Jan Geissler

Chair, LeukaNET / Leukämie-Online, Germany

Co-Founder, CML Advocates Network

In July 2001, Jan received his diagnosis of a rare cancer, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), at a routine check-up. He then joined a phase I/II clinical trial. As hardly any information on upcoming treatments was available in the German language, he started to simplify and translate medical publications into German language. In 2002, he started to publish them by founding the online patient community Leukämie-Online (http://www.leukaemie-online.de), which is one of the most frequented patient websites on leukemia in the German speaking Internet today. Leukämie-Online became a charitable organisation in Germany in 2006, with Jan being the Chair.

In 2007, Jan has co-founded the CML Advocates Network (http://www.cmladvocates.net) together with other CML patient groups from Israel, the UK and Czech Republic. The goal of the web-based platform is to get organisations connected that are supporting patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. Today, members include 57 CML groups from all continents, sharing best practice in cancer patient advocacy and campaigning for better treatment and care of CML patients world wide.

Jan is also a co-founder of the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), a board member of the European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP), and acts on a number of advisory boards.

In the International CML Foundation (iCMLf), Jan acts as Communications Coordinator and runs the foundation's Pediatric CML program.

Contact

Jan Geissler <jan@cml-foundation.org>

Susan Branford, PhD, FFSc (RCPA)

Head, Leukaemia Unit
Genetics and Molecular Pathology
SA Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology
An Alliance between SA Patholgy and The University of South Australia

Professor Susan Branford is Head of the Leukaemia lab in the Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology at SA Pathology.

Sue has expertise in molecular monitoring of the BCR-ABL1 gene for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. As such she is a major contributor to International collaborative initiatives to establish guidelines and recommendations for producing reliable molecular data.

Dr Branford's research is focused on understanding the factors that predict response to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy and mechanisms of drug resistance.

Professor of Internal Medicine
Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences
University of Turin
Turin, Italy

Dr Giuseppe Saglio is Professor of Internal Medicine and Haematology at the University of Turin. He is Director of the Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences at the University of Turin and responsible for the Division of Internal Medicine and Haematology at San Luigi University Hospital. He graduated from the University of Turin in 1975. Since then he has studied Internal Medicine at the University of Turin (1975-1980), Haematology at the University of Milan (1980-1983) and Molecular Biology at the University of Leiden (1976), Inserm-Creteil, Paris (1979) and the University of California (1983).

Dr Saglio is co-ordinator of the PhD programme in Molecular Medicine and Experimental Therapy at the University of Turin, past-president of the Italian Society of Experimental Haematology (SIES) and general secretary of the IACRLRD (International Association for Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Diseases). He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of molecular pathogenesis of haematological malignancies (1986-present), molecular medicine applied to clinical medicine (1978-present) and the molecular basis of thalassemia and related haemoglobinopathies (1978-1990).

Prof. Dr. Hemant Malhotra,  MD, FRCP (London), FRCP (Edinburgh), FACP (USA), MNAMS, FICP, FUICC, FIMSA

Professor & Head, Department of Medical Oncology, Sriram Cancer Center,  Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital, Jaipur.

Dr. Hemant Malhotra is presently Professor & Head, Department of Medical Oncology at the Sriram Cancer Center of the Mahatma Gandhi College Hospital, Jaipur. Since superannuating after more than three decades of government service where he was the PHOD, Department of Medicine and Head of the division of Medical Oncology at the Birla Cancer Center, SMS Medical College, Jaipur, he now working full time at the MGMCH. The Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Hospital is 1400 bedded, one of the leading tertiary care teaching and patient care center of North India, and the largest in the private sector.

Dr. Malhotra graduated and post-graduated at the top of his batch from the SMS Medical College and after fellowships at Tata Memorial Cancer Center, Mumbai (1989 to 1991); Cornell Medical Center, New York and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, set up the Medical Oncology division in the department of Medicine at the SMS Hospital in 1991, the first in the state of Rajasthan. He also established a Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at the SMS and his team has successfully done the first-ever autologous bone marrow transplantation in the state of Rajasthan. Regular autologous and allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantations are now being done in the unit.

Dr. Malhotra has more than three decades of treating cancer patients in the state of Rajasthan is a well-recognized and respected teacher. Many of his students are now senior medical oncologists spread all over the country and heading their own departments.

He is an internationally and nationally recognized medical oncologist and was the India, Pakistan & Bangladesh representative to the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) from 2006 to 2008. He is also ESMO board certified in medical oncology. He is an advisor/consultant/referee/committee member for oncology to several Government of India bodies and head the ICMR committee for formulation of guidelines for multiple myeloma. He serves on the Specialty Expert Committee on Hematology & Oncology of the Drug Controller General of India. He has served on the National Oncology SAE Committee of the Drug Controller General of India, Government of India. He has been an invited consultant to the WHO on guideline development for bio-similar oncology molecules.

Dr. Malhotra has to his credit more than 200 international and national publications and presentations and is an office bearer and member of many international and national societies and organizations. He is the lead author of a chapter on Chronic Leukemia in the Oxford Text book of Oncology. He is the Immediate Past President of the Indian Society of Medical & Pediatric Oncology (ISMPO). He is one of the founder members & Head of
the Hematological Cancers Committee of the Indian Cooperative Oncology Network (ICON). 

Dr. Malhotra is keenly interested in clinical research and has completed more than 40 investigator initiated and industry sponsored pivotal clinical trial as Principal Investigator. Dr. Malhotra has investigator-initiated trials and projects in several diseases, especially Chronic Myeloid Leukemia. He is also on the Board of Advisors of the International CML Foundation and is the national representative to the iCMLf from India. Dr. Malhotra has been the Joint Secretary of the Ethic Committee of the SMS Medical College since inception till 2010 and has been instrumental in drafting the SOPs of the EC. He has also been a Member of the Ethics Committee at the Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital in Jaipur.

Amongst his recent honors, Dr. Malhotra was awarded the International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Prize for outstanding work in CML in emerging regions in Miami, USA in 2018. He was also invited to Chair and speak at the 62nd Annual Conference of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) organized at Orlando, USA in the first week of December 2019, the only physicians from the whole country to be give this honor.