INVITED SPEAKERS

Dr. Margaret Coffey

Honorary Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Surgery & Cancer - Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London

Prof. Pawel Golusinski

Professor and Chair, Department of Otolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Zielona Gora

Prof. Wojciech Golusiński

ENT Surgeon and Researcher, Head of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Laryngological Oncology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences

A highly accomplished ENT surgeon and researcher, Wojciech Golusiński M.D. is renowned for his expertise in head and neck cancer treatment. With extensive experience at the Medical University of Poznan and Greater Poland Cancer Centre, he has authored numerous publications, focusing on prevention, HPV infection, and surgical innovations. As Board Member and past President of the European Head and Neck Society, he has significantly contributed to the field, especially through the Make Sense Campaign of the EHNS. Professor Wojciech Golusiński is the initiator, content and organisational creator of the National Head and Neck Cancer Prevention Programme. He is the driving force for raising awareness and recognition of head and neck cancers in Poland. In 2016 he was appointed by the Ministry of Health as an expert on head and neck cancer. He is the founder and president of the Polish Head and Neck Society. He is also the promoter of more than 15 doctoral dissertations.

Prof. Kevin Harrington

Professor in Biological Cancer Therapies, Institute of Cancer Research

Prof. René Leemans

Chair of Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Amsterdam University Medical Center

Professor C. René Leemans, MD, PhD is chair of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam. He is Director of the Advanced Fellowship Program in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology at the VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam. His special interests include head and neck oncology, reconstructive and microvascular surgery, and basic research.

René Leemans has made a sustained and internationally recognised contribution to cancer care and research in the field of head and neck oncology over the past decades. His scientific standing has been recognised by election as President of the Netherlands Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the Dutch and European Head and Neck Societies. He also serves on the Leadership of the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS).

He (co-)authored more than 500 papers and book chapters on head and neck oncology and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences and tutor at courses. He was a travelling faculty member of 2010 Global CME program “Current Concepts in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology” of the IFHNOS. In 2022 he was awarded the Eugene N. Myers, MD International Lecture on Head and Neck Cancer at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Meeting in Philadelphia. He leads the impactful Make Sense Awareness Campaign.

Dr. Robert Metcalf

Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Dr. Hannah Nieto

Clinician Scientist, University of Birmingham

Prof. Cesare Piazza

Professor and Chief of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University of Brescia, School of Medicine

Cesare Piazza, MD, born in Cremona in 1971, is Full Professor and Chief of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery of the University of Brescia, School of Medicine, since 2020. He received his MD degree at the University of Pavia, Italy in 1996 and completed his Residency Program in Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery in Brescia in 2001. He became Assistant Professor in 2007 and Associate Professor – Chief of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Maxillofacial, and Thyroid Surgery of the National Cancer Institute, University of Milan, Italy in 2017. His clinical and research activities are focused on head and neck oncology, with special emphasis to laryngo-hypopharyngeal, tracheal, oral, thyroid, parotid, sarcoma, laser, and reconstructive microsurgery.

Prof. Piazza is an active member of the European Laryngological Society since 2000, part of its Scientific Council since September 2010, and Past President since June 2023. He authored or co-authored 354 papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as 82 book chapters. His H-index is 50. He delivered over 1200 proffered papers and invited lectures in national and international Congresses and Courses. He serves as Editor of the Current Opinion in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery journal for the Head and Neck Oncology issue since 2010 and is Member of its Editorial Board since 2013. He is Editor in Chief of the Acta Otorhinolaryngologica Italica journal since January 2023.

His surgical activity has been always mainly devoted to head and neck cancer treatment, with more than 8000 surgical procedures performed in this field (of whom 1500 free flaps).

Clare Schilling

Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, University College London Hospitals

Dr. Freya Sparks

Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist for Head and Neck Cancer, Barts Health NHS Trust. Honorary Research Fellow, City St George's, University of London

Dr. John Speakman

Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

Laura Warner

Consultant ENT Surgeon, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals