Profiles
From “No Chance” to “All Bloody Clear”: John Walker Pattison’s 50-Year Journey and the Challenge of Cancer Survivorship
John Walker Pattison with his family A Diagnosis That Changed Everything I was born in South Shields sixty-nine years ago. My childhood was happy, if uneventful, and I left school with what I would later describe as a handful of…
“Medicine is Deeply Relational: The Human Heart of Oncology in the Age of AI”
From genetics to palliative care, clinician-scientist Rita Canário reflects on building a career in Oncology that bridges research, patient care, and the human side of medicine and why this integration is essential for the future of oncology. “I was never…
Isabel Mestres: The Doer
Global health has become very good at diagnosing problems but far less effective at implementing solutions. That gap is where Isabel Mestres has built her career. As CEO of City Cancer Challenge, she is known not as a theorist or…
Translating Global Excellence into Local Impact: Dr Fatjona Kraja and the Challenge of Transforming Radiation Oncology in Albania
Radiation oncology is one of the most technologically sophisticated and intellectually demanding disciplines in modern medicine. Yet, for Dr Fatjona Kraja, newly appointed Faculty member of the European School of Oncology (ESO) College, the field is defined not only by…
“Hope is Constant “: From Isolation and Fear to Connection, Purpose, and Global Impact
Hope as a Guiding Mantra One of my friends, a retired oncology nurse in Scotland, where I live, has become a source of hope for my family and me, and her words have become a mantra: hope is constant. Prior…
From Dalian to Houston and Back to Yemen: Bridging the Global Oncology Divide
A Global Summit, a Personal Reckoning At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Leadership Summit in Singapore, discussions moved rapidly from antibody–drug conjugates to next-generation sequencing and the expanding role of immunotherapy. Clinical trial curves filled large screens, and…
Leading with Listening: Why Isabel Rubio Believes Europe’s Cancer Future Depends on Trust, Equity, and Political Courage
Leadership in oncology is often measured in breakthroughs, budgets, and policy frameworks. But for Dr. Isabel Rubio, President of the European Cancer Organisation (ECO), leadership begins somewhere far more intimate: in listening. “Progress happens only when expertise is matched by…
Bente Mikkelsen: “Success is Something We Build Together”
From the bedside to global reform, and why equity must be engineered, not hoped for “I think I chose medicine because it gave all the opportunities to address people, both at a national level, but also internationally. And it’s a…
Karen Knudsen: The Scientist Who Refused to Move Slowly
“I’m a scientist first and foremost. I don’t remember a time not thinking about being a scientist.” What Karen Knudsen, the CEO of Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, remembers clearly is the pull not toward prestige or power, but toward…
“A Novel Path With Risks”
Arjun K. Ghosh on Building Cardio-Oncology From Scratch and Why the Goal Is Almost Never to Stop Cancer Treatment Professor Arjun K. Ghosh A cappuccino sits within reach as Professor Arjun K. Ghosh talks—a coffee that keeps pace with a…