Steering Committee

Lucia Cavelier obtained her degree in Microbiology from the University de Los Andes, Colombia, and her PhD in Human/Medical Genetics from Uppsala University, Sweden. She completed a postdoc at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before returning to Uppsala University, where she currently works as a Clinical Geneticist at Uppsala University Hospital and as the Director of the Clinical Genomic Facility at the SciLife Laboratory in Uppsala.

Jean-Michel Cayuela obtained a degree in Medical Biology in 1991 and completed his PhD in 1997. Since then, he has been a promoter of molecular diagnostics for malignant haemopathies. In this field, and on behalf of the GBMHM (French network of molecular biologists for malignant haemopathies), he has animated the French External Quality Control Program for more than 10 years. As an Assistant Professor at the Saint-Louis Hospital, Paris, he is notably committed to clinical research into CML and ALL.

Nick Cross obtained his degree and his PhD in Genetics from Cambridge University, UK. He worked as a Researcher at Hammersmith Hospital, London, from 1987 onwards, where he developed a research programme to understand the molecular genetics of myeloid neoplasms. In 2001, he was appointed Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Southampton, UK, and Director of the Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Salisbury, UK.

Hugues de Lavallade obtained his medical degree from the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France, before specialising in haematology at the University of Aix-Marseilles, France. He completed an MSc in Molecular Oncology at the Mediterranean University, Aix-Marseilles, France, and his PhD in Immunology at Imperial College London, UK. He worked as a Consultant Haematologist at King's College London, UK, since 2011, and is Honorary Senior Lecturer in Myeloid Malignancies and Transplantation at King's College Hospital NHS (National Health Service) Foundation Trust. Recently, he became a Consultant Haematologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital, UK.

Thomas Ernst obtained his medical degree from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 2004. After 3 years in Mannheim, Germany, in the working group of Prof Hehlmann, he spent another 3 years as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory (Prof Nick Cross) in Salisbury, UK. He then joined the Department of Haematology and Oncology at the Jena University Hospital (Prof Hochhaus) where he became a specialist in internal medicine and haematology/medical oncology. Since 2015 he has been the Senior Consultant of the department and leads the CML research and diagnostic group.

Torsten Haferlach obtained his medical degree from the University of Kiel, Germany, in 1983 and his PhD in 1991. He specialised in haematology and oncology in 1993 and spent several years as Haematologist and Senior Haematologist in Kiel, Göttingen and Munich. Later, he headed the Laboratory for Leukaemia diagnostics in the LMU University, Munich-Großhadern, Germany. Since 2005, he has led the Munich Haematology Practice (MHP) and the Munich Leukaemia Laboratory (MLL), a centre offering a range of therapy and diagnostic tools for leukaemias and lymphomas.

Thomas Lion obtained his medical degree from the University of Vienna and his PhD in Genetics from the University of Prague. He specialised in paediatric haemato-oncology and medical and chemical laboratory diagnostics, and is a Professor at the Medical University of Vienna. He works at the Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Austria, where he is Head of the Division of Molecular Microbiology. Since 2006, he has also been Medical Director of LabDia Labordiagnostik, a centre developing new diagnostic tools and offering molecular diagnostics in the fields of microbiology and leukaemia.

Kateřina Machová Poláková obtained her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, in 2005. She is Head of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague, Czech Republic, and Associate Professor at the Institute of Pathological Physiology, 1st Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague.

Joaquin Martinez received his MD from the University of Granada, Spain, and his PhD from the Complutense University de Madrid, Spain. Since 1999, he has worked as a Haematologist at the Haematology Department of the Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain. He has since been appointed Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Complutense University de Madrid and Head of the Haematology Department at Hospital 12 de Octubre. Since 2015, he has led the haematological group of the Spanish Center of Oncology (CNIO).

Simona Soverini obtained her MSc in Biology and her PhD in Clinical and Experimental Haematology from the University of Bologna, Italy. She has been a researcher at the University of Bologna since 1999 where she is currently working as Assistant Professor at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Speciality Medicine.

Pascal Vannuffel obtained his PhD in Sciences from the Catholic University de Louvain, Belgium. After working as a Research Associate in the Institute Christian de Duve, Faculty of Medicine (UCL), he joined the Institute of Pathology and Genetics, Belgium, in 2000 as the Head of the Molecular Biology Department for Onco-Haematology.

Jeroen Janssen, Consultant Haematologist based at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is the (Co-)Principal Investigator for a range of Phase 2 and 3 CML and AML clinical trials including several pan-European second TKI discontinuation trials. He runs several national studies on compliance improvement in TKI therapy. At the Amsterdam University Medical Center, location VUmc, he is the supervisor of the largest CML treatment center in the Netherlands. He is a Co-Director of the stem cell transplant programme and is the local JACIE (Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT-Europe & EBMT) Laboratory Medical Director.

Jeroen Janssen graduated with an MD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 1990. He has been a Consultant Haematologist since 2000. Since that time he has undertaken various research projects in CML including 'Identification of Leukemia Stem Cell Specific Targets in CML', 'Compliance Improvement of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy in CML' and 'Predictive Factors for Successful TKI Discontinuation in CML', as well as in AML. He has published extensively (>110 publications) and peer-reviews manuscripts submitted to several major journals in haemato-oncology.