Professor of Medical Oncology and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology; Clinical Director, CRUK Scotland Centre; Director, Nicola Murray Centre for Ovarian Cancer Research

Charlie graduated in Genetics and Medicine from Glasgow University in 1991 and 1994 respectively. From 1998 to 2005, he trained in medical oncology in Edinburgh, during which time he was awarded a PhD in ovarian cancer genetics from the University of Edinburgh and an NHS Education for Scotland Clinician Scientist Award. He was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Medical Oncology at the University of Edinburgh in 2005, Reader in Medical Oncology in 2011 and Professor of Medical Oncology (Personal Chair) in 2012. He received a Scottish Senior Clinical Fellowship Award in 2010. He became Director of the Nicola Murray Centre for Ovarian Cancer Research in 2016, Clinical Director of the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre in 2019 and Clinical Director of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre in 2022.

Charlie’s clinical research focus is ovarian cancer clinical trials. He was UK Lead for the SOLO1 trial, which led to the first-line licence for olaparib in BRCA-mutant ovarian cancer, and for the GOG281/LOGS trial of trametinib, which is the first positive randomised controlled trial in low-grade serous ovarian cancer.

Charlie’s translational research focuses on molecular characterisation of ovarian cancer in order to improve understanding of drug sensitivity and resistance. His current priorities include targeting the molecular subgroups revealed by whole genome sequencing of high grade serous ovarian cancer and discovering new therapeutic strategies for treatment of low grade serous ovarian cancer.

Prof. Rolfo MD, PhD, MBA, Dr, is the Director Ohio State Division of Medical Oncology and Associate director  of Clinical Research at the Center for Thoracic Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute in Mount Sinai System . In addition, he is Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. From April 2018 to May 2021 he was serving as Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology and Director of Early Clinical Trials at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC), in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. In addition, he was appointed Professor of Medicine at the Division of Oncology at Maryland University, School of Medicine. Prof. Rolfo is Medical Oncologist focused in Thoracic Oncology, Drug Development and Translational Oncology. From 2012 to March 2018 he was working as Director of the Phase I - Early Clinical Trials Unit, Director of the Clinical Trials Management Program at Antwerp University Hospital, and Senior Staff member of Thoracic Oncology Cluster at Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium. In addition he is Professor of Oncology at Antwerp University in the Center for Oncological Research (CORE) in Antwerp, Belgium, Professor Rolfo graduated with a degree in medicine from the National University of Córdoba, Argentina in 1996; he then studied at the University of Milan and the National Cancer Institute of Milan, Italy, receiving European Oncology Board certification in 2003, followed by Spanish Board Certification in Medical Oncology in 2007. He obtained a PhD and Doctor Europaeus in Clinical and Experimental Oncology Research cum laude from the University of Palermo, Italy in 2009 under the direction of Professor Rosell, and a Master of Business Health Administration from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain in 2010. He worked as clinical researcher in the Spanish Lung Cancer Group in Mallorca, Spain for 8 years. He is actively working on drug development and Lung cancer & Mesothelioma treatment. His research is focused in molecular oncology and Immunotherapy in Thoracic Oncology and in a pan-tumoral approach, using new techniques in liquid biopsies, specifically in exosome isolation and circulating free tumour DNA. His group identify ALK translocation in exosomes in NSCLC patients, showed, for the first time, the videos of labeled EVs uptake by living lung cancer cells. He is currently working in the identification of new biomarkers involved in immunotherapy and TKI drug-resistance. In Drug development Prof. Rolfo contributed to the development of several compounds including Erlotinib, pharmacokinetics of Olaparib, Entrectinib among several drugs in early phase.

Fernando Lopez-Rios is the Chief of the Molecular Diagnostics Service at Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre (Madrid) and Professor of Pathology at Universidad Complutense (Madrid).

Dr Lopez-Rios has also been the Director of the Therapeutic Targets Laboratory at HM Hospitales (Spain) and a visiting researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York).

He is the 2023 recipient of the Mary J. Matthews Pathology & Transitional Research Award (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, IASLC) and the Deputy Chair of the IASLC Pathology Committee.

His main clinical and research expertise is in cancer biomarker testing.