GI Cancer Speakers

Dr. Ankur Bahl practices at Max Super Speciality Hospital, He is a member of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO),European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology (ISMPO). Some of the services provided by the doctor are: Sinonasal Malignancies,Cancer Treatment,Head and Neck Tumor / Cancer Surgery,Tumors And Cysts and Thyroidectomy etc.

Her primary translational research focus is in investigating molecular alterations in solid tumors, especially of breast, brain, colon, and pancreas on a multi-omic level to discover prognostic and predictive biomarkers in patients with cancer. Her research also extends to genomic database creation (MUSTARD Database for targeted therapy, BRCAIndica, a national compendium for BRCA gene variants) and signalling pathway network creation using computational oncology. She has completed two PG courses from Harvard Medical School, namely, in High Impact Cancer Research (CBT-HICR) and Clinical Research Training. Dr Anu R I currently works as Head of Clinical Biochemistry, and Specialist in Precision Oncology & Multi-omics in MVR Cancer Centre and Research Institute and as an International subject matter expert in Molecular Oncology and pan-omics. She is an active member of Analysis Working Groups: Multi-omics & Systems Biology, ALSDA, and AI for Space formulated by NASA for Global networking and research on Space biology and Omics. Her MD in Clinical Biochemistry was obtained from Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi,with a Gold Medal. She has received numerous awards and accolades for experimental research on human genetics. Her vision encompasses strengthening the foundation of Precision Oncology and Multi-omics in India for advanced and tailored patient care and development of cost-effective diagnostic facilities for patients worldwide.

Dr. Aparna Dhar is a Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and University of Glasgow trained Medical Geneticist and Genetic Counsellor. She has over fifteen years of experience in academia, hereditary cancers and personalized genomic testing for guiding patient treatment and management. Over 10,000 families have benefitted from her Cancer Genetics clinic. She has also gained experience as a Research fellow, Medical Geneticist & Genetic counsellor at Mayo Clinic, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, National Health Services (NHS) Scotland and Harvard Medical Foundation (Dubai). Her main interests include cancer genetics (specifically breast and gynaecologic oncology), oncofertility and patient advocacy. Additionally she’s interested in telemedicine and educational aspects of genetic counselling. She is currently Head of Department- Medical Genomics and Genetic counselling at SRL. In addition, she leads the Cancer Genetics Clinic at Fortis Memorial and Research Institute in Gurgaon.

Dr. Bhawna Sirohi started her oncology career at Tata Memorial centre (TMC), Mumbai in 1994 and completed training at Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, UK. She serves in Max Super specialty Hospital and is currently an honorary consultant with QMUL, London. At TMC in 2012-2014, she set up GI medical oncology &medical oncology information system (MOIS) for e-prescribing chemotherapy. She has been involved in initial setting up of cancer centres in Sangrur and Mohali, Punjab for TMC. She has piloted use of virtual consults using PROM & PREM in London.

Dr. Faisel Ikram joined Mediclinic City Hospital as Consultant General Surgeon/ Surgical Gastroenterologist with special interest in advanced laparoscopic surgery. After completing his surgical training at Johannesburg General Hospital, he took up a consultant position at the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and was a lecturer at the Wits Medical School, University of Witwatersrand. He completed his sub-speciality training and continued to work as a Senior Consultant in his unit, specialising in surgical oncology.He has been actively involved in conducting training workshops in basic and advanced laparoscopy in South Africa.

Dr. Harsh Sheth’s work focuses on translational genetics research in rare diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, male infertility and hereditary cancer detection and prevention. He carried out his Ph.D. at Newcastle University, UK, under the tutelage of Prof. Sir John Burn and post-doctorate research work in the lab of Prof. Joris Veltman. He established Advanced Genomic Technologies Division and Bioinformatics Core Unit at FRIGE’s Institute of Human Genetics in Ahmedabad where he is also an Assistant Professor. Towards hereditary cancer, especially Lynch syndrome, his main focus has been to develop a low-cost, automatable and high-throughput assay for detection of tumour microsatellite instability for which he is a named inventor on an international patent. He also carried out joint statistical analysis of long-term follow-up data from the CAPP2 randomised controlled trial which demonstrated aspirin and resistant starch as effective chemopreventive agents in Lynch syndrome patients. He also leads one of India’s largest molecular epidemiology studies of Lynch syndrome prevalence in colorectal cancer patients, is India’s largest contributor to the Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database and is a Panel Member of ICMR’s Subcommittee on Precision Oncology.

Juan Valle is a Professor of Medical Oncology in the University of Manchester (Division of Cancer Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health). He is based at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust within the Gastrointestinal Disease Group and treats cancers of the pancreas, liver and biliary tract, and neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). Prof Valle has been awarded a number of grants for research leading to high-impact, practice-changing publications and presentations at national and international meetings; he is a peer-reviewer for many international medical journals and grant-awarding bodies. Prof Valle established The Christie Neuroendocrine European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Centre of Excellence in Manchester in 2011 and currently sits on the ENETS Advisory Board; he previously Chaired the UK National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) neuroendocrine subgroup (2013 – 2017). Professor Valle is an active member of the NCRI hepatobiliary and pancreatic subgroups; he co-Chaired the EORTC Hepatobiliary Task Force (2018-2021); and sits on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation [USA] and the Medical/Clinical Advisory Board of AMMF, the UK Cholangiocarcinoma Charity. He previously was a member of the National Cancer Institute Hepatobiliary Task Force [USA]. Society memberships include ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology), ESMO (European Society of Medical Oncology), UKI NETS (UK and Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Society) and ENETS (European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society).

Dr.Shiu qualified as a doctor at Guys and St Thomas’ Medical School. He trained in medical oncology in London including St George’s Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital and University College London Hospital and completed his PhD in integrative genomic profiling of cancer, working with Professor Alan Ashworth at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital. He also attained a research fellowship at the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, maintaining a strong link with them in order to accelerate the development of novel cancer clinical trial designs. Dr. Shiu is a consultant in the Gastrointestinal Oncology Unit at UCLH. He is also the Clinical Lead for the Cancer of Unknown Primary Service, and the Acute Oncology Service at UCLH. He is actively involved in gastrointestinal oncology clinical trial research and also has a specialist interest in treating patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary, their entry into clinical trials, and management of oligometastatic disease. Dr.Shiu is the Principal Investigator of the UCL/UCLH Gastrointestinal Cancer Translational Research Biobank. He is the Chief Investigator and Principal Investigator for a number of national and international trials. He also undertakes early phase clinical trials in the private sector at The Sarah Cannon Research Institute, which is associated with the LOC in Harley Street.

Dr. Leonard B. Saltz is an oncologist in New York, New York and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and NYC Health and Hospitals-Bellevue. He received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Dr. Maroun El Khoury completed his basic medical training from Saint Joseph University School of Medicine Beirut, Lebanon in 1999. He is also a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology and American Academy of Pain Management. Dr. Maroun El Khoury’s specialty is Oncology and currently work as a Consultant Oncologist.

Marwan Al-Akasheh, MBBS, FACP is a Consultant Hematology, Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplantation. He completed his Fellowship Medical College of Wisconsin (USA), Jordanian Board in Hematology & Oncology, State of Wisconsin Medical License USA Member of ASCO, ACP, ASH, ESMO Chief Hematology, Oncology & BMT at King Hussein Medical Center (Retired). At present he is the CEO of Maggi Medical Ctr. Jebel Amman .

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Nouri Bennini has served as Consultant Oncologist at the Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, since 1999. He received his general medicine diploma in 1988 from the University of Constantine in Algeria and undertook residency in medical oncology at the University of Bordeaux, France. At the University of Montpellier, France, Dr Bennini specialised in breast diseases. He has published several scientific papers and contributed to a number of oncology conferences.

Dr Raghav Sundar is a clinician-scientist specialising in gastrointestinal oncology. He is a consultant medical oncologist at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, treating patients with gastrointestinal malignancies including colorectal, gastric and hepatobiliary malignancies. He also specialises in experimental therapeutics and early phase clinical trials, and is a part of the Phase 1 clinical trials team. He underwent fellowship training at the Drug Development Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital, UK. His research interest is in genomics of gastric cancer. He studies the interaction between the tumor epigenome and the immune microenvironment. His work has identified predictive biomarkers of systemic therapy in gastric cancer as well as potential therapeutic targets. His studies incorporate contemporary technology such as spatial transcriptomics and machine-learning. Another area of research interest is in chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy. As a translational clinician-scientist his works arches across several domains, collaborating with engineers, bioinformaticians, laboratory scientists, pharmaceutical and industry partners. He has published over 50 manuscripts, in high impact journals such as Cancer Discovery and Gut and secured over $4 million in grant funding to date.

“Dr. Rakesh Rai is one of the renowned Hepato-Pancrato-Biliary & Transplant Surgeons. He has an experience of over 15+ years of and has worked with some of the most renowned transplant centres in the world. Dr Rai has completed his MBBS from Patna University & MS (General Surgery) from the University of Mumbai. Following which he did his MD from the University of Newcastle. He has received training in HPB surgery and abdominal organ transplantation from some of the eminent centres in the UK like Royal Free Hospital, London, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. His areas of specialization are Liver resection for benign and cancerous liver tumors, gall bladder cancer, Surgeries of the stomach, duodenum, small and large intestine, kidney transplants, etc. Dr Rai has finished his American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) & an accredited fellowship at Methodist Transplant Institute at Memphis. He also has experience in living donor liver transplantation at Asan Medical centre, Samsung Medical centre in Seoul, Korea. Dr Rai is regularly invited to speak in some of the well-known scientific meetings in India as well as abroad. Dr Rai has his expertise in hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery and solid organ transplantation (liver, kidney and pancreas). He has multiple publications in eminent journals and has reviewed articles for eminent journals.”

Dr. Sanjay Sharma is a surgical oncologist and Director of Oncology and Professor at the Asian Institute of Oncology. He has worked at the Tata cancer hospital for over 27 years as professor ,trained extensively at Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer centre New York , also trained at Japan ‘s kuru me university , n Fukuoka university on surgery for cancer Esophagus.

Dr. Shailesh V. Shrikhande, is Deputy Director at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. He is also Professor & Head, Division of Cancer Surgery and Chief of GI and HPB Surgical Oncology at the Tata Memorial Hospital. After completing his MS from Mumbai University where he was ranked first in 1997, he proceeded to Switzerland where he worked with one of the leading pancreatic surgeons in the world, Professor Markus Buchler. During his 15 month stay there, he was actively involved in basic science research in tropical chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. On his return to India, he worked as a fellow in GI Surgery at the Tata Memorial Hospital from July 2001 till October 2002. He was then appointed as consultant GI and HPB surgeon of Tata Memorial Hospital in November 2002. In 2005, he became the first Asian to be awarded the Kenneth Warren Fellowship of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (IHPBA) – and was on special deputation from Tata Memorial for a year in the University of Heidelberg in Germany – perhaps the highest volume center for pancreatic resectional surgery in the world. He was awarded the “Doctor Med” (MD) degree by the University of Heidelberg with the excellent grade in January 2006 for his work on pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis. He has been invited for over 80 lectures in India and abroad in Switzerland, Germany, Egypt and China and Russia. He has more than 70 clinical and basic science research papers in indexed international and national peer reviewed journals. He has contributed more than 30 book chapters to various national and international books and is the editor of the book “Surgery of Pancreatic tumors” released in October 2007. He has given live operative demonstrations on pancreatic, gall bladder and rectal cancer, is on the review board of many national and international journals, and is the Associate Editor of Indian Journal of Colorectal Diseases.

Prof. Suayib Yalcin is a medical oncologist with special interest in cancer treatment and research. He has authored/co-authored more than 140 articles cited more than 5000 citations in science citation index. His main areas of research interest are gastrointestinal cancers also including neuroendocrine tumors and gastrointestinal stromal tumors as well as supportive care (pain, nutrition, emesis). Graduating from Hacettepe University Ankara, Turkey in 1989, he finished internal medicine in 1994 and became a Medical Oncologist in 1997 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Gastrointestinal Oncology Department at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA. He was appointed as a assistant professor 1997, associate professor in 1998 and a full professor in 2004. He served as the director of the Hacettepe University Oncology Hospital, Head of the Hacettepe University Medical Oncology Department, President of Turkish Society of Medical Oncology, General Secretary of Turkish Oncology Group and 2 terms as National Representative of ESMO in Turkey. Currently he is serving as a full professor at Hacettepe University Cancer Institute, and he is also currently the president of Turkish Association of Cancer Research and Control and Hacettepe Oncology Association and also president Cancer Research Society, past president of Turkish Society of Medical Oncology. He is an active member of ENETS, ASCO, ESMO, EORTC, MMOF, and is the former ESMO national representative of Turkey. He has participated in many clinical cancer research projects as a steering committee member, or principal investigator and serves as editorial board of several cancer journals. He has been the conference chair of international gastrointestinal cancers conference (www.igicc.org) for the last 9 years and also served as an invited speaker in many national and international scientific conferences. Dr.Yalcin has participated many international multicentric clinical trials resulting in practice changes in oncology. He is also the editor of the book “Neuroendocrine tumors: Diagnosis and management” published by Springer and also the editor of “Textbook of Gastrointestinal Oncology” published by Springer as well in 2019.

Dr. Syed Mansoor Hasnain is as Consultant Radiation Oncologist working in Tawam Hospital, since 2009. He has double qualifications & training, FRCS (Glasg) in surgery from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow & radiotherapy training & Fellowship ‘FFR RCSI’ in radiation oncology from The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Professor Dr. Tarek Dufan is a Senior Consultant Radiation Oncologist and has worked as Cancer Liaison Physician at the Sanford Bismarck Health Center, North Dakota, USA. He has also worked as a Senior Consultant Radiation Oncologist at the Bismarck Cancer Center, Sanford Bismarck Health Center and CHI St. Alexius Health Center, North Dakota, USA. Prof. Dr. Dufan received his certification from the American Board and the Canada Board in Radiation Oncology. He is an active member of the American Society of Brachytherapy, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American College of Radiology, and American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

He is the founding Medical Director of Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK, and is currently serving as the Executive Medical Director for SCRI UK and Clinical Lead for the Hospital Corporation of America International Cancer Service Line. Dr. Arkenau has vast experience in Early Oncology Clinical Drug Development with a special interest in gastrointestinal cancer and melanoma.

Dr Toh is Senior Consultant and former Head at the Department of Medical Oncology and now Deputy Medical Director (Strategic Partnerships), National Cancer Centre, Singapore. He graduated from the University of London, UK with an intercalated Bachelor of Science in ‘Infection and Immunity’ from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School and qualified as a medical doctor from University of Cambridge, UK. Dr Toh obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians in 2003. He received his medical oncology fellowship training at the Singapore General Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA and at the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Dr Toh is also alumni at the Harvard Business School. He is currently the vice-chairman of the Oncology Academic Clinical Program (ACP) for Education. He is a recipient of the National Clinician Scientist Award for his pioneering work in cell therapy for cancer. He conducted the first cancer vaccine and T cell therapy clinical trials in Singapore, and continues to work actively in the field of cancer immunotherapy, immunology and inflammation. He also had a strong interest in drug development for the Singapore Medical Association and the Singapore College of Physicians. gastrointestinal cancers including colon and liver cancer. Dr Toh is an Associate Professor and College Master at the Duke-NUS Medical School. He is also an adjunct Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR. He was a council member in the Singapore Medical Association and the Singapore College of Physicians.

Dr Vikram Chaudri is currently working as a Consultant AND Professor – GI and HPB Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgical Oncology at Tata Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Vineet Gupta is the best oncologist in Bangalore, appointed as a Senior Consultant & Head – Medical Oncology & Haematology at Sakra World Hospital. He has vast experience in treating all types of solid tumors with chemotherapy and targeted therapy. Being a blood cancer specialist in India, he is an expert in treating blood-related disorders including leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, lymphomas, multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, thalassaemias, bleeding and clotting disorders, bone marrow/ stem cell transplant, and sickle cell anemia. He is the first Asian to be conferred the Prestigious Lubrano Distinguished Scholar award by Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Harvard University (USA). He has over 12 years of clinical experience in the USA.

Dr. Zakir has over 15 years of clinical experience and was a consultant colorectal and general surgeon in the UK, after achieving his Advanced Laparoscopic and Robotic Fellowship from Hong Kong (University of Hong Kong under Prof WL Law) and CCT (in Colorectal Surgery) from the UK. Dr Zakir is a member of the Association of Coloproctologists of Great Britain and Ireland and holds a consultant license in General and Colorectal Surgery in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, India and the United Kingdom. He is also currently an Honorary Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.