Leadership lessons from the SIOP President Guillermo Chantada, Hosted by Ruzanna Papyan

OncoDaily had the honor of speaking with SIOP President, Dr. Guillermo Chantada. Despite his busy schedule, he always finds time to help and share his wisdom. He gave valuable advice, especially for young doctors: find good mentors, build connections in pediatric oncology, and always keep learning. The host of the podcast is Dr. Ruzanna Papyan.

Dr. Guillermo Luis Chantada is the President of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP). He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and completed his postgraduate training in Clinical Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology- Oncology at the Hospital JP Garrahan at Buenos Aires where he served for 31 years. He is an associate member of the Oncology Service of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain. He is Principal Researcher of the National Council of Research in Argentina (CONICET). He is the Scientific Director at the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Service of the Hospital Universitario Austral, Argentina and at the Hemato-oncology service of the Hospital Pereira Rossell in Montevideo, Uruguay. His major contributions are in the area of translational research in retinoblastoma where he worked the identification of innovative treatments, the characteristics of this tumor in developing countries and in depicting its mechanisms of molecular dissemination. He leads the Latin American treatment protocol at the Grupo de America Latina de Oncologia Pediatrica (GALOP) where is member of the Board. He serves as Coordinator of the European Retinoblastoma Group (EURbG). He leads the development of an anti-idiotype vaccine for neuroblastoma in a Latin American protocol. Other areas of interest include pediatric lymphomas and histiocytosis. He is Member of the St Jude Global Pediatric Medicine Department where he is Editor in Chief of Oncopedia at the Cure4kids portal. He is member of the Board at the Latin American Society of Pediatric Oncology (SLAOP). Dr. Chantada is a member of the OncoDaily Editorial Board.

Dr. Ruzanna Papyan works as a pediatric oncologist at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, Yeolyan Hematology and Oncology Center. Since 2019, she is Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at Yerevan State Medical University. Dr. Papyan also leads the Musculoskeletal Multidisciplinary Working Group at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Additionally, starting in 2022, she has taken on the role of Clinical Research Physician at the Immune Oncology Research Institute. Dr. Papyan is an active member of various professional associations and holds the position of Young SIOP representative of SIOP Asia from 2023. Since 2022, she has been responsible for coordinating educational sessions for the Global Neuroblastoma Network (GNN), an international platform that focuses on multidisciplinary neuroblastoma tumor board discussions for countries with limited resources. Dr. Papyan regularly participates in both international and local conferences, often contributing as part of organizing or scientific committees. Between 2019 and 2021, she was studying at Harvard University’s Harvard Medical School through the Postgraduate Cancer Research Program. Her Ph.D. project at Yerevan State Medical University is dedicated soft tissue and bone sarcomas in children and young adults. Her primary areas of interest and expertise are neuroblastomas and sarcomas and currently she is working on development of Sarcoma Research and Care Network (SaRCaN), that will help to improve the management patients diagnosed with sarcomas and will foster research collaboration between centers with limited recourses. Dr. Papyan is a member of the OncoDaily Editorial Board.