The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) has announced the results of its latest Council Officer elections. Ane Gerda Zahl Eriksson (Norway) was elected President-Elect, and Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz (Switzerland) was elected Vice President. They will assume their roles following ESGO 2026 in Copenhagen, joining the incoming President, Jalid Sehouli (Germany). Upcoming ESGO Council general elections for additional seats will take place online in mid-January.
About ESGO
The European Society of Gynaecological Oncology is a professional organization focused on improving the management of gynecologic cancers through education, research collaboration, clinical guidelines, and multidisciplinary practice. ESGO’s leadership oversees strategic priorities, guideline development, and member activities across Europe.
Ane Gerda Zahl Eriksson, MD, PhD – President-Elect
Ane Gerda Eriksson is an Associate Professor and senior consultant at the Department of Gynecologic Cancer at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital. She leads the endometrial cancer and gynecologic sarcoma team.
Dr. Eriksson received her medical degree from the Medical University of Warsaw and completed her residency at Oslo University Hospital. In 2015, she completed a fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York before returning to Oslo.
Clinical and Educational Work
Her clinical practice focuses on advanced minimally invasive surgery for gynecologic cancers and radical procedures for advanced ovarian cancer. She has a substantial interest in surgical training, founding and chairing the Advanced Course in Cytoreductive Surgery for Ovarian Cancer in Oslo. She also leads the department’s bi-annual Tropè meetings and is active as an invited speaker and educator.
Research Involvement
Dr. Eriksson defended her PhD in 2018 on sentinel lymph nodes in endometrial carcinoma. She completed the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School, further strengthening her clinical research background.
Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz, MD, PhD – Vice President
Professor Viola Angelika Heinzelmann-Schwarz is a Swiss gynecologist and senior physician at the Women’s Clinic and head of the Gynecological Tumor Center at the University Hospital Basel. She is also Professor of Gynecology at the University of Basel.
Born in 1969 in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany, she initially studied law before switching to medicine at the University of Tübingen. She earned her doctorate in 1998 with a thesis on the history of medicine, receiving the Henry E. Sigerist Prize in 1999.
Career Development
She completed her residency in gynecology and obstetrics at the University Hospital Zurich and undertook a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. She later worked as a senior physician at Limmattal Hospital in Zurich while also leading translational research activities.
Between 2008 and 2012, she worked and conducted research at the Royal Hospital for Women at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Academic and Clinical Roles
Since 2012, she has served as a Professor of Gynecology at the University of Basel. One year later, she became head of the Department of Gynecology and Gynecologic Oncology at the University Hospital Basel. Her research primarily focuses on gynecologic cancers, especially ovarian cancer.
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Written by Nare Hovhannisyan, MD