Participants List

The department for Gynecology at Charité Medizinische Universität has a leading position in the treatment and management of patients with ovarian cancer within Europe. Yearly we more than 240 multivisceral surgeries due to ovarian cancer are performed and about 300 new ovarian cancer patients are treated each year. Since January 2008, our department is a European Competence Centre for ovarian cancer, taking part in many Phase I to Phase III clinical trials for gynaecological malignancies in general and ovarian cancer in particular. About 180 patients are enrolled yearly in clinical trials. Our institution is strongly linked to the major national and international trial groups (e.g. the NOGGO study centre is established in our Department, AGO study group; ENGOT; A-AGO; MITO; MANGO; GEICO). Starting with 2000 we established a biobank for frozen and paraffin embedded a tissue samples, that was subsequently enlarged to European platform.

Furthermore we developed a prospective tool used for the documentation of tumour pattern and residual mass in epithelial ovarian cancer, the so called “IMO” (intraoperative mapping of ovarian cancer). Our center is dedicated to the improvement in survival and quality life a patients with gynaecological cancer in general and ovarian cancer in particular.

Institute: Charité Universitätsmedizin, Department of Gynecology, Campus Virchow Klinikum

Elena Ioana Braicu is a senior gynaecologist at the Charité Campus Virchow in Berlin, Germany. She was trained in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Medical University Cluj-Napoca and at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin. In the field of gynaecological oncology, she is involved in the diagnosis and systemic treatment of gynaecological malignancies. She is an IOTA certified member, passing successfully the multiple choice exam, testing knowledge of IOTA variables, simple rules and subjective assessment of ultrasound images during the first IOTA congress, in April 2013.

She is the vice-coordinator of the clinical trial center at the Department of Gynecology, Charité, Campus Virchow. She is the co-principle investigator in Phase I to III clinical studies.

Her area of research is identifying new biomarkers, or algorithms for the early diagnosis of gynaecological malignancies, especially ovarian cancer as also identifying biomarkers that will predict resistance to systemic therapy. Since 2011 she is leading the translational research at Charité, Campus Virchow Klinikum. Since 2009 she is coordinating the international tumor bank for ovarian cancer.

Furthermore she is involved in several European projects, such as OVCAD, OCTIPS, Gannet53, IMPECT, leading the work package for bio-banking.

She has lectured in many countries on her clinical and translational research. She is member of various international oncological committees, including GCIG, ENGOT, AGO and NOGGO.

Elena Ioana Braicu is a founding member of EUTROC, here leading the work package for biobanking and being part of the steering committee. She is leading the translational committee of the NOGGO and is being part of the translational working group of ENGOT.

Since 2012, Ioana Braicu is part of the clinical Scientist Program at Charité Medical University. Starting with 2015 she is a member of the gynaecological cancer academy (GCA) of ENGOT, an educational program for future leaders in clinical research in gynaecological oncology.

She is also a member of the board of trustees of the German ovarian cancer foundation.

Institute: Charité Universitätsmedizin, Department of Gynaecology, European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, Campus Virchow Klinikum and Campus Benjamin Franklin

Professor Jalid Sehouli is one of the-founder of the famous North-Eastern German NOGGO study group, which is devoted to national and international clinical research and education programs in gynecological cancer. He is currently the head of the Department for Gynecology at Charité Medical University, at campus Virchow and Campus Benjamin Franklin in Berlin, Germany. As well as serving on several national and international advisory boards. Prof. Sehouli is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), the European Network of Gynecological Trials (ENGOT), the international Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG), the executive board of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie (AGO) and the Nord-Ostdeutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologische Onkologie (NOGGO). He was a founding member of the European Network for Translational Research in Ovarian Cancer (EUTROC), being currently EUTROC vice-president.

He has a high expertise in radical surgery of gynecological malignancies, especially primary and relapse ovarian cancer. He is the leader of the European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, at Charité.

His area of research include chemotherapy and systemic treatment based on phase I, II and III trials, identifying new tumor patterns, new clinical and pre-clinical parameters to predict optimal surgical outcome in ovarian cancer patients. He has served as a principle investigator on dozens of phase I to phase III ovarian cancer clinical trials. Furthermore Prof. Sehouli is interested in analysing and improving the quality of life in cancer patients, being a pioneer in this field. He is a founding member and vice-president of the German Foundation for ovarian cancer.

He is an international renowned clinical scientist for the field of ovarian cancer, giving lectures all over the world about his clinical and surgical research. He has published more than 300 national and international papers in the field of gynaecologic oncology.

He is a current member of the editorial boards of several journals, including American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Oncology, Anticancer Drugs, Biomarkers, British Journal of Cancer, Drugs, Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde, Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation, Gynecologic Oncology, International Journal of Gynecological Oncology, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, Tumorbiology, Ultrasound in Obstetric & Gynecology (isuog).

Professor Sehouli initiated in 2004 the international biobank for ovarian cancer. He is leading the TOC network. His research is founded by several national and international grants, including FP6, FP7 EU and TRANSCAN founding. Furthermore he founded 2010 the German Foundation for Ovarian Cancer to increase the awareness for ovarian cancer patients.

Iulia Ignat, 26 years old, was born in Alba Iulia, Romania. She attended the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj during the years 2008-2014 and the “Babes Bolyai” University – Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Cluj. During this time she received two ERASMUS scholarships, one between October 2012 and July 2013 in Milan, Italy, at the “Universita degli Studi di Milano”, and the second one July-October 2013 in Berlin, Germany, at Charite Campus Virchow Klinikum, working in the research of ovarian cancer at the Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer.

Iulia Ignat took interest in different medical specialties, including cardiac surgery – she attended the cardiac surgery department in the San Gaudenzio Clinic, Novara, Italy where she completed her medical doctor thesis researching the approach on aortic valvular surgery and she worked on research papers on the subject of heart failure patients (“Renin genetic polymorphism in heart failure patients”, “Obesity, sTNFR-I and ACE genetic polymorphism in heart failure patients”). She took interest on the subject of ovarian cancer, working in the Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer she took part in publishing the paper “Role of serum VEGFA, TIMP2, MMP2 and MMP9 in monitoring response to adjuvant radiochemotherapy in patients with primary cervical cancer – results of a companion protocol of the randomized NOGGO-AGO phase III clinical trial”. Volunteer work was an important activity during her time as a medical student, she was involved in many awareness rising projects, including blood donation campaigns, sexual education campaigns in teenagers, first aid trainings, emergency medicine volunteer in the ER, conference and medical congress organization.

At the moment Iulia is a research fellow in the Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer at the Charite Campus Virchow Klinikum, Berlin.

Monika Mentze

Andrea Schäfer

The Institute of Pathology of the Charité was founded in 1856 by Rudolf Virchow as the first pathological institute in Germany. 75.000 tissue samples from all three campi of the Charité Medical University are histopathologically investigated here each year. The Translational Cancer Research Group evaluates multilevel biomarkers from tissue samples, focusing on predictive and prognostic biomarkers in ovarian and breast cancer. The group has a high expertise in the high-throughput processing of fresh-frozen and FFPE tissue samples for tissue micro array (TMA) production and nucleic acids extraction. Immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR, and DNA sequencing methods are well established in the lab. The Translational Cancer Research Group tightly cooperates with the TOC lab group of the Department of Gynecology since many years. pathologie-ccm.charite.de/forschung/ag_translationale_tumorforschung_und_molekulare_pathologie/

Silvia Darb-Esfahani, MD, is a senior pathologist with a focus on gynecological pathology.

Wolfgang Schmitt, MD, is a pathologist with a focus on biomarkers in ovarian and breast cancer.

The Molecular Oncology Group at The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Medical University of Vienna (www.molonc.at) was established by Robert Zeillinger, Dr. phil., the head of the group, together with Paul Speiser, M.D. in1991. The main research objectives are to understand gynaecological cancers at molecular levels, to improve diagnosis and prognosis and to define novel therapeutic targets.

Both principal investigators, Robert Zeillinger and Dan Cacsire Castillo-Tong, are active in international and national collaborations. Robert Zeillinger has successfully coordinated the FP6 EU research project OVCAD focusing on defining biomarkers for treatment response for ovarian cancer. He is also one of the initiators and active members of a European Ovarian Cancer Research Network (EUTROC). Besides, he also leads The Cluster of Translational Oncology in the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, which is financed from public and private resources (http://www.lbg.ac.at). Dan Cacsire Castillo-Tong has managed the OVCAD project and is coordinating and managing the FP7 EU project OCTIPS aiming at defining new therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer (http://www.octips.eu). The Molecular Oncology Group is also partner in the FP7 EU project Gannet53. Since 2003, the team is one of the major contributors of the Ovarian Tumorbank Network.

Currently the team consists of 2 university professors, 2 senior post docs, 4 Ph.D. students, 3 undergraduate students, 5 technical assistants and about 5 physicians, contributing to the research work besides their clinical practice.

The laboratory is well equipped with standard molecular biological instruments and has easy access to the most advanced techniques and instruments in the core facility of the university (http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/hp/anna-spiegel-forschungsgebaeude).

Paul Speiser is Associate Professor at the Medical University Vienna, Dept. Gynaecologic Oncology. His general medical training and speciality training in Obstetrics and Gynecology he did in Vienna. From 1996 to 1999 he trained in Australia after being admitted to the Fellowship programme in Gynaecologic Oncology. Since 2000 he works as Consultant Gynecologic Oncologist at the Medical University in Vienna. As a visiting professor he spent time in Sweden, Poland, Tscheck Republic, Lithuania, England and Australia.

His main filed of scientific interest is Molecular Oncology. In 1990 he was one of the founding members of the Molecular Oncology Group of the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Vienna.

The fallopian tubes and the pathogenesis of serous pelvic cancers – Lavage procedure of the uterine cavity and proximal tubes for early detection and differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer and diagnosis of STIC.
In collaboration with Molecular Oncology Group, Dept. Obst. & Gyn., MUW

Molecular subclassification as an independent prognostic factor in ovarian cancer.
In collaboration with Molecular Oncology Group, Dept. Obst. & Gyn., MUW

Gene expression signature from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in early detection of cancer.
In collaboration with Molecular Oncology Group, Dept. Obst. & Gyn., MUW

Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells in patients with epithelial cancers.
In collaboration with Molecular Oncology Group, Dept. Obst. & Gyn., MUW

Topical Imiquimod Therapy vs. LLETZ-Conisation in Patients with CIN 2/3

Persistence of HPV infections after definitive treatment for cervical carcinoma.

Efficacy of topical trichloroacetic acid in the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN II-III).

The University Hospital Leuven is dedicated to research in addition to patient care and education, making it one of the top-ranked hospitals in the EU. The Department of Gynaecologic Oncology is a tertiary centre treating >100 new ovarian cancer patients yearly. In addition, about 100 other ovarian cancer patients present relapse per year. A large tumorbank has been constructed in the past 15 years with tissue samples from >1600 ovarian tumors. The department currently participates in >25 phase I-II or III trials in ovarian cancer, involving new molecular targeted drugs. The laboratory of experimental gynaecology oncology focuses on translational research on gynaecological cancer. The division of Gynaecological Cancer research is publishing more than 50 papers per year in peer reviewed journals. Genetic profiling of ovarian tumors is performed in collaboration with the Vesalius Research Centre, experienced in performing large scale genetic studies. The department participated in different EU-projects, such as OVCAD, OCTIPS and Gannet53 projects.

Professor Ignace Vergote is Chairman of the Leuven Cancer Institute and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He initially trained in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, before specialising in Gynaecologic Oncology in the Department of Gynaecologic Oncology at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, where he later became staff member and in 1991 deputy chairman.

Professor Vergote was the founder and first chairman of ENGOT (European Network of Gynaecologic Oncology Trial Groups). He is currently Chairman of the Belgian & Luxemburg Gynaecological Oncology Group (BGOG) and President of the Society of Robotic European Gynaecological Surgery (SERGS). In 2013 he was Chairman of the Board of Medical Chairmen of the University Hospital Leuven. Since 2014 he is member of the Board of Directors of the University Hospital Leuven.

He has been Chairman of the EORTC-GCG from 1997 to 2003, and served as President of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) for the period 2003-2005. For the period 2006-2008 he was the President of the International Gynaecologic Cancer Society (IGCS). He has been Chairman of the Flemish Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from 2008 to 2013.

He received in 2004 the Wertheim price in Austria and the COBRA price for surgical expertise in the Netherlands. In 2008 he became Honorary Member of the Finnish Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. In 2012 he became Honorary Member of the American College of Surgeons.

Professor Vergote’s main areas of clinical and translational research focus on ovarian and uterine cancer. He has authored more than 700 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals, together with 50 book chapters, and edited several books on Gynaecological Oncology. He is Editor of the European Journal of Cancer, and past-Associate Editor of Gynaecologic Oncology and the International Journal of Gynaecological Cancer.

The Medical University Greifswald (UMG) is one of the oldest in Germany and was founded in 1456. Today, the Medical University Greifswald is one of the biggest hospitals in north of Germany with 21 clinics, 19 institutes and further research centers. The hospital has 880 beds and treated, in 2009, 147,000 patients. The department of Gynecology and Obstetrics is composed by different units able to treat all types of gynecological cancers as well as breast cancer.

The department of Gynecology has a long standing experience in clinical practice as well as translational research in ovarian cancer, taking part in many phase II and III clinical trials for gynecological malignancies and ovarian cancer in particular.

Our institution is linked to the major national and international trial groups (e.g. AGO- and NOGGO-which study center is established in our department, EORTC)

The research laboratory conducts different epigenetic and genetic research in the field of gynecology and oncology. The laboratory has excellent facility for advanced high level genomic, epigenomic analysis. The department of Gynecology and Obstetrics is since 2004 part of the international multicentric tumor bank ovarian cancer network (TOC, www.toc-network.de).

Our center is one of the key partners in the FP7 RAIDs and GANNET53 project.

• Alexander Mustea, MD; PhD, Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Vice-Head of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University Medicine in Greifswald (www.medizin.uni-greifswald.de), Head of the Gynecological Cancer Center has a striking clinical experience in gynecological oncology and is experienced in developing international tumor banking Network (TOC- Network) for gynecological tumors. He is active in scientific research being the initiator and leader of several phase II to Phase III clinical trials. He just finished a multi-centric NOGGO Phase II Trial in advanced cervical cancer (ASCO, 2011). He was involved in OVCAD consortium and is a part of GANNET53 consortium.

• Dominique Koensgen, MD; PhD, Ass. Prof., is a physician working in the field of ovarian cancer.  Ass. Prof. D. Koensgen has a striking clinical experience in gynecological oncology and is experienced in developing international tumor banking Network (TOC- Network) for gynecological tumors. She is leading the Tumorbanking for Ovarian-, Cervical- and Endometrial- Cancer and the translational research within the group.  She was involved in OVCAD consortium and is a part of RAIDs and GANNET53 consortium.

Imperial College London (legally The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. The university was founded upon the vision of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, to encourage a cultural education in the arts, commerces, and sciences. The university has grown through mergers, including with St Mary's Hospital Medical School (in 1988), the National Heart and Lung Institute (in 1995) and Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (in 1997). The university is organised into four faculties: science, engineering, medicine and business. Imperial is consistently included among the world's 10 best universities, ranking 2nd in the 2015 QS World University Rankings and 9th in the 2015 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Its leading innovative research in the area of medical Bioengineering and Translational and Basic Cancer research.

Institute: Imperial College London Healthcare Trust in Queen Charlottes Hospital in London.

Christina Fotopoulou is a Consultant Gynecological Oncologist in the Imperial College London Healthcare Trust in Queen Charlottes Hospital in London. She was trained in obstetrics and gynecology and subspecialized in gynaecological oncology at the Charité University Hospital of Berlin in both the surgical and systemic treatment of women with advanced gynaecological malignancies and completed her PhD thesis four years ago entitled “Current Aspects in the Operative Treatment of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer“.

She has been the leading consultant and Vice Director of the Clinic for Gynecology at the Charité in Berlin, one of the largest reference and accredited centers for gynecological cancer in Germany, as well the Principal Coordinator of the European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, which was created in 2007 in Berlin.

Her principal area of clinical practice is in exenterative procedures for advanced forms of pelvic malignancies and in the cytoreductive debulking of primary or relapsed ovarian cancer. Furthermore, she was trained in the reconstructive surgery of oncologic patients after extensive exenterations. Her area of research is the creation and validation of scores for optimal surgical quality, the analysis of tumor dissemination patterns, histopathological characteristics and surgical outcome in primary and relapsed of ovarian cancer and in the quality of life of patients after extensive operative procedures. Furthermore she has been investigating the implementation of targeted therapies in advanced gynaecological malignancies and their implications on surgical practice.

Christina Fotopoulou is a member of the German AGO- Ovarian Cancer Steering Group which is responsible for the generation of national guidelines for the management of ovarian cancer and borderline ovarian lesions. She is the surgical lead in the European Network for Translational Research in Ovarian Cancer (EUTROC) in the working package “Predicting surgical outcome”.

She has broad experience in national and international clinical and surgical trials in Germany and in innovative intraperitoneal immunotherapies in palliative stages of gynaecological malignancies.

She has lectured in many countries on her clinical research and surgical experience.

She is on the editorial board of two journals and reviewer in numerous international gynaecological and oncological journals and is member of various international oncological committees, including ASCO, ESGO, IGCS, ESMO, ENGOT, AGO and NOGGO.

Hani Gabra is Professor and Head of Medical Oncology, Director of the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre and Deputy Head of the Division of Cancer at Imperial College London.

He is also Chair of the Cancer Research Committee and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

In 2014 he was appointed the Divisional Lead for the Cancer Division and Associate Director of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network for North West London.

Hani attended medical school at Glasgow University, and obtained his PhD and medical oncology specialist training at Edinburgh University.

In 1998 he was appointed Imperial Cancer Research Fund (subsequently CRUK) Laboratory Head of the Ovarian Cancer Cell and Molecular Genetics Group and Consultant Medical Oncologist at the ICRF Edinburgh Medical Oncology Unit until 2003 when he moved to London to take up his present appointment.

His basic research interests are in tumor-suppressor biology (OPCML and WWOX) and cancer multiplatform molecular profiling and integrative OMICS. He has translational research interests in the molecular basis of clinical platinum resistance as well as all phases of clinical research.

He led the Scottish Gynaecological Cancer Trials Group (SCOTROC) Ovarian Cancer Section and was the Scottish Group’s representative to the Gynaecological Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) 2004-9.

He currently sits on CRUK’s CTAAC national clinical trials funding committee, and the INCa French Translational Research Funding Committee.

He is President of the European Translational Ovarian Cancer Network (EUTROC), where he is chief investigator of several international clinical trials in targeted therapy and personalised medicine.

He is a member of the Editorial Board of European Journal of Cancer and Gynaecologic Oncology and is Editor-in-Chief of the new journal Ovarian Cancer, and holds several visiting professorships and patents.

The University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf hosts the largest comprehensive cancer center in northern Germany and is a top-ranked hospital in the EU. The Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology is a tertiary center treating more than 100 ovarian cancer patients per year and was one of the first certified gynecologic cancer centers in Germany. A tumor bank with fresh-frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue-samples has been established in 1996. The Department currently participates in several phase I/II and III trials in ovarian cancer. It has continuously ranked among the top 5 recruiting centers in Germany over the past years and also performs several on-going trials in other gynecologic malignancies (including vulvar, cervical and endometrial cancer) and in breast cancer. At the integrated molecular laboratory two molecular biologists and several PhD students perform translational research projects on gynecologic malignancies and the Department of Gynecology is publishing more than 60 papers per year in peer reviewed journals. Currently the Department is involved in many ovarian cancer trials within the AGO-gynecological Cancer Study-Group, ENGOT (European Network of Gynecological Trial groups) and GCIG (Gynecologic Cancer Inter-Group), and in industry trials in ovarian cancer and other gynecologic malignancies.

Sven Mahner, MD, has long-standing expertise in clinical phase I/II and III trials in ovarian cancer and in translational research. He is a member of the steering committee and executive board of the AGO-OVAR study group and represents this group in the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG). He has authored more than 90 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters on Gynecologic Oncology and received numerous awards for his research.

Fabian Trillsch, MD is a physician performing his fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Following his medical education at the University of Munich and the Harvard Medical School he got actively involved in the translational research for ovarian cancer and has authored more than 20 original full papers in peer-reviewed journals on Gynecologic Oncology. In addition, he became an experienced investigator in several phase I/II and phase III clinical trials on ovarian cancer.

The Department of Gynaecologic Oncology is part of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg treating more than 200 patients with gynecological cancer yearly. In 2005 it was certified as the first Gynecological Cancer Center by the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology and since 2009 it is also certified by the German Cancer Society. The Department participates in national and multinational interdisciplinary phase I-IV studies involving questions of clinical and research interest with the base of a large tumorbank. Key aspects include translational research and academic teaching for students, physicians and nursing staff.

Besides surgical approaches, we focus on conservative treatment. More than cycles of chemotherapy are administered yearly in our outpatient office. Psycho-oncological support complements the spectrum.

The Department is publishing more than 20 papers per year in peer reviewed journals and participates in different cooperation projects like biomarker-based early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer or molecular markers for the detection of circulating tumor cells in ovarian cancer patients.

CORSETT - Current Ovarian geRm cell and SEx cord Tumor Treatment strategies - is an observational retrospective/prospective study of treatment strategies for ovarian germ cell and sex cord-stromal tumors in Germany of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie (AGO). Our aim is the cooperation with the TOC consortium for this project.

Professor Annette Hasenburg is Head of the Departement of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Freiburg. She started her career in gynecology and obstetrics at the Ruhr-University in Bochum, underwent a postdoctoral fellowship at the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Oncology Division, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX and finally arrived in 1999 at the University of Freiburg. She specialized in gynecological oncology and in psychotherapy at the Institute of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine. She became staff member, in 2003 vice chairman and since 2009 she is coordinator of the Gynecologic Oncology Cancer Center in Freiburg.

In 2010 she founded the ESGO Task Force Psychooncology and is head of this working group. She developed the international curriculum psychooncology in the frame of ESGO and provides multidisciplinary psychooncology workshops. Furthermore, she is member of the board of directors of the Institute of Sexuality and Health (ISG) in Freiburg and founded the Freiburg Academy for training of oncological nursing staff. In 2014 she completed her Master of Health Business Administration.

Professor Hasenburg’s main areas of clinical and translational interest regarding gynaecological and breast cancer focus on predictive and prognostic markers, kinetic targeting for the reduction of chemotherapy induced side-effects, tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes, molecular markers for the detection of circulating tumor cells and the development of comprehensive care concepts for the treatment of genital graft versus host disease.

Regarding psychooncology her key aspects are physician-patient relationship, quality of life and sexuality after cancer. In 2014 she completed her Master of Health Business Administration.

She is member of numerous national and international societies and has a long list of publications. She works as reviewer for many Journals and is member of the Expert-Panel of „XX – a Journal for women in medicine.

The Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of the TU Dresden is part of the Clinical Comprehensive Cancer Center Dresden. The TU Dresden is part of the National Cancer Center (NCT) in Germany. Our center has a certificate as Breast Cancer Center of Onkozert / DKG Germany and a certificate as a Gynaecologic Cancer Center. In addition we are a level I Perinatal Center and a Center for endometriosis.

At our department we have 3 specialists for Gynaecologic Oncology and Systemic tumor therapy („Schwerpunktweiterbildung Gynäkologische Onkologie“). Our main focus in research is translational research for breast cancer and gynecologic oncology with many national and international collaborators.

1. Analysis of prognostic and predictive markers for ovarian cancer and breast cancer
2. DTC and CTC in breast and ovarian cancer
3. Immunotherapy in gynaecologic oncology

• Radical surgery for advanced ovarian cancer
• Totale mesometrial resection in early cervical cancer (TMMR)
• Robotic surgery

of the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ESGO), American Association of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA), European Society of Robotic Surgery (SERGS), German Community for Gynecology and Obsterics (DGGG), Niederrheinisch-Westfälischen Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe, Mitteldeutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe (MGFG), Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft (DKG), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynecologic Oncology (AGO), Organkommission OVAR of the AGO-OVAR, Kommission Translationale Forschung der AGO (Commission for Translational Research of the AGO, TRAFO)

Head of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Technische Universität Dresden
Fetscherstr. 74
01307 Dresden

Phone.: +49(0)351 458 6728
Fax: +49(0)351 458 4329
E-mail: pauline.wimberger@uniklinikum-dresden.de

1. Analysis of prognostic and predictive markers for ovarian cancer and breast cancer
2. DTC and CTC in breast and ovarian cancer
3. Immunotherapy in gynecologic oncology

Kliniken Essen-Mitte is located in the centre of the City of Essen, and is an academic teaching hospital of the University of Essen Medical School. Kliniken Essen-Mitte is one of the leading community hospitals in the Ruhr-Region and offers high quality services in many medical specialities. The Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology in the Kliniken Essen-Mitte is specialized for the treatment of patients with gynecologic malignancies and is a certificated Gynecologic Cancer Center by the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft (DKG), an active member and regional leading center of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie (AGO) Studygroup and is associated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). The Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology International is cross-linked internationally with the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG), the European Network of Gynecologic Oncology Trial Groups (ENGOT) and the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ESGO / ENYGO).

Florian Heitz, MD is a senior physician at the Department of Gynecology & Gynecologic Oncology at the Kliniken Essen Mitte(KEM) in Essen, Germany.
Dr Heitz received his medical degree from the Justus Liebig University of Giessen Faculty of Medicine in 2006 and performed his residency in gynecology & obstetrics from 2007-2013.

Dr Heitz is a member of some medical societies, including the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ESGO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the German Cancer Society (DKG) and the German Society of Gynecology and Obstretics (DGGG). He is a member of Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie (AGO).

The main interest of research of Dr. Heitz is the clinical management of patients with ovarian cancer and the association between tumor biology and clinical outcome. A special focus is the implementation of structured and quality-secured sampling of biospecimen and the incorporation of translational research into the clinic and into clinical trials.

The Institute of Oncology “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta” (IOCN) was established in 1929 by Prof. Dr. Iuliu Moldovan and it is one of the first cancer centres founded in Europe.

During its 85 years of existence, the Oncology Institute has fulfilled a major role in the oncologic care of patients from the entire country, as well as in the formation and cancer education of many generations of physicians of the most diverse specialties. The Institute of Oncology is a comprehensive cancer centre of national public interest, with legal personality, subordinated to the Ministry of Public Health. At the same time, the Institute provides preventive, curative and palliative medical services in the oncology field and carries out education and research activities. In 2007, IOCN was the first oncology centre in Romania to become a full member of the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI).

Our mission is to contribute to the decrease of effects that cancer has in Romania. In this respect, we implement projects that deal with patient care, prevention and research, the continuous education of all professionals involved, as well as of the public.

Our vision for the future is to become the top cancer centre both at national and regional level. This is entirely possible, considering the quality of our organization, the excellence in patient care, the research quality, as well as the education provided.

Our Institute is affiliated to the “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj Napoca, hence our educational activity comprises in lectures and clinical practice for students, specialization training programs for residents of several specialties (general surgery, gynaecology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, ENT), multidisciplinary conferences covering different localizations of cancer, coordinating graduation theses for students, PhD students, counselling and supervision in conducting clinical research studies and publishing scientific articles.

IOCN is the TEAM made of physicians, nurses, researchers, physicists, technical and administrative staff.

Our Institute has the following functional structure:

• Department of Oncologic Surgery (including Oncologic Surgery I/II, Urology, ENT, ICU, 8 Operating Blocks) - 200 beds.
• Department of Medical Oncology (including Medical Oncology, Paediatric Oncology, Clinical Haematology) - 160 beds.
• Department of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine - 175 beds.
  Summarizing, our clinical activity can be reflected in a total number of >13.000 new pts./year, >20.000 continuous hospitalizations/year, >78.000 daycare hospitalizations/year.
• Department of Pathology (>10.000 cases/year, including >80.000 paraffin blocks, >80.200 histology slides, >22.300 IHC slides, using the equipment of the laboratory (histopathology laboratory, cytology laboratory, immunohistochemistry laboratory and in situ hybrid techniques, cytogenetics laboratory, biobank for tumor tissue and a prosector service)
• Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics And Experimental Pathology
  Focused on identifying biomarkers for diagnosis and therapy, molecular profiling, response and resistance to therapy.
  The Infrastructure of our department include has six laboratories for functional genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology and experimental pathology as well as a laboratory for cell culture. Our facilities consist of: a complete Agilent microarray platform (Whole Human Genome) for genomics analysis; two real-time PCR devices (Roche LC480 and LC2.0) used for qRT-PCR and PCR array analysis; Lab-on-a-chip technologies: Bioanalyzer 2100 (Agilent) and Spectrophotometer Nanodrop ND-1000; infrastructure for protein assays: Mini-PROTEAN 3 unit for Electrophoresis and Western blot; Complete lab facilities for biological samples (tissue, blood, urine) processing: set of centrifuges; laminar flow hoods, bio-blocks, refrigerators, pipets, automatic thermo-adjustable water bath; cell culture facilities; internal bio bank including ultra freezers (-800C) and liquid nitrogen locators.
• Department of Radiobiology and Tumor Biology (radiobiology, chemosensitivity, stem cells research, immunology).

IOCN, as a partner of Tumorbank Ovarian Cancer Network (TOC) immerses in the clinical treatment of malignant ovarian pathology and continuous scientific research programs addressing this issue.
Each year, approximately 250 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed and treated within the multidisciplinary team of IOCN (surgeons, medical oncologists, ICU physicians, pathologists, radiologists, psychologists, nurses).
Our present research programs on ovarian cancer focus on angiogenesis, stem cell biomarkers, tumor microenvironment, chemotherapy resistance, predictors for overall survival and tailored treatment:

1. “The role of tumor microenvironment and TLRs-miRNAs modulation in the acquisition of resistance to chemotherapy in serous ovarian carcinoma” - FUNDING APPLICATION FOR YOUNG RESEARCH TEAMS - PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4 – Under evaluation. Project director: Assoc. Prof. Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu, MD, PhD. Period 2015-2017.
   The general objective of this project is to investigate the combinatorial role of the tumor microenvironment and TLRs-miRNAs modulation in the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in serous ovarian cancers. To achive this goal we propose to investigate the tumor microenvironment as well as TLRs expression in serous ovarian carcinomas with and without response to therapy; to profile the expression of miRNAs in the tissue of patients with serous ovarian carcinomas according to treatment response; to identify TLRs-miRNAs regulations and validate the integrated prediction model (IPM) in ovarian cancer related to chemotherapy resistance.
2. “The role of microvascularisation and endothelial markers in ovarian cancer” – Project under the Frame of European Social Fund, Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2007-2013, POSDRU/159/1.5/138776. Postdoctoral researcher: Asst. Prof. Catalin Vlad, MD, PhD. Period 2014-2015.
   The main objective is the evaluation of ADAM12 (A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase 12) and CDCP1 (CUB domain-containing protein 1) as endothelial prognostic markers for neoangiogenesis and tailored treatment in ovarian cancer.
3. “Predictors for personalized therapy in ovarian cancer” – Project under the Frame of European Social Fund, Human Resources Development Operational Programme 2007-2013, POSDRU/159/1.5/138776. Doctoral researcher: Andrea Onisim, MD, PhD student. Period 2014-2015.
   This project aims to strengthen the novel insights into ovarian cancer, in part by assessing the expression of two putative cancer stem cell markers (Nestin, CD133), their role in angiogenesis and response to therapy.

The Innsbruck Medical University is dedicated to patient care, research and education. This comprehensive centre has recently been established with a strong collaboration between the various different disciplines. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, chaired by Prof. Christian Marth, is a large tertiary centre in gynaecologic oncology with more than 500 gynaecologic cancer patients per year. Translational research is facilitated by excellent laboratory facilities with ca. 500 m² laboratory area. Since 1985 a tissue and serum bank has been built with tissue samples from more than 5,000 cancer patients and about 250,000 serum samples. The Department participates and organises ovarian cancer trials from phase I to phase III with the help of the integrated Austrian-AGO trial centre. 

Nicole Concin, MD, is a gynaecologist with a clinical focus on Gynaecological Oncology and Professor of Experimental Gynaecology. She is a renowned physician-scientist in p53 translational research in ovarian cancer. Her research group focuses on the clinical relevance of p53 family members (p53/p73 and isoforms) in ovarian cancer and continuously publishes on this topic in high-ranked peer-reviewed jounals since 10 years. She is a member of the scientific board of A-AGO and TOC.

President of Austrian-AGO: Principal Investigator of >40 clinical Phase II and III trials; Council member of the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) and member of the board of directors of the Gynaecological Cancer Intergroup (GCIG); Since 6 years Chair of the ovarian cancer committee of the GCIG; Reviewer of several scientific journals; Lead Investigator/Austrian-AGO lead-trial group for multinational, multicentre Trinova 2 study.