for sarcoma care within the country. Additionally, she contributes to the International Sarcoma Course from ESSO on sarcoma.

Prof. Graeme Poston was appointed in 1990 consultant hepato-biliary surgeon at the Liverpool University Hospitals, UK, and Professor of Surgery in the School of Translational Studies of the University of Liverpool until his retirement at the end of 2018. He continues to enjoy an international reputation in hepatobiliary surgery. He personally performed over 1000 major hepatobiliary resections and with his colleagues this service is one of the largest tertiary resectional hepato-biliary practices in the UK, having performed over 4,000 liver resections over the last 30 or so years. He gained his undergraduate medical training at St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, graduating in 1979, and postgraduate training with Professor Leslie Blumgart at The Hammersmith Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital, London, and Professors James Thompson and Courtney Townsend Jr at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.

He is the Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology, President of the Mersey Medico-legal Society and Past-President of the Liverpool and North West Surgical Association, the European Society of Surgical Oncology, the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and the British Association of Surgical Oncology. He is a Past-Council Member of the Association of Surgeons of Gt. Britain & Ireland, British Society of Gastroenterology and the UK & Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Society. He is a Past-Chair of NHS England HPB Specialised Commissioning Clinical Reference Group, NHS England Specialised Commissioning Internal Medicine Programme of Care, National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) Colorectal Cancer Guideline Development Group and Quality Standards Committee, and the Cancer Services Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He is the principal investigator of a number of national and international clinical trials in hepato-biliary surgery, and co-author of numerous national and international guidelines for the management of Hepatobiliary cancers, ten textbooks of surgery, and over 300 scientific papers.

Honours and distinctions include Doctorate of Science honoris causa, King George V Medical University, Lucknow, the Ernest Miles Medal of the Royal Marsden Surgical Society, Olaf ac Acrel Medal of the Swedish Surgical Association, Stanford Cade Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Kilroe Medal of the Christie University Cancer Centre, Manchester, N K Misra Medal of the Indian Association of Surgical Oncology. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Surgical Association, the Chinese College of Surgeons, Association of Surgeons of India, and the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka. He has been awarded the Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and has held numerous international visiting Professorships around the world. In what little spare time he has, he enjoys trekking in high places (climbed Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest and Annapurna Base Camps, climbing Kala Pattar en route, and crossed the Lakya La on the Manaslu Circuit in Nepal) and travelling in polar regions (Svalbard, Shackleton Crossing South Georgia, Antarctica and successfully crossing the Northwest Passage).