Clinical Advisory Board

Dr. Paolo Ascierto is a world leading expert and key opinion leader in Immunotherapy. Professor Ascierto is currently Director of the Department of Melanoma, Cancer Immunotherapy, and Development Therapeutics at the National Tumour Institute “Fondazione G. Pascale,” in Naples, Italy. He is an active Scientific Reviewer for several international journals, including, NEJM, JCO, Lancet Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research, as well as Associate Editor for Onco-Immunology, Annals of Oncology and Journal of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, and Chief Section Editor for Combination Strategies section of Journal of Translational Medicine. Professor Ascierto’s has been an invited speaker at more than 450 national and international meetings, has presided as a Principal Investigator for over 150 clinical trials, is the author of more than 500 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is a ‘highly cited’ researcher for several consecutive years (https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/). His major research interests have included research in immunotherapy and vaccination treatments of solid tumors, combination strategies with I-O, biochemical and immunological monitoring and assessment of new molecular markers for tumor progression, He obtained his medical degree from the University of Naples (Italy), where he also earned his board certification in oncology.

Dr. Siu is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Medical Oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre where she serves as the Director of the Phase I Program, Co-Director of the Bras and Family Drug Development Program, BMO Chair in Precision Genomics, and Director the Tumor Immunotherapy Program. Her major research focus is in the area of new anti-cancer drug development, particularly with respect to Phase 1 trials and head and neck malignancies and has been leading genomics initiatives and immuno-oncology trials. Previously, Dr. Siu served on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). Dr. Siu is the recipient of international awards such as the Michaele C. Christian Award in Oncology Drug Development from the US National Cancer Institute and the 2020 ESMO Targeted Anticancer Therapies Honorary Award. She is also the recipient of the 2020 International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. Dr. Siu has published over 370 peer-reviewed manuscripts, is currently the inaugural co-editor-in-chief for the new AACR journal Cancer Research Communications and she is on the editorial boards for Cell and Cancer Cell. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Toronto, and completed her fellowship at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Dr. Tawbi is an internationally recognized leader in immunotherapy drug development. He holds several appointments at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, including as Professor, Deputy Chair, Director of Melanoma Clinical Research and Early Drug Development, and Director of Personalized Cancer Therapy. He is also a co-founder and Co-Director of the MD Anderson Brain Metastasis Clinic. Through his research efforts, Dr. Tawbi pioneered the use of checkpoint inhibitors in sarcoma, led the practice-changing clinical trial of combination checkpoint inhibitors in patients with melanoma brain metastases, and helped discover the role of B-cells in the immune response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. Dr Tawbi has published over 140 papers including co-authored publications in Nature, Nature Medicine, Science, Lancet Oncology and NEJM. He obtained his M.D. from the American University of Beirut, completed his training in Internal Medicine, Hematology/Oncology and obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Pittsburgh.