Governance

Deborah Maskens is a long-time kidney cancer patient and patient advocate. Along with one other patient, she co-founded Kidney Cancer Canada in 2006 and played an active leadership role for 10 years. At a global level, she also served 10 years as a Founding Member and Vice Chair of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition, and as a Patient Advocate on the NCI Renal Task Force in Bethesda, MD.

Deb is a frequent speaker at national and international cancer meetings where she provides an evidence-based patient perspective, along with sound advocacy knowledge and experience.

Among her achievements in patient advocacy, in 2016, Deb was awarded the Canadian Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, Canada’s highest award for her volunteer service, dedication and professionalism in patient advocacy.

Most recently she has been appointed as an international patient advocate to the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Center for Tumour Diseases (NCT) in Germany.

Rose is a long-term patient survivor of kidney cancer and a passionate and active patient advocate. She became involved in advocacy and patients’ rights in the UK in 2003 and later led the “Fight for Life” campaign for NHS funded KC treatments. She now runs Action Kidney Cancer  which is a grassroots patient led charity providing practical support and advocacy for the kidney cancer community in the UK. She enjoys a very busy life running the Action Kidney Cancer charity and is still dedicated to helping empower patients to play a full role in all aspects of their care.

Rose has just retired after serving 10 years as a full member of the National Cancer Research Institute Renal Cancer Group where she worked hard to establish meaningful patient involvement in all aspects of kidney cancer research ranging from clinical trial design through to survivorship studies. Rose is a founding member of the IKCC.

Professor de Cássio Zequi, MD, MSc, PhD, is the Head of the Urology Division and Referral Center for Urologic Tumors-A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, Tutor of Graduate School- Antônio Prudente Foundation-SP Livre Docente and a Professor at the University of São Paulo-USP/FMRP in Brazil. He graduated from the Faculdade de Medicina do ABS- Santo Andre São Paulo and completed medical residency in General Surgery (1991-1992) and in Urology (1993-1995) at Santa Casa de São Paulo.

Professor de Cássio Zequi has been a Titular Member of Brazilian Society of Urology, since 1995 and was a founding member and current coordinator of the Latin American Renal Cancer Group (LARCG). He is also the Associate Editor of the International Journal of Urology and a member of the Editorial Board of the KCA Journal.

Professor de Cássio Zequi is a member of AUA- American Urological Association, SIU-Socité Internationnale D’Urologie, CAU- Confederacion Americana de Urologia and AACR- American Association of Cancer Research.

Axel Bex, MD, PhD
Consultant Clinical Lead Specialist Centre for Kidney Cancer
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Associate Professor UCL Division of
Surgical and Interventional Science,
Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, UK
Dr Axel Bex is a urologic surgeon who specialised in renal cancer surgery and led
several single-arm and randomised controlled trials investigating the combination of
systemic therapy and surgery in metastatic and high-risk renal cell carcinoma. He is
vice chair of the EAU RCC guideline panel and chair of the EORTC GU group. After
20 years at the Netherlands Cancer Institute he now practices mainly at the
Specialist Centre for Kidney Cancer at the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust in
London.

Conflicts of Interest Form Prof. Bex

Daniel Heng MD MPH FRCPC
Biography
Dr Heng is a Staff Medical Oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Center in Calgary,
Alberta and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He received
his MD from the University of Calgary and completed his internal medicine and medical
oncology residencies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. He was
trained at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada and then completed an
Experimental Therapeutics fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute.
He received a Masters of Public Health from Harvard University. He is the Chair of the
International mRCC Database Consortium (IMDC) which has created and validated the
IMDC criteria (a.k.a. Heng Criteria) for prognostication in metastatic renal cell
carcinoma patients. He is also the Medical Leader for the Clinical Research Unit at the
TBCC. He has a keen interest in outcomes, prognostic factors and clinical trials research
in metastatic renal cell carcinoma and other genitourinary malignancies. Dr Heng has
been involved in many oncology clinical trials from investigator, steering committee and
study chair levels. He encourages patients and investigators to always “Think Trials”.

Conflicts of Interest Form Dr Heng

Yüksel Ürün, M.D.
Professor of Medicine,
Ankara University School of Medicine; Department of Medical Oncology;
Cebeci Hospital, TR-06590, Dikimevi, Ankara, TURKEY
Dr Ürün is a professor of medicine at the Ankara University School of Medicine
in Turkey, specializing in Medical Oncology. Since joining Ankara University School of
Medicine in 2009, he has played a pivotal role in advancing medical knowledge and
expertise in his field. To further enrich his understanding of oncology, Dr Ürün pursued
a fellowship at the renowned Dana Farber Cancer Institute, affiliated with Harvard
Medical School in Boston, USA. During this time, under the mentorship of Toni
Choueiri, MD, he gained invaluable experience and exposure to cutting-edge research
and treatments, augmenting his expertise in cancer care.
Upon returning to Turkey, Dr Ürün’s passion for enhancing cancer treatment
and research led him to establish the Turkish Oncology Group Kidney Cancer
Consortium (TKCC). Actively engaged in the global oncology community, Dr Ürün is
a prominent member of prestigious international and national oncology organizations.
Notably, he is a member of the EORTC GU group and the Advanced Prostate Cancer
Consensus Conference (APCCC). Additionally, he serves as a faculty member in the
ESMO Genitourinary Tumors, Prostate group. Dr Ürün has been selected as a
participant in the prestigious American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO)
Leadership Development Program class of 2023-2024, which he completed in June
2024.
Dr Ürün’s primary research interests encompass various aspects of
genitourinary cancers, including epidemiology, diagnosis, biomarkers, meta-analysis,
precision medicine, and treatment outcomes. As a principal investigator in numerous
clinical trials, he has made remarkable contributions to the scientific community,
authoring over 125 peer-reviewed articles, presentations, and book chapters.
Beyond his academic pursuits, Dr Ürün is deeply committed to promoting
diversity and equity in education and healthcare. He is passionate about fostering the
representation and engagement of underrepresented groups in clinical trials,
recognizing the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in the pursuit of medical
advancements. Through his passion for patient care and research, he continues to
inspire and drive positive change within the field of medicine.

Conflict of Interest Form Dr Ürün

Dr Abudayyeh
Dr Abudayyeh is an Onconephrologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center with extensive experience in
kidney diseases in cancer patients. She is both the director of clinical research in section of
nephrology and chair of immunotherapy induced nephritis as part of IOTOX committee at MDACC.
Her research interest has been Immunotherapy induced nephrotoxicity and stem cell transplant
related kidney complications. She is also one of the founding member of an international society
which focuses on kidney care in cancer patients, American Society of Onconephrology (ASON).

COI Form Prof. Abudayyeh

Professor Laurence Albiges, M.D., Ph.D., is the Head of the Medical Oncology department at Gustave
Roussy, Villejuif, France
Her main field of interest across genitourinary tumours is new targets in renal cell carcinoma and
non-clear cell renal carcinoma and contributes to numerous other research endeavours, with over
250 articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
From 2015 to 2021, she chaired the Genito-Urinary Group at Gustave Roussy and subsequently
took on the Medical Oncology departement head role.
She serves as GETUG board member, as well as ESMO Faculty coordinator for GU tumor – non
prostate.
She is an ASCO member and was awarded several ASCO Merit Awards for her work.
She is a member of both the EAU RCC guidelines panel and ESMO RCC guidelines panel.

Conflicts of Interest Form Prof. Albiges

Cristiane Bergerot, Ph.D., is the head of the Department of Psycho-Oncology at Grupo Oncoclínicas,
Brazil. She completed a 3 year research fellowship in the Department of Medical Oncology at the City
of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, California, USA.
She has been working with cancer patients for almost 20 years as a clinician and as a researcher. She
has over 80 peer-reviewed publications in journals including first-author publications in Nature
Medicine, European Urology, Cancer, Journal of Immunotherapy for Cancer, British Journal of
Urology International and Psychooncology. She has presented her work at the American Society of
Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, the European
Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the ASCO Quality Care Symposium. She has received four
merit awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Foundation and
was selected for the prestigious SWOG Young Investigator Course. She is past recipient of the Barry
Hoeven Memorial Kidney Cancer Research Grant from Kure It in 2020, the Global Oncology Young
Investigator Award (GOYIA) from the Conquer Cancer Foundation in 2021, and the Psychosocial
Focus Award from the Kidney Cancer Association in 2021.
Currently, she is serving as the quality-of-life Chair of an ongoing clinical trial (PROBE trial). She is
committed to bettering the lives of patients with cancer through (1) obtaining a detailed
understanding of their quality of life and (2) addressing their quality of life through novel, targeted
interventions.

Conflicts of Interest Form Dr Bergerot

Dr Saurabh Bhargava
MBBS, MRCS, MD, FRCS (Urology)
Director of Urological Services and Chief Medical Superintendent
Dr Saurabh Bhargava currently serves as the Director of Urological Services and
Chief Medical Superintendent at the Narayana Health City in Bangalore, India.
Dr Bhargava is a 1995 graduate from the Bangalore Medical College. He completed
his Urological training from the Nottingham University Hospitals. He was awarded
the FRCS (Urology) from the Inter Collegiate Specialty Board before taking up a fulltime post as a Consultant Urological Surgeon with special interest in Uro-Oncology.
He has special interest in prostate and kidney cancer, he enjoys training and has been
instrumental in developing robotic surgery training program. In addition to his clinical
work, Dr Bhargava has made significant contributions to medical research. He
completed a MD research fellowship at the University of Sheffield, where he
developed tissue engineered buccal mucosa for clinical use in substitution
urethroplasty. His work marked a significant advancement in urological
reconstruction, and remains one of the first published work in this field. He continues
to be closely involved with laboratory based research and is currently involved with
developing human histo-culture platforms for looking at therapeutic options for
patients with kidney and prostate cancer.

Conflicts of Interest Form Dr Bhargava

Dr María Teresa Bourlon, MD MS, is a Medical Oncologist, national reseracher and Head of the
Urologic Oncology Clinic at Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán. She
is an Associate Professor at Universidad Panamericana and is the director of the Genitourinary
Cancers Program for Medical Oncologists at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her
investigator initiated research and participation on clinical trials has focussed on genitourinary
cancers and has been a high enroller in practice changing studies evaluating systemic therapies in
renal cell carcinoma. She is the ambassador of the oncofertility consortium, has been the Faculty of
ESMO LATAM, ESO Latin America and ASCO Annual meeting and ASCO GU Symposium. She has been
part of the ASCO Global Oncology Taskforce and JCO GO Editorial Fellowship Mentor.

Conflicts of Interest Form Dr Bourlon

Dr Elshad Hasanov is a physician-scientist serving as an Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James, Department of Internal Medicine/Medical Oncology, and Principal Investigator of laboratory at the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology. In this role, he spearheads a translational and bioinformatics laboratory team committed to harnessing the power of cutting-edge single-cell and spatial biology tools to advance the translational and clinical research of brain metastases and genitourinary malignancies, particularly kidney cancer.

Originally from Azerbaijan, Dr Hasanov earned both his MD and PhD in Tumor Biology and Immunology from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Turkey. His PhD journey led him to the discovery of a novel signaling pathway in kidney cancer, highlighting Aurora Kinase A as a novel E3-ubiquitin ligase target of VHL. Further expanding his expertise, he underwent Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Texas Houston McGovern Medical School at Physician Scientist Training Program track. Subsequently, as a medical oncology fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, he delved deeper into renal cell carcinoma research. A significant milestone in his journey was leading an international endeavor together with IKCC to craft an interdisciplinary consensus for managing renal cell carcinoma brain metastases, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Notably, his exploration of the tumor microenvironment and immune resistance mechanisms in renal cell carcinoma brain metastases, has led to the development of a new multicenter clinical trial for these patients with unmet need.

Dr Hasanov has consistently showcased his expertise through publications in high-impact journals, such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Lancet, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and Annals of Oncology, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. He has been the recipient of various prestigious grants, such as young investigator awards from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Kidney Cancer Association (KCA), and Society of Immunotherapy for Cancer (SITC). Additionally, his exceptional research contributions have been acknowledged through awards like the MD Anderson Cancer Center William L. Pippin, Jr. Endowed Fellowship, Waun Ki Hong Basic Science Research Award, and Clifton D. Howe Award for Clinical Excellence from and Cecile and Ken Youner International Kidney Cancer Coalition (IKCC) Scholarship.

Conflict of Interest Form Dr Hasanov

Dr Ravindran Kanesvaran is a Deputy Head and Senior Consultant in the Department of Medical
Oncology of the National Cancer Centre Singapore. He is also an Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS
Graduate Medical School and clinical senior lecturer at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National
University of Singapore. He is actively involved in graduate medical education and is the Program
Director of the Medical Oncology Senior Residency Program. His research interests include GU
oncology and geriatric oncology. He has published in a number of well-known peer reviewed
journals including Journal of Clinical Oncology and Lancet Oncology. He is the author of several
textbook chapters in Geriatric Oncology. He has also been awarded a number of awards including
the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO GU) Merit Award 2009, American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) scholar-in-training Award 2010 and European Society of Medical Oncology
(ESMO) fellowship award 2012. He is currently the Immediate Past President of the Singapore
Society of Oncology (SSO) and the Singapore Geriatric Oncology Society. He had been appointed as
European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Faculty 2015-2016 in Geriatric Oncology and 2016-
2020 in GU Oncology. He was the host and steering committee member of the first ESMO Asia
meeting in 2015 and is currently on the ESMO Council. He is President-Elect and the National
Representative for Singapore in the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). He is also the
Vice Chairman of the Singapore Cancer Society (SCS).

Conflicts of Interest Form Kanesvaran

Dr Kong is Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology of Renji
Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai,
China. He is a member of the Rare Kidney Cancer Panel of Chinese AntiCancer Association. His work is devoted to surgery and comprehensive
treatment for patients with renal cancer, especially for those with rare
pathological subtypes and hereditary disease. He is also actively involved
in translational and clinical research about von Hippel-Lindau disease and
fumarate hydratase deficient renal cell carcinoma in Renji Hospital and is
a core member of the MDT team for these patients. Dr Kong was awarded the
Cecile and Ken Youner IKCC Scholarship for his work on novel treatment and
imaging approaches for fumarate hydratase deficient kidney cancer in 2024.

Conflict of Interest Form Dr Kong

Full Name: Assoc. Prof. Dr Murallitharan Munisamy
Designation: Managing Director, National Cancer Society Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr Murallitharan Munisamy is a Public Health Physician from Malaysia. He
trained as a Medical Officer under a Government of Malaysia scholarship. He subsequently
completed a Masters in Community Health Sciences at the National University of Malaysia
and read for a PhD in Public Health at the College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn
University, Thailand under an ASEAN Economic Community scholarship. Dr Murallitharan
was awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship in 2015 by the UK Foreign and
Commonwealth Office and completed a term as a Fellow in Health Policy, Planning and
Financing at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of
Economics and Political Science, two of the top world’s top universities. In addition to
working in multiple capacities with the Ministry of Health Malaysia and multiple
organisations including the World Health Organisation, Dr Murallitharan was also previously
an award-winning journalist for the New Straits Times, one of Malaysia’s leading English
newspapers. Dr Murallitharan is also passionate about and deeply involved with healthcare
services for marginalized and underprivileged groups and works closely with many service
organisations. Dr Murallitharan is currently the Managing Director of the National Cancer
Society of Malaysia. He was selected one of the world’s Young Cancer Leaders for
2019/2020 by the Union for International Cancer Control, the world’s largest grouping of
organisations working in cancer. In 2022 he was awarded World’s Best Cancer CEO by the
UICC, the first Malaysian to be awarded this honour. Dr Murallitharan is also a health
columnist with the leading national online daily Free Malaysia Today.

Dr Inkeun Park, MD, PhD, is a Medical Oncologist and Clinical Associate Professor in the
Department of Oncology at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. He earned his MD from
Kyung Hee University College of Medicine and his PhD from Ulsan University College of
Medicine. He completed both his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in
medical oncology at Asan Medical Center.
Dr Park has authored over 40 publications in peer-reviewed journals and serves as the
Chair of the Korean Treatment Guidelines for Metastatic Prostate Cancer, established by
the Korean Society of Medical Oncology. His primary research interests within
genitourinary oncology focus on biomarkers, prognostic factors, rare genitourinary
cancers, and novel therapeutic clinical trials.

Conflict of Interest Form Dr Park

Eric A. Singer, MD, MA, MS, FACS, FASCO
Dr Singer joined the faculty of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
(OSUCCC) as a Professor of Urology and Bioethics in 2022 after spending ten years in
leadership roles at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School.
Dr Singer completed a clinical and research fellowship in the Urologic Oncology Branch
of the National Cancer Institute. He received his medical degree with Honors in
Research from Georgetown University along with a master’s degree in bioethics. Dr
Singer performed his general surgery and urologic surgery training at the University of
Rochester Medical Center where he also did a fellowship in clinical ethics. He has
completed certificates in Clinical Research from the National Institutes of Health and the
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, a master’s degree in clinical & translational
science from Rutgers University, and a certificate in safety, quality, informatics, and
leadership from Harvard Medical School.
At The OSUCCC James Cancer Hospital and Wexner Medical Center, Dr Singer is The
Dave Longaberger Endowed Chair in Urology, Chief of the Division of Urologic
Oncology, Director of the Urologic Oncology Fellowship Program, Co-Director of the
Genitourinary Disease-Specific Research Group, and Chair of the Ethics Committee. Dr
Singer’s research is focused on the development of new treatments for patients with
genitourinary malignancies through clinical trials. His interests in bioethics include
consent and capacity, research ethics, surgical innovation, and surgical ethics.

Conflict of Interest Form Dr Singer

Professor Shankar Siva is a Radiation Oncologist and leads the stereotactic body
radiotherapy (SABR) service at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and is an
internationally recognized leader in the field. He has been a pioneer in SABR for
primary kidney cancer and led the practice changing TROG 15.03 FASTRACK II
trial, as well as first-in-human trials of SABR and immunotherapy combinations
for oligometastatic RCC and prior to nephrectomy. He is the founder and chair of
the International Radiosurgery Oncology Consortium for Cancers of the Kidney
(iROCK). He has over 350 peer reviewed publications, and $30 million in
competitive grant funding. His current research focused on high-tech
radiotherapy delivery, advanced functional imaging in kidney cancer, and has a
passion for improving outcomes in patients afflicted with kidney cancer.
He is the current Cancer Council Victoria Colebatch Fellow.

Conflict of Interest Form Prof. Siva

Olivier Exertier, EMBA, MA, BA, is an experienced leader in public health and medical research with a strong focus on cancer. He brings over 20 years of experience in leadership roles within hospitals, cancer centers, research institutions, start-ups, foundations and the World Health Organization (WHO) combining a wealth of expertise in both the healthcare and research sectors.

Olivier’s career includes four years in the Director’s Office at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at WHO, preceded by four years as Secretary General of Cancéropôle CLARA, a French foundation dedicated to oncology research and innovation. As co-founder, CEO and CFO of MSInsight, a start-up focused on cancer genomics and bioinformatics, Olivier led efforts to advance the application of cutting-edge technologies for precision medicine. Additionally, Olivier spent 15 years in management consulting, where he directed projects for hospitals, cancer centers, universities, public authorities and pharmaceutical companies, strengthening his expertise in strategic management within the healthcare space.

Passionate about addressing the global burden of kidney cancer, which results in over 435,000 new cases annually, Olivier is committed to mobilising the global IKCC network. As Executive Director, Olivier will focuss on addressing the challenges facing kidney cancer care and supporting efforts to reduce the impact of this disease worldwide.

Olivier was appointed as Executive Director of IKCC in January 2025.

As a dedicated patient advocate and long-term survivor of breast cancer, Julia Black brings invaluable personal and professional experience to IKCC in her role of Chief Operating Officer. She is also the Co-Founder of Action Kidney Cancer, a grassroots patient-led charity that provides practical support and advocacy for the kidney cancer community in the United Kingdom.

Involved in patient advocacy since 2006, Julia is passionate about empowering patients to participate in all aspects of their care. Recognising the importance of shared experiences, she is committed to fostering a network of support where patients can learn from each other. Through her advocacy work, Julia has developed a firm belief that patients’ voices are stronger when they work together, and this collaborative approach is key to driving positive change in healthcare.

With a keen awareness of the challenges faced by patients and the disparities in information and support available to patients with rare cancers such as kidney cancer, Julia is focussed on redressing this imbalance and ensuring that people affected by kidney cancer worldwide have access to the resources they need to improve their lives and health outcomes.

Julia has been the Chief Operating Officer since 2021, and a member of the IKCC team since 2012.

After finishing her studies in nutritional science Karin started her career as PR-consultant in a well-known PR-agency in Frankfurt/Germany working for national and international companies in the field of health & nutrition. In 2009 Karin was introduced to the non-profit organization Nierenkrebs-Netzwerk Deutschland e.V. (kidney cancer network Germany) due to the kidney cancer disease of a relative. Right from the beginning she was impressed by the work the non-profit organization was doing and directly joined the team. By now she is CEO of the network and representative of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition (IKCC). 

Karin is also a member of the patient advisory committee of the European Cancer Organisation, chair of the nutrition in cancer patient impact group of ENHA, a board member of the working group on preventive and integrative oncology (AG PRiO) within the German Cancer Association and member of the national patient research council at the NCT in Germany.