Speakers

Sebastian Szmit

Chair of the Summit on Cardio-Oncology Excellence 2025

Sebastian Szmit is a cardiologist & medical oncologist. He graduated from the Military Medical Academy in Poland (2002). From 2002 to 2012 he worked at the Military Institute of Medicine in the (1) Emergency Department, (2) Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, (3) Department of Oncology. Since 2012 he has been working at the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education as: (1) a cardio-oncology consultant at the Department of Pulmonary Circulation, Thromboembolic Diseases and Cardiology (until 2022), (2) Head of the Department of Cardio-Oncology at the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine. He is a consultant of the Cardio-Oncology Subunit at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology in Warsaw. He is responsible for leading the Education & Training Advisory Committee, International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS). He chairs the Thrombosis Study Group of the ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology.

Beata Jagielska

Director of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute  of Oncology in Poland

Teresa López-Fernández

Chair, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Dr López-Fernández is a senior consultant cardiologist at La Paz University Hospital and the IdiPAZ Research Institute in Madrid, Spain, where she leads the Cardio-Oncology programme. She also holds this role at Quirónsalud University Hospital. Her main focus is the clinical coordination of multidisciplinary teams, cardiovascular care in patients with cancer, and advanced cardiac imaging.

She is Chair of the ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology and Co-Chair of the first ESC Guidelines on Cardio-Oncology. Previously, she founded and led the Cardio-Oncology Working Group of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (2015–2023). She also serves as Associate Editor for the European Heart Journal and European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, and sits on the editorial board of JACC: Cardio-Oncology.

Giuseppe Curigliano

President Elect of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, is the director of the Early Drug Development Division and holds the co-chair for Experimental Therapeutics Program at the European Institute of Oncology, a comprehensive cancer center in Milano, Italy. He is professor of Medical Oncology in the Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology at the University of Milano. Moreover, he is member of the Italian National Health Council, serving as advisor of the Ministry of Health for cancer policy issues.

He worked at the Columbia University Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York, USA, developing an experience in preclinical and translational research. He was also visiting scholar at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. At the European Institute of Oncology he served as Co-Director of the Division of Medical Oncology until 2014.

Professor Curigliano obtained his medical and specialist degree from the Catholic University in Rome, Italy. He is a specialist in Medical Oncology. He obtained a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology at University of Pisa, Italy.

Professor Curigliano served as an expert panel member issuing the AIOM, ESMO, ASCO guidelines in breast cancer and germline gene testing recommendations. He co-chaired for several years the scientific committee of the St Gallen Early Breast Cancer Conference. He is also a scientific board member of EUSOMA (European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists). He is serving as member of the Scientific Board of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG). He is serving on the executive board of the Breast International Group (BIG).

In ESMO he served as Chair the ESMO Nomination Committee (2017-2019) and as Chair of the ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline Committee (2019-2023). He was one of the founding member and served as scientific Co-Chair of the “ESMO Breast Cancer Congress”. He contributed to launch the ESMO Living Guidelines and to the recognition of the Fellow of ESMO (FESMO). He organized and participated to many professional and educational programs for oncologists all over the world.

Professor Curigliano is principal investigator and steering committee member of numerous breast and early development clinical trials, particularly with innovative targeted compounds and individualized treatment strategies. His translational research focusses on the field of biomarkers and personalised therapies, biomarker discovery, development of targeted agents and implementation of personalised medicine. His team includes 40 people (including medical staff, research nurse, oncology nurse and medical oncology residents) working on basic sciences, bioinformatics, biotechnologies and clinical research. He is also leading phase I-III trials testing targeted agents in the field of breast cancer, agnostic and large national trials testing implementation of high throughput technologies in the health care system.

He has a strong interest in artificial intelligence and established in the University of Milano the first Master on Artificial Intelligence in Cancer Medicine.

Professor Curigliano was identified as Clarivate™ world’s most influential researchers (the highly cited researchers) in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He has authored more than 800 papers in peer-reviewed journals (h-index 96) and many book chapters. He served as editorial board member for international journals in oncology (European Journal of Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology). He is a panel member of several international breast cancer consensus conferences and has served as a chair or steering committee member for numerous national and international conferences. He trained, mentored and sponsored dozens of medical oncologists from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Italy.

Professor Curigliano was awarded with the first ESO Umberto Veronesi Award (2017) and with the Fellowship of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences in Paris (2017).

Prof. Curigliano is currently serving as Editor in Chief of ESMO Open. He is ESMO President elect.

Prof. Curigliano was born in Rouyn Noranda, Canada; he is married with an intensive care doctor. He has dual citizenship (Italy and Canada).

Susan Dent

President of the International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS)

Peter van der Meer

Chairperson-Elect, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Bonnie Ky

Editor-in-Chief, JACC: CardioOncology

Barbara Alicja Jereczek-Fossa

President Elect of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO)

Barbara Alicja Jereczek-Fossa, MD, PhD, is Full Professor of Radiation Oncology at UNIMI and Chair of the Radiation Oncology Department, including the Proton Center, at European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy. She is President Elect of ESTRO and serves on key scientific boards, including APCCC, ESO and EuropaUomo. She is PI of the AIRC-funded studies on prostate cancer, including the RADIOSA randomised phase II trial on prostate cancer oligorecurrences, the GIVE-ME-FIVE phase II study on prostate SBRT with intraprostatic boost, the GREEN Radiotherapy initiative on sustainable hypofractionation (Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action MUSA project), and the STRA-MI-VT cardiac radioablation phase I/II trial. Her research explores SBRT and hypofractionation, AI and radiomics (e.g., ESTRO-AAPM AI Guidelines, DECIDE project), proton therapy (POWER Registry) and drug radiation combinations. Author of nearly 500 publications, she holds an H-index of 58 (13.100 citations) and ranks among the Top Italian and Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists.

Alexander Lyon

Past Chairperson, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Aaron Sverdlov

Co-Director of Newcastle Centre of Excellence in Cardio-Oncology

Institutions: University of Newcastle, Hunter New England LHD, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Calvary Mater Newcastle

Positions: Director of Heart Failure; Co-Director of Newcastle Centre of Excellence in Cardio-Oncology; Clinical Academic Cardiologist; Clinical Lead for Heart Failure and Cardio-Oncology

Short Bio:
Aaron Sverdlov is a heart failure cardiologist and a nationally and internationally recognised leader in cardio-oncology. He is a Professor, Director of Heart Failure and Clinical Lead for Heart Failure and Cardio-Oncology at the University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Health.

Aaron did his undergraduate and postgraduate medical training as well as PhD in Adelaide, post-doctoral Fellowship in Boston (2012-2015) and was recruited to NSW in 2017. He is a current Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellow, and a past NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow and American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow. He has co-authored over 120 manuscripts (h-index 33) and obtained over $18M in grant funding.

Aaron co-established and co-leads Newcastle Centre of Excellence in Cardio-Oncology at the University of Newcastle, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Hunter New England Health and Calvary Mater Newcastle. This was the first internationally accredited Cardio-Oncology Centre of Excellence in the Southern Hemisphere. This multidisciplinary program incorporates fundamental discovery looking at mechanisms of cardiotoxicity, drug discovery studies, translational human research, clinical research and clinical inpatient and outpatient service delivery. His key discoveries relate to repurposing drugs to simultaneously treat cancer and protect the heart and improving cardiovascular outcomes of patients living with and beyond cancer though better models of care.

Aaron is an Associate Editor for Heart Lung and Circulation, Scientific Reports, Heart Failure Reviews and Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy, and an international advisor for JACC CardioOncology. He is a co-founder and co-chair of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Cardio-Oncology Working Group, and a chair of the joint Clinical Oncology Society of Australia-Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Cardio-Oncology Working Group. He is also a member of the Scientific and Research Committee and Education Committee of the International Cardio-Oncology Society and a member of the Executive for the Global Cardio-Oncology Registry, European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Cardio-Oncology Study Group and ESC Cardio-Oncology Council Study Group on Biomarkers.

Mariana Mirabel

Communications Coordinator, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Pietro Ameri

Secretary, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Pietro Ameri, MD, PhD, is Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Medicine and Coordinator of the PhD Program in Translational and Clinical Internal Medicine at the University of Genova, Italy. He also leads the Translational Cardiovascular research unit at IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino in Genova. He is currently Secretary of the ESC Council of Cardio-oncology and member of the HFA Scientific Committee on Basic & Translational Research. His primary interests are cardio-oncology and heart failure, including pulmonary hypertension. Pietro Ameri’s research group includes biologists, biotechnologists and physicians and is funded by several grants.

Dimitrios Farmakis

Liaison Officer, ESC Council of Cardio-Oncology

Raúl Córdoba Mascuñano

EHA Liaison with the ESC

Associate Chief of Hematology and Head of The Lymphoma Unit and Fundacion Jimenez Diaz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. Former European Hematology Association (EHA) Board Member. EHA Liaison with the ESC and Member of the Council of Cardio-Oncology of the European Society of Cardiology.

Daniel Lenihan

Co-Founder and Past President of the International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS)

Dr Dan Lenihan is a cardio-oncologist specialising in cardiology, heart disease and advanced heart failure, at Saint Francis Healthcare System, Cape Girardeau, US.

He is a co-Founder and Board Member of the International Cardio-Oncology Society (ICOS), which is an international professional association whose primary goal is to eliminate cardiac disease as a barrier to effective cancer therapy.

He is actively involved in patient care as the Director of the Cardio-Oncology Programme, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and the Heart Failure clinic at Saint Francis Healthcare System.

Piotr Rutkowski

President of the Polish Oncological Society

Professor Piotr Rutkowski is a renowned oncologist and surgical oncologist. He works at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, where he leads the Department of Soft Tissue, Bone Sarcoma, and Melanoma. His primary scientific interests include the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma and soft tissue sarcomas.

Ewa Lech-Marańda

Maciej Banach

President, International Lipid Expert Panel

Bartosz Krakowiak

Anna Borowiec

Robert Gil

President of the Polish Cardiac Society

Professor Robert Julian Gil, MD, Ph.D. (since 2000 the Fellow of European Society of Cardiology), a graduate of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (September 1984) has been employed since November 2001 in the Central Clinical Hospital (since January 2023 National Medical Institute) of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in Warsaw. Currently (since June 2022) as the head of the Cardiology Department created as a result of the merger of two previously operating cardiological clinics.
In 1997-2004 he was the Chair of the Invasive Cardiology Section (Working Group) of the Polish Cardiac Society, and a member of its Board (as a past president) for the next 3 years. He served as the member of the Polish Cardiac Society Board for two cadencies (2015-2019). In the elections in 2021, he was appointed president-elect of the Polish Cardiac Society (up September 2023). In October 2023 he took over as President of Polish Cardiac Society. He was also appointed as the Chair
ESC Task Force for EuroAsia in the term 2024-2026.
His scientific achievements include: over 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals (total
IF close to 800), co-authorship of over 30 chapters of books on interventional cardiology and more than 300 scientific abstracts presented at prestigious international conventions on clinical electrophysiology and invasive cardiology.
He initiated annual National Workshops on Interventional Cardiology, currently called
Warsaw Course on Cardiovascular Interventions (www.wcci.pl). Their 29 th edition was held in April
2025.
He is a member of Editorial Boards of most prestigious cardiological journals as: Polish Heart Journal, Cardiology Journal, Advances in Interventional Cardiology.
Since 2001 he has been regularly invited to actively participate (Faculty member) in such
prestigious Congresses and Workshops of Interventional Cardiology as: ESC, EuroPCR, TCT, ICI in Tel Aviv, CBS in Nanjing, European Bifurcation Club meetings and many national congresses.

Sławomir Blamek

Marek Gierlotka

President Elect of the Polish Cardiac Society

Wojciech Fendler

President of the Medical Research Agency

Maciej Krzakowski

National Consultant in Clinical Oncology

Specialist in medical oncology and radiotherapy. Chair of Lung Cancer and Thoracic Tumours Department at The Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Institute of Oncology in Warsaw. Chief country consultant in medical oncology since 1998 until now.
President of Polish Society of Clinical Oncology and active member of other scientific societies. Specially interested and involved in studies on combined management of cancer, development of new systemic therapies, improvement of supportive care in cancer. Author or co-author of approximately 500 full-text scientific papers published in Polish as well as international journals. Editor in chief of 35 books and manuals.