100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to follow on Social Media in 2023: Part 6

In August, OncoDaily began its series on ‘100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023.’ As promised, each week we will highlight 10 exceptional women leaders from various corners of the globe who are advancing the field of oncology.

You can view the profiles of the nominees from the last four weeks by checking out the links below:
100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023 (1-10)
100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023 (11-20)
100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023 (21-30)
100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023 (31-40)
100 Influential Women in Oncology: Key Opinion Leaders to Follow on Social Media in 2023 (41-50)

Below, we present the sixth part of our list featuring 100 Women Leaders in Oncology. You can follow them on Twitter (X) and/or LinkedIn. We are eager to hear your recommendations for individuals who should be highlighted in our forthcoming features.

Dr. Winette van der Graaf is the President of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). She is a professor and the head of medical oncology Department at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Amsterdam), Professor of Oncology at Erasmus MC (Rotterdam). Prior to that, she was a professor at Institute of Cancer Research and Honorary Consultant at Royal Marsden Hospital (London, UK), Professor and Head of Medical Oncology Department at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre. Dr. van der Graaf is a Board member of the European Cancer Organisation (ECO), Board member of the Connective Tissue Oncology (CTOS). She was the Chairperson of the EORTC Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group.

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Annabelle Gurtwitch is a New York Times bestselling author, actress and activist whose most recent collection of essays “You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility” is a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022. She’s written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Hadassah amongst other publications.  Time Magazine featured Annabelle in their “Ten Ideas that are Changing the World” annual series. Annabelle has been chronicling living with stage IV lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid. She co-hosts the podcast, “Tiny Victories,” dedicated to appreciating small mercies and minor triumphs on the Maximum Fun Podcast Network.

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Dr. Miriam A. Knoll is a radiation oncologist at Advanced Radiation Oncology Services at Montefiore Nyack Hospital in New York. Before joining Dr. Gerstley at Advanced Radiation Oncology Services, she was a radiation oncologist at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center and also served as a Medical Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Hackensack UMC Mountainside in New Jersey. Dr. Knoll is a Forbes Healthcare contributor and writes for the ASCO Connection and numerous other media outlets. She is an Associate Senior Editor of the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Advances in Radiation Oncology. Dr. Knoll is President of the Jewish Orthodox Women’s Medical Association.

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Dr. Aparna Parikh is a GI oncologist, the Director of the Global Cancer Care Program at Mass General and assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School. She has a long-standing background and interest in global health, having spent time in several African countries, Haiti and India. Most recently, at MGH, she co-founded and co-leads a program called POETIC (Program for Enhanced Training in Cancer (POETIC)) This fellowship exchange program, conducted in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cancer Center and Lowell Schnipper, MD, trains clinical oncology fellows from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Ocean Road Cancer Center in Tanzania. Dr. Parikh also sits on the executive board of BOTSOGO, a collaboration between MGH and the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership, Botswana’s cancer caregivers and the Botswana government. The group’s ultimate goal is to improve access to quality cancer care in Botswana by educating the Botswana population, training future generations of cancer caregivers and conducting vital clinical research. She is a member of the OncoDaily Editorial Board.

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Dr. Christine M. Lovly is an associate professor of medicine with tenure at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. Dr. Lovly is also an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and a member of the Editorial Board for Cancer Discovery and JCO Precision Oncology. She is a member of the Board of the American Association for Cancer Research. She serves on the Scientific Leadership Boards for the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer Research (where she also serves as SLB director), the LUNGevity Foundation, and the Lung Cancer Research Foundation. She is co-director of the AACR Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology course and serves on the AACR Science Policy and Government Affairs committee. In 2021, she was awarded the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group Young Investigator Award. Dr. Lovly is the co-Editor-in Chief for the website www.mycancergenome.org.

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Dr. Andrea Apolo is the Chief of the Bladder Cancer Section of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch and Director of the Bladder Cancer and Genitourinary Tumors Multidisciplinary Clinic at the National Cancer Institute (USA). Apolo received a 2011 National Institutes of Health Award of Merit, the 2014 Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program Award, the 2018 National Cancer Institute’s Director’s Award for Clinical Science, the 2018 Advancing Cancer Treatment Award for leadership in genitourinary clinical trial patient access, and the 2020 Arthur S. Flemming Award for leaders who make an impact in public service.

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Dr. Ane Gerda Z Eriksson is the head of the endometrial cancer and gynecologic sarcoma team at the Radium Hospital in Norway and an associate professor at the University of Oslo. She is an active member of several national and international societies, and is currently Chair of the surgical group in the Nordic Society of Gynecologic Oncology, Education Committee Vice Chair for the International Gynecologic Cancer Society, Vice Chair for the Norwegian Society of Gynecologic Oncology and social media editor for the International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer.

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Dr. Claire Wakefield is the continental president of SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) – Oceania.  She is a medical psychologist who leads research to improve quality of life for families affected by cancer. She is a Professor at the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW and Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Australia. She is the Chair of the International Psycho-Oncology Society Paediatrics Committee, supporting psychologists who work with children with cancer globally as well as serving as Co-Director of Child Unlimited, which is a network of >200 child health experts across Australia.

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Dr. Fatima Cardoso is the Director of the Breast Unit of the Champalimaud Clinical Center in Lisbon, Portugal and Editor-in-chief of The Breast Journal. She was the ESMO Transitional Director of Membership and member of the ESMO Board of Directors and was also Chair of the ESMO National Representatives Committee. She is a member of the ESMO Public Policy Steering Committee and ESMO Guidelines Steering Committee, Past Chair of the EORTC-Breast Cancer Group, member of the ASCO International Affairs Committee and ASCO Breast Cancer Guideline Advisory Group. She is also the Breast Cancer Program Coordinator of the European School of Oncology and chair of the Advanced Breast Cancer International Consensus Guidelines Conference (ABC) and of the ABC Global Alliance, associate editor of the European Journal of Cancer, and an editorial board member of several other journals. She was awarded the prestigious Order of Santiago da Espada for Scientific Merit, from the President of Portugal, on June 10th 2015. She also received the 2020 European Breast Cancer Science Award – Emmanuel van der Schueren Lecture, and the 2021 Umberto Veronesi Memorial Award.

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Lacy Hubbard is the President of Elekta Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to improving access to cancer care in low-income countries. Lacy has 23 years of very diverse global radiation industry experience in running operations, developing service products, and leading transformational programs. As former Vice President of Global Education and Training, Lacy has instituted the changes in Elekta learning strategies, content development and digital learning. She also has been a strong supporter of building radiotherapy competences in LMICs in both business and charities including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds to donate radiation equipment to low- and middle-income markets in Africa.

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