Prof. Fabrice André, MD, PhD, Head of the Research Division at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, France, will be the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) President 2025-2026. ESMO Directors of Education, Membership and Public Policy have also been appointed for the 2023-2024 term, together they are tasked with forging a path forward for the Society. The results were announced on Monday 27 June 2022 following the closure of the voting system held online on the ESMO website.
Prof. André’s first words ephasized his presidential vision : “ESMO should lead the way in driving the implementation of technological innovation in oncology, because it has the potential to address the major challenges of our field and improve both the lives of people with cancer and the working conditions of oncologists in the future.”
“As ESMO President, I will seek to push digital technologies and biotechnologies further up on the scientific agenda in order to find solutions to reduce the complexity of treatment decisions that physicians face and to decrease the burden of treatment for patients thanks to precision medicine.”
As ESMO President-Elect 2023-2024, Prof. André will take his seat on the ESMO Executive Board as of 1 January 2023 along with the three newly elected Directors.
Nadia Harbeck, Breast Centre, LMU University Hospital, Munich, Germany, has been elected as the next ESMO Director of Education: “My belief is that ESMO needs to continue to bring education to the community and not necessarily the community to an educational venue”. We need to address the heterogeneity of our colleagues’ educational needs as outlined in the ESMO’s #ONEoncology community by offering tailored educational formats and having our faculty represent the diversity that ESMO stands for, regarding balance of regions, gender, professional experience, and oncological disciplines,” she said.
Evandro de Azambuja, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium, has been elected ESMO Director of Membership. He commented: “The focus of my mission is to further increase ESMO’s visibility in different countries by working closely with the Membership Committee, Young Oncologists Committee and the Women for Oncology Committee. During my mandate, I will promote ESMO while keeping in mind diversity and advocating that cancer care should be equally provided to all patients irrespective of their geographical area.”
The next ESMO Director of Public Policy will be Jean-Yves Blay, Centre Leon Berard, France: “Building on ESMO expertise, our policy will aim to reduce inequalities for routine care and research in EU countries by matching the pace of precision medicine, proposing organisational guidance, developing international continuous medical education, working with national and international cancer plans, increasing health care professional numbers, with high-quality continuous training,” he stated.
The future Executive Board will be able to rely on the support of ESMO officers and staff in carrying out their managerial and administrative duties towards the Society.
