Governance

Professor Pam Kearns is Chair of Clinical Pediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham and an Honorary Consultant Pediatric Oncologist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. She is Director of the University’s Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and was the Director of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit from 2012-2023, leading the research strategy for one of UK's largest cancer trials unit, including the national trials portfolio for children and young people with cancer. She has served on the Board of SIOP Europe since 2013 and was President from 2019 to 2021. In January 2024, Pam became President of the European consortium; Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (ITCC). She is also an Executive Board and Steering Committee member for the International multi-stakeholder platform ‘ACCELERATE’. She is on the Board of Trustees for Cancer Research UK and chairs the Board of Trustees for a ‘A Child of Mine’, a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved parents. She Chairs both the Research Assessment Panel for GOSH Charity and of The Independent Scientific Advisory Panel for Bone Cancer Research Trust.

Prof. Andy Pearson is formerly a Cancer Research UK Professor of Paediatric Oncology, at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust. Prof Pearson led the first paediatric Phase I study in the UK. He was Chair of National Cancer Research Institute Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Clinical Studies Group Novel Agents Subgroup. He was the founding chair of International Society for Paediatric Oncology Europe Neuroblastoma Committee (SIOPEN). Prof Pearson is a member of the Executive Committee of the Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer Consortium (ITCC), Chair of the Paediatric Strategy Forum Oversight Committee, Senior Advisor to the Steering Committee of ACCELERATE. He has published over 400 manuscripts on neuroblastoma and early drug development. He retired from clinical practice in May 2014 due to ill health.

Trained as a Paediatric Oncologist, he got his PhD in Pharmacology. He is Professor of Oncology in University Paris Saclay and Gustave Roussy, a large Comprehensive Cancer Center in France. For the last 20 years, he has dedicated his research, clinical and training activities to the development of new drugs for children and adolescents with cancer. He is past President of the EU Academic Consortium Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer and past President of SIOPE, the European Society of Paediatric Oncology. He is chairing the ACCELERATE International multi-stakeholder platform to speed up innovation for children and adolescents with cancer. In 2020, he received the Leonard M. Rosen Memorial Research Award for his outstanding contribution to childhood cancer policy and advocacy. As a SIOPE representative, he is co-leading WP4 of the IMI2 Conect4Children network (www.conect4children.org) and coordinates the development of Multi-stakeholder meetings to best address unmet pediatric needs. Author of more than 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals, he is member of several Scientific Councils.

Michel Zwaan was trained at the VU University medical center in MC. From 2014 to 2018 he headed the Pediatric Oncology/Hematology department at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam before moving to the Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, where he is appointed as principal investigator for Drug Development/Experimental Therapeutics and head of the Trial and Data Center. He also chairs the Clinical Research Committee at the Princess Máxima Center. He is a member of the Executive Committee of ITCC, co-chair of the ITCC HEMA Committee, and chair of the New Agents committee of the I-BFM study group.

Prof Izraeli is the Director of the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Division at the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel that is also an ITCC center. He is also the Shapiro professor and the head of the Dotan center for research of hematological malignancies in Tel Aviv University and a research professor at the department of systems biology at the Beckman Institute at City of Hope, Duarte CA. He was recently elected as a founding member of the Israel National Academy of Scientific Medicine. Prof Izraeli is the Treasurer, Chair of the Research Committee and a member of the Executive Board or the European Hematology Association. His research expertise is on childhood leukemia. He published more than 180 peer reviewed scientific publications, has been supported by multiple international research grants and has many international collaborations. He is the co-Chair of the ITCC HEMA Committee.

Michela Casanova is a paediatric oncologist in Milano, Italy. She has been involved in the field of paediatric solid tumours with a special interest in Soft Tissue Sarcomas and New Drug Development. She is the chairman of the New Drug Group of the Italian Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Association; Member of the Executive Committee, Secretary and Co-chair of Solid Tumour Committee of ITCC (Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer); Board member of the European paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG). Author and co-author of more than 280 papers.

Dr. Molenaar is a principal investigator at the Princess Maxima Centrum. His research group concentrates on translational research in pediatric solid tumours with a focus on Neuroblastoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma. Basic molecular genetic research is used as a starting point and they aim at implementation of their research in precision medicine programs. Dr. Molenaar is a research scientist specialized in target identification and validation in pediatric solid tumors. He is the head of the pediatric cancer precision medicine program and he is also an international advisor on clinical trials in pediatric cancer. He is a member of the ITCC Executive Committee and he is co-chairing the ITCC Solid Tumour Committee.

François Doz is professor of Paediatrics at the University Paris Cité, paediatric oncologist, deputy director for clinical research and training in the Institut Curie’s SIREDO oncology center (care, innovation, and research for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer) and director for training of the Institut Curie’s hospital group. He got his MD, paediatric specialty and master degree in pharmacology in Paris. He then spent two years as a research fellow in the Brain Tumour Research Center, University of California, San Francisco. His main research interests are Paediatric Neuro-oncology, Early Drug Development, Retinoblastoma and Ethics of Clinical Research. He is the author of more than 300 Pubmed referenced papers. He is member of the ITCC Executive Committee, clinical chair of the ITCC Brain Working group (March 20-), past-chair of the SIOPE Brain tumor group (2006-2010) and its medulloblastoma /CNS embryonal tumors working group (2012-2016), founding member and pastchair of the European Retinoblastoma group (2014-2020), previous member of the SIOPE board (2016-2021), previous member, chair and past chair of the SIOP scientific committee (2011-2017). He is a member of the Ethics Committee of the French Pediatric Society.

David T. W. Jones is Head of the Division of Pediatric Glioma Research at the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center, Heidelberg (KiTZ). Since completing his PhD on pediatric brain tumors in Cambridge (UK) in 2009, he has dedicated his scientific career to investigating the molecular underpinnings of childhood gliomas, and how this knowledge can best be applied to help patients in the clinic. The application of ‘omics’ technologies paired with functional/pre-clinical characterization is a central theme of his work, where he has had several prominent authorships in high-impact journals (Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Cell), amongst a total of >300 peer-reviewed publications. The research efforts of his division at the KiTZ are focused on (epi)genomic profiling of gliomas, with subsequent model development and pre-clinical testing. These research efforts have a strong translational focus, as indicated by his role as PI for the international INFORM and MNP2.0 personalized medicine studies. As Translational Chair of ITCC Brain, David takes a keen interest in identifying and supporting clinical trial concepts that are underpinned by a strong molecular/pre-clinical rationale, in order to more rapidly bring effective treatments to children with cancer.

Dr Francisco Bautista is a Pediatric Oncologist at the Princess Máxima Center and a researcher affiliated to the Trial and Data Center (TDC) of the hospital. The Princess Máxima Center centralizes the clinical and research activity in pediatric cancer in the Netherlands. Prior, he was consultant of the Pediatric Oncology Service and Head of the Clinical Trials Unit of Hospital Niño Jesús (Madrid, Spain). Dr Bautista was the principal investigator of more than 30 clinical trials in childhood cancer, and National Coordinator of 4 ITCC academic international trials. He has extensive experience in the field of translational research in oncology and a strong presence in international cooperative groups. He is a member of the ITCC Leukemia/Lymphoma Steering Committee and elected chair of the iBFM Early Clinical Trials Group since May 2021. He has been nominated Chair of the ITCC Sponsor Committee/Network since January 2024.

Nick’s son, Adam, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in 2009 at the age of 5. Adam’s disease did not respond to chemotherapy and despite treatment in the UK, Germany, and America, he died at home 4 years later. Today Nick continues to be involved in paediatric cancer as a research advocate and holds a number of voluntary positions. He is a former member of the UK National Cancer Research Institute’s Children’s Group and current neuroblastoma subgroup member, Chair of the Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (ITCC) Advocate Committee, Chair of Trustees for the non-profit organisation Solving Kids’ Cancer UK, and Patient and Public Voice Partner for NHS England Clinical Reference Group for Children and Young People’s Cancer.

Karsten Nysom, MD, PhD, is a paediatric oncologist in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a specialist in tumours of the central nervous system as well as early phase clinical trial for all types of childhood malignancies. He is a member of the ITCC Executive Committee and he is chairing the Education & Training Committee in the Consortium.

Dr. Molenaar is a principal investigator at the Princess Maxima Centrum. His research group concentrates on translational research in pediatric solid tumours with a focus on Neuroblastoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma. Basic molecular genetic research is used as a starting point and they aim at implementation of their research in precision medicine programs. Dr. Molenaar is a research scientist specialized in target identification and validation in pediatric solid tumors. He is the head of the pediatric cancer precision medicine program and he is also an international advisor on clinical trials in pediatric cancer. He is a member of the ITCC Executive Committee and he is co-chairing the ITCC Solid Tumour Committee.

Michela Casanova is a paediatric oncologist in Milano, Italy. She has been involved in the field of paediatric solid tumours with a special interest in Soft Tissue Sarcomas and New Drug Development. She is the chairman of the New Drug Group of the Italian Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Association; Member of the Executive Committee, Secretary and Co-chair of Solid Tumour Committee of ITCC (Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer); Board member of the European paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG). Author and co-author of more than 280 papers.

François Doz is professor of Paediatrics at the University Paris Cité, paediatric oncologist, deputy director for clinical research and training in the Institut Curie’s SIREDO oncology center (care, innovation, and research for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer) and director for training of the Institut Curie’s hospital group. He got his MD, paediatric specialty and master degree in pharmacology in Paris. He then spent two years as a research fellow in the Brain Tumour Research Center, University of California, San Francisco. His main research interests are Paediatric Neuro-oncology, Early Drug Development, Retinoblastoma and Ethics of Clinical Research. He is the author of more than 300 Pubmed referenced papers. He is member of the ITCC Executive Committee, clinical chair of the ITCC Brain Working group (March 20-), past-chair of the SIOPE Brain tumor group (2006-2010) and its medulloblastoma /CNS embryonal tumors working group (2012-2016), founding member and pastchair of the European Retinoblastoma group (2014-2020), previous member of the SIOPE board (2016-2021), previous member, chair and past chair of the SIOP scientific committee (2011-2017). He is a member of the Ethics Committee of the French Pediatric Society.

David T. W. Jones is Head of the Division of Pediatric Glioma Research at the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center, Heidelberg (KiTZ). Since completing his PhD on pediatric brain tumors in Cambridge (UK) in 2009, he has dedicated his scientific career to investigating the molecular underpinnings of childhood gliomas, and how this knowledge can best be applied to help patients in the clinic. The application of ‘omics’ technologies paired with functional/pre-clinical characterization is a central theme of his work, where he has had several prominent authorships in high-impact journals (Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, Cell), amongst a total of >300 peer-reviewed publications. The research efforts of his division at the KiTZ are focused on (epi)genomic profiling of gliomas, with subsequent model development and pre-clinical testing. These research efforts have a strong translational focus, as indicated by his role as PI for the international INFORM and MNP2.0 personalized medicine studies. As Translational Chair of ITCC Brain, David takes a keen interest in identifying and supporting clinical trial concepts that are underpinned by a strong molecular/pre-clinical rationale, in order to more rapidly bring effective treatments to children with cancer.

Prof Izraeli is the Director of the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Division at the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel that is also an ITCC center. He is also the Shapiro professor and the head of the Dotan center for research of hematological malignancies in Tel Aviv University and a research professor at the department of systems biology at the Beckman Institute at City of Hope, Duarte CA. He was recently elected as a founding member of the Israel National Academy of Scientific Medicine. Prof Izraeli is the Treasurer, Chair of the Research Committee and a member of the Executive Board or the European Hematology Association. His research expertise is on childhood leukemia. He published more than 180 peer reviewed scientific publications, has been supported by multiple international research grants and has many international collaborations. He is the co-Chair of the ITCC HEMA Committee.

Michel Zwaan was trained at the VU University medical center in MC. From 2014 to 2018 he headed the Pediatric Oncology/Hematology department at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam before moving to the Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, where he is appointed as principal investigator for Drug Development/Experimental Therapeutics and head of the Trial and Data Center. He also chairs the Clinical Research Committee at the Princess Máxima Center. He is a member of the Executive Committee of ITCC, co-chair of the ITCC HEMA Committee, and chair of the New Agents committee of the I-BFM study group.

Dr Francisco Bautista is a Pediatric Oncologist at the Princess Máxima Center and a researcher affiliated to the Trial and Data Center (TDC) of the hospital. The Princess Máxima Center centralizes the clinical and research activity in pediatric cancer in the Netherlands. Prior, he was consultant of the Pediatric Oncology Service and Head of the Clinical Trials Unit of Hospital Niño Jesús (Madrid, Spain). Dr Bautista was the principal investigator of more than 30 clinical trials in childhood cancer, and National Coordinator of 4 ITCC academic international trials. He has extensive experience in the field of translational research in oncology and a strong presence in international cooperative groups. He is a member of the ITCC Leukemia/Lymphoma Steering Committee and elected chair of the iBFM Early Clinical Trials Group since May 2021. He has been nominated Chair of the ITCC Sponsor Committee/Network since January 2024.

Karsten Nysom, MD, PhD, is a paediatric oncologist in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a specialist in tumours of the central nervous system as well as early phase clinical trial for all types of childhood malignancies. He is a member of the ITCC Executive Committee and he is chairing the Education & Training Committee in the Consortium.

Nick’s son, Adam, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in 2009 at the age of 5. Adam’s disease did not respond to chemotherapy and despite treatment in the UK, Germany, and America, he died at home 4 years later. Today Nick continues to be involved in paediatric cancer as a research advocate and holds a number of voluntary positions. He is a former member of the UK National Cancer Research Institute’s Children’s Group and current neuroblastoma subgroup member, Chair of the Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (ITCC) Advocate Committee, Chair of Trustees for the non-profit organisation Solving Kids’ Cancer UK, and Patient and Public Voice Partner for NHS England Clinical Reference Group for Children and Young People’s Cancer.