Nicole Scobie

Nicole Scobie, the Chair of the ACCELERATE Board is a founding member and president-emeritus of Zoé4life, a Swiss non-profit supporting children with cancer, their families, and research. As a parent of a childhood cancer survivor, she advocates for better treatment access and the development of improved therapies. With extensive experience in incorporating patient perspectives into research strategies and clinical trial design, Nicole is a founding member of the ITCC, SIOPEN and SPOG Advocate Committees. She serves on the board of CAC2, an international childhood cancer umbrella organization, and actively contributes to the Research & Innovation pillar of the European Branch of Childhood Cancer International. She is a member of LifeArc’s Strategic Advisory Board, the ITCC-P4’s Advisory Board as well as the Canadian ACCESS External Advisor Board.

Gilles Vassal, Prof., MD, PhD

A pediatrician by training with a PhD in pharmacology, Gilles Vassal was a professor of oncology at Paris Saclay University in France. He was director of clinical research and the pediatric oncology research program at the Gustave Roussy Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he currently works in the Europe Unit. Co-founder and former president of  ITCC, the European network for innovative therapies for children and adolescents with cancer (www.itcc-consortium.org), he chairs its industry strategy committee. He is a member of the board of directors of SIOP Europe, the European Society for Pediatric Oncology in charge of the European pediatric OncoPolicy program (www.siope.eu). He is co-founder and former president of ACCELERATE (www.accelerate-platform.org ), an international multi-stakeholder initiative (universities, industry, patient representatives, regulatory agencies) aimed at accelerating innovation for children and adolescents with cancer, and currently chairs its scientific steering committee. He is co-founder and managing director of the non-profit organization ITCC-P4 gGMBH, which conducts preclinical trials in pediatric oncology (www.itccp4.com). He co-chairs the Childhood Cancers working group of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster (www.parissaclaycancercluster.org). He is the author of more than 350 scientific articles. 

Delphine Heenen

Delphine HEENEN is the Managing Director and founder of the Belgian public interest foundation KickCancer, whose mission is to fund and promote translational and clinical research in paediatric oncology. Delphine is also a member of Childhood Cancer International – Europe’s Regional Committee and plays an active role in their European Affairs as well as Research & Innovation Pillars. She is the (step)mother of four boys, one of whom died of cancer in 2024 at the age of 20 after 11 years of treatments. It was the lack of innovative treatment options available to her son that motivated her and her family to establish KickCancer. Prior to founding KickCancer in 2017, Delphine had a career as an international corporate lawyer, strategy consultant, and legal advisor to private investment funds dedicated to renewable energy.

Rob Pieters

Chief Máxima International, Executive Committee

Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology

Rob Pieters is a full professor in Pediatric Oncology at the University of Utrecht. He was chair of Pediatric Oncology/Hematology at the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam from 1999-2014 and a full professor in Pediatric Oncology at Erasmus University Rotterdam from 2000-2017. He is initiator and one of the founders of the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This national center has merged all expertise from all former 7 childhood cancer centers in the Netherlands, thereby establishing the largest center in Europe for treatment and research of childhood cancer. He was Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and co-CEO of the Princess Máxima Center from 2013-2025. Since 1 January 2025, he is Chief Máxima International and part of the Executive Committee of the Princess Máxima Center. His focus is on strategic international collaborations aiming to improve survival rates and quality of survival and to overcome inequities in access to care and research for children with cancer worldwide. Rob is president of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), member of the EU Cancer Mission Board, and editor-in-chief of the European Journal of Cancer- Pediatric Oncology. His research focusses on the development of personalized therapies for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He published >700 peer-reviewed scientific papers, gave >400 invited lectures and has supervised >65 PhD students. In 2018 he received a Royal knighthood decoration as Officer in the Order of Oranje Nassau for his achievements for children with cancer.

Peter Adamson

Peter C. Adamson, MD, FASCO, is Global Head of Oncology Clinical Development at Servier and Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he served as Global Head of Oncology Development and Pediatric Innovation at Sanofi. Prior to his industry roles, Dr. Adamson held the Alan R. Cohen Endowed Chair in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and served as Group Chair of the Children’s Oncology Group. Dr. Adamson was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Cancer Advisory Board, where he advised on U.S. cancer policy and programs, and served on the NCI Blue Ribbon Panel for the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. In 2023, he received the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Pediatric Award.

George Kirk BSc. PhD.

VP, Global Franchise Head, R&D Oncology  

George has been at AstraZeneca for 28 years and is currently VP Global Franchise Head for a number of late stage projects. George also leads the Paediatric Oncology Development Team (PODT) which prioritises activities to develop better medicines for children with cancer with initial focus on brain tumours and sarcomas utilising assets across AstraZeneca’s oncology portfolio.
Previously George led the Koselugo (selumetinib) program achieving approval from US in 2020 and the EU in 2021 for the treatment of children with NF1-PN. Prior to the above George spent his first 13 years in AstraZeneca in Pharmaceutical Development. George’s background/training is Chemistry, having a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and more recently completed an oncology preceptorship program at St James’ hospital in Leeds in 2014. 

Theodora Armenkova

Theodora Armenkova is a social worker, health management professional, and children’s rights advocate with over 20 years of experience in hospital, educational, and non-profit settings. She currently works as a Social Worker and Manager of the Parent House at Queen Giovanna University Hospital in Sofia, supporting families of children with cancer from the very beginning of diagnosis. Co-founder and board member of Foundation Gold, dedicated to improving access to quality diagnosis, treatment, and care in paediatric oncology. She holds a Master’s degree in Health Management, is trained in palliative care, and has extensive experience in hospital education, policy advocacy, and international projects. She actively contributes to European initiatives improving standards of care for children with cancer.

Pablo Berlanga MD, PhD

Pablo Berlanga MD, PhD, is a pediatric oncologist at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus. He trained and worked as pediatric oncologist at the Hospital La Fe Hospital in Valencia Spain, then moved in 2017 to Gustave Roussy. He is actively involved in pediatric phase I/II trials and precision medicine programs, bone sarcomas and neuroblastoma. He is the Chair of the New Drug Development Committee of SIOPEN and deputy chair of the New Drug Development Committee of the EuroEwing Consortium, as well as member of the ITCC Solid Tumour Steering Committee. His main research interest with coordinating roles are: early phase clinical trials (ESMART trial, NCT02813135), incorporation of new therapies to upfront therapy (REGO-INTER-EWING NCT05830084; chemo-immunotherapy arm HRNBL2 NCT04221035) and real-world data on off-label/compassionate use innovative anticancer therapies (SACHA, NCT04477681). 

Pam Kearns

Pam Kearns is Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Oncology at the University of Birmingham and was Director of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit 2011-2023 and Director of the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences 2021-2024.  

She is President of ITCC, Board member for ACCELERATE, Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees for Cancer Research UK and Chair of UK’s IMPACCT (Initiative for Multi-stakeholder Partnership to Accelerate Children’s Cancer Trials). She chairs the Research Assessment Panel for Great Ormond Street Hospital, is a member of UK’s National Institute for Health Research Invention for Innovation Funding Committeeand several other (inter)national academic advisory boards.  She chairs the Board of Trustees for A Child of Mine, a charity dedicated to supporting bereaved parents, is a Scientific Advisor to Children with Cancer-UK and a Trusted Advisor to The Little Princess Trust.

Franziska Helmberg

Franziska Helmberg is a research associate at the Medical University of Innsbruck. She works in the Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) research team led by David Riedl. She is part of the ACCELERATE PRO Working Group, where she co-leads the work package on barriers and facilitators to implementing PROs in paediatric oncology clinical trials. She also works within the Innsbruck research group on the development of a new EORTC core questionnaire for children and participates in EU-funded trials in paediatric oncology. Franziska has a strong interest in PROs as a way to give children and their caregivers a meaningful voice in research and clinical practice. 

Olga Kholmanskikh, MD, PhD 

Olga Kholmanskikh is a clinical assessor at the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) since 2012. She is an MD by training and holds PhD in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is a member of Oncology, Methodology and Scientific Advice Working Parties as well as an alternate member at the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) at the EMA. 

Beate Wulff

Beate Wulff, M.D., is the Global Development Leader for Roche/Genentech's innovative Pediatric Oncology Drug Development (iPODD) team, directing the pediatric hematology-oncology drug development of the company's portfolio. A board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist, her career integrates clinical care, research, and pharmaceutical development. She has led pivotal programs in adult and pediatric hematology and oncology, stem cell transplantation, and autoimmune diseases. Previously, she directed clinical development at medac GmbH in Germany. Dr. Wulff’s key achievements include founding a Phase I/II Pediatric Oncology Study Center in Germany, leading and designing national and international clinical trials, and serving as deputy chairman of the Ethics committee. She is also a Co-Founder and Board Director of aPODD (Accelerating Pediatric Oncology Drug Development), a UK-based non-profit organization. 

Antonia Palmer

Antonia’s journey in childhood cancer advocacy began in 2009, when her two-year-old son was diagnosed with stage IV high-risk neuroblastoma. Since then, she has become a tireless advocate for children with cancer and their families. She is the co-founder of the Advocacy for Canadian Childhood Oncology Research Network (Ac2orn) and founder of Neuroblastoma Canada. Antonia is on the Board of Directors for Cancer Research Society and BioCanRx, and on the Scientific Steering Committee for ACCELERATE. She plays an active role in New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT), the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN), and the ACCESS Consortium. Antonia is a patient partner on a number of pediatric oncology clinical trials and an active volunteer on numerous cancer-focused initiatives across Canada and internationally.

Patricia Blanc

After more than 20 years in international finance, Patricia Blanc left her corporate career to dedicate herself to the fight against childhood cancer. She founded Imagine for Margo – Children without Cancer in memory of her daughter Margaux, who died from a brain tumor at age 14.
Under her leadership, the association has become a major force in pediatric oncology, funding research and promoting collaboration across France and Europe. Patricia serves on international scientific boards and actively contributes to research programs supported by the French government, Cancer Research UK, and European grants. She has received several honors, including recognition by Vanity Fair as one of the 50 most influential French figures (2016), SIOP’s Women Leaders in Pediatric Oncology award (2024), and the French National Order of the Légion d’Honneur (2025).

Anjali Sharma, MD

Anjali received her medical degree from Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India, after which she completed her pediatric internship and residency at University of Illinois, Chicago. She went on to complete a fellowship in adult bone marrow and stem cell transplantation as well as pediatric hematology and oncology at Stanford University, CA. After spending a year at UCSF as an attending physician in the Pediatric BMT unit, she joined Kaiser Permanente as an Attending Physician in 2006. Her research and clinical focus has been on pediatric oncology / solid tumors as well as bleeding disorders (benign hematology). In 2015, she joined Amgen where she worked as Clinical Research Medical Director and contributed to several early and late stage molecules.At Amgen, Anjali assumed the role of Pediatric Oncology development lead for all Oncology programs in view of the impact of the Race Act for Pediatric Oncology and acted as a consultant on all early and late stage molecules. In 2021, Anjali joined CRISPR therapeutics where she lead early stage CAR-T programs in both solid and liquid tumors. She then joined Gilead in 2023 and assumed the role of the Pediatric Oncology global development lead where she lead several collaborations with both NANT and LLS. She is a member of the industry relations council ( IRC) for COG and on the scientific steering committee for ACCELERATE. She founded A9 Clinical consultants in 2025 and consults specifically in the field of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Steven DuBois

Dr. DuBois completed medical school and pediatric training at UCSF. He completed pediatric oncology training at Dana-Farber / Boston Children’s Hospital. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of Experimental Therapeutics where he leads a program designed to bring new targeted therapies to children with cancer.  Dr. DuBois leads an active clinical and translational research program focused on patients with advanced neuroblastoma and Ewing sarcoma.  He conducts clinical trials of novel targeted agents relevant to these diseases, including national phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials.  Dr. DuBois has served on a number of national committees, including the COG Neuroblastoma Steering Committee, COG Bone Tumor Committee, the ASCO Scientific Program Committee, and the ACCELERATE Scientific Steering Committee.   

Dr Omar Kamlin

Dr Omar Kamlin is the Chief Medical Officer at Orphalan, and leads the Global Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Development functions. Dr Kamlin was a practising clinician for more than 25 years, board certified neonatologist with a track record in the conduct of studies in the delivery room and neonatal respiratory disease. Dr Kamlin is widely published including New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA. Orphalan is focussed on providing innovative solutions for people living with rare disease. The current research portfolio includes simplifying the medication regime for the treatment of Wilson disease and exploring new indications for copper chelation including rare paediatric oncology. 

Jan J. Molenaar MD, PhD

Jan Molenaar is a professor at the department of pharmaceutical sciences at the Utrecht University and a group leader in the Princess Maxima Center for pediatric oncology. His group is aiming at translational research in pediatric solid tumors. Molecular and immunologic findings are translated in new therapeutic interventions to improve curation with optimal quality of life. His group has initiated the iTHER precision medicine program for pediatric cancer patients in the Netherlands and his team is running the Maxima compound screening facility. Jan is the co-chair of the European ITCC (Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer) solid committee, a member of the SIOPEN New Drug Development steering committee and a member of the Princes Maxima Clinical Research Committee. 

Vlad Olteanu

Vlad Olteanu is Public Affairs Director for Healthcare at EuropaBio, where he leads advocacy efforts at the intersection of EU policy, healthcare innovation, and biotechnology, with a focus on enabling science-driven innovation to reach patients. In parallel, he serves as Senior Counsel in EU Law and Policy at Loyens & Loeff, advising on complex regulatory and policy matters. Vlad brings extensive experience from top-tier law firms, global corporations, and international consultancies, with a strong focus on life sciences, healthcare systems, and biotech regulation. He has provided high-level legal and strategic advice, designed and implemented public affairs strategies, and supported policy engagement for both public institutions—including the European Commission, the World Bank, and EU Member States—and private-sector healthcare and biotechnology stakeholders. His work bridges law, policy, and innovation, with particular expertise in navigating EU decision-making processes affecting healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and cutting-edge biotechnologies shaping the next generation of patient care.

David Jenkinson

Head of Childhood Cancer, LifeArc

With 30 years’ experience in oncology research, David joined LifeArc in 2023 to lead their efforts in childhood cancer. Following roles in academia and biotech, David joined Cancer Research Technology, introducing several innovative approaches ensuring the progression of discoveries towards patients, including securing orphan designations, industry co-funding and industry-academia drug discovery alliances. David then moved to The Brain Tumour Charity as CSO, where he transformed the scientific funding for the charity and grew the charity’s international networks, establishing the organisation as the pre-eminent funder of research into brain tumours. Since joining LifeArc, he has established their strategy for delivery of sustainable change in childhood cancers, established C-Further, the children’s cancer therapeutic consortium and worked with the community to explore the unmet needs in various cancers through a series of workshops. 

Sébastien Barradeau

Sébastien Barradeau hold a Ph.D in Human Genetics. He serves a Senior Advisor at the Paris‑Saclay Cancer Cluster (PSCC), where he supports oncology start‑ups by guiding their scientific strategy, mentoring founders, and contributing to programs designed to accelerate the development of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. With more than 20 years of experience across molecular diagnostics and medical device innovation, Sébastien has held senior scientific and managerial roles at Cerba reserach, DIAGAST and Genomic Vision. His expertise spans innovation management, product development, regulatory strategy, and the translation of advanced technologies into impactful healthcare solutions.

Vickie Buenger

Vickie Buenger brings 30+ years of teaching competitive and cooperative business strategy and project management at Texas A&M University (Mays Business School and Professional Program for Biotechnology) to her advocacy work. Her daughter, Erin, fought neuroblastoma for seven years. After Erin’s death in 2009, Vickie continued her academic career while devoting time and energy to launching the Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2) on behalf of the many dedicated organizations and individuals striving to make a difference for children with cancer. She continues pursuing that vision in a variety of roles, including on the Board of the ACCELERATE Platform, as the PPIE representative on the GLO-BNHL Clinical Trial Steering Group, and as President Emeritus at CAC2.

Meg Macy

Dr. Meg Macy is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is a pediatric oncologist at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children’s Hospital Colorado. She serves as the Program Leader for the Experimental Therapeutics Program and Director of Clinical Research for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children’s Hospital Colorado where she also holds the Hoover Family Endowed Chair for Cancer Research and Innovation. Her clinical and research interests are focused on the development of novel therapies for relapsed/refractory pediatric cancers and has a focus in relapsed refractory solid tumors including high-risk neuroblastoma. Dr. Macy is a site principal investigator in the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN) and the New Agents in Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) consortium and a member of the COG neuroblastoma steering committee.

Elizabeth Fox

Elizabeth Fox, MD, MSCR is Senior Vice-President, Clinical Research Administration and Associate Director of Clinical Research, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and  Comprehensive Cancer Center leading regulatory affairs, clinical trial operations, clinical research prioritization and strategy.  Nationally, she is the chair of Developmental Therapeutics for the Children’s Oncology Group and  the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network.   She is the Vice-Chair of ACCELERATE, the international multi-stakeholder platform to advance drug development for children and young adults with cancer. She has expertise in clinical pharmacology and clinical research trial design including response and toxicity biomarker endpoint development.  Her professional mission is clinical development of the most promising therapies for children, mentor clinician-scientists and lead a clinical research workforce to foster innovation to improve the outcome for children with catastrophic disease. 

Nick Bird

Nick’s youngest son, Adam, was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in 2009 and died 4 years later. Nick is Chair of the Board of Trustees of Solving Kids’ Cancer UK; Trustee of Children With Cancer UK; Patient Representative for NHS England Clinical Reference Group for Children and Young People’s Cancer; a former member of the National Cancer Research Institute’s Children’s Group and Neuroblastoma Group; founding member of the Advocate Committee of SIOPEN, the European neuroblastoma research network; founding Chair of the Advocate Committee of ITCC; and has newly joined the Scientific Steering Committee of ACCELERATE. Nick is lead author of two advocate-only articles published in JCO and PB&C respectively examining issues of importance to the childhood cancer community. He was awarded an MBE in the King’s 2024 New Year’s Honours List.

Dr. Dominik Karres

Dr. Dominik Karres is a medical doctor with an MD in paediatric drug development. He held training post in paediatric haematology/oncology in Germany and later worked in paediatric oncology drug development in the UK. With over 11 years of regulatory experience, including scientific roles at the UK MHRA, he now serves as Scientific Officer at the European Medicines Agency. At the EMA, he oversees the assessment of paediatric anti‑cancer development plans (PIPs) and contributes to EU and global initiatives supporting paediatric (oncology) drug development efforts. In that capacity, he represents for example the Agency on the ACCELERATE Scientific Steering Committee.

Martha Donoghue

Martha Donoghue, MD is the Associate Director for Pediatric Oncology and Rare Cancers in the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence, Office of the Commissioner and the Acting Associate Director for Pediatric Oncology in the Office of Oncologic Diseases, Center of Drug Evaluation and Research. In these roles, she oversees the implementation of the pediatric regulations designed to facilitate the timely investigation of drugs and biological products for pediatric patients with cancer and promotes consistent and efficient interactions with stakeholders involved in developing drugs to treat pediatric cancers across the FDA oncology review divisions. She serves on several FDA and stakeholder working groups and committees to facilitate development of drugs to treat rare cancers, including pediatric cancers. Prior to joining FDA in 2009, Dr. Donoghue completed a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s National Medical Center after working for several years as a general pediatrician in private practice. She received her medical degree from Emory University and completed a residency in general pediatrics at the Georgetown University Medical Center. 

Rieke van der Graaf

Rieke van der Graaf is an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Julius Center, UMC Utrecht, where she leads the Bioethics and Health Humanities department. Her work centers on research ethics—particularly in relation to vulnerable populations, diversity, equity, and inclusion in research, and the ethical dimensions of innovative trial designs. She also focuses on the ethics of emerging health therapies, such as gene therapy and CAR-T, as well as global health ethics and climate ethics. She serves as director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Bioethics in Utrecht. She is the scientific writer of the 2016 CIOMS International Ethical Guidelines for Health-related Research Involving Humans. She contributes her expertise to several (inter)national advisory bodies, including the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO) and MedEthicsEU. 

Michelle Garcia

Michelle Garcia is a Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Amgen with extensive experience in pediatric drug development and global regulatory strategy. She leads pediatric regulatory strategy for early- and late-phase oncology programs, including FDA Pediatric Study Plans, EMA Pediatric Investigation Plans, and Pediatric Written Requests. Michelle founded Amgen’s Pediatric Network, embedding pediatric considerations into development and commercialization decision-making. She actively contributes to global pediatric policy initiatives through BIO, and PhRMA. Prior to industry, Michelle spent more than a decade as a pediatric nurse practitioner and oncology nurse, caring for children receiving stem cell transplant, immunotherapy, and investigational therapies.

Bram De Wilde

Bram De Wilde is a pediatric oncologist at Ghent University Hospital and professor at Ghent University. He heads the Belgian Pediatric Solid Tumor Working Group and coordinates both the UZ Ghent ITCC-accredited early-phase clinical trial unit and the TEARDoP Bioportal, Belgiums patient and biospecimen registry. He has served as the national principal investigator in >20 industry and academically sponsored clinical trials. As a Senior Clinical Investigator of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), his work bridges fundamental pediatric cancer biology and clinical innovation, focusing on liquid biopsy-based diagnostics, molecular disease monitoring and novel treatment strategies for solid tumors in children. He is an active member of the ITCC Solid Tumor and Trial Sponsors Commitees and a long-standing SIOPEN and EpSSG member.

Dr. Gesine Bejeuhr 

Gesine, PharmD, PhD, GFMD is responsible for advising on the generation and implementation of global pediatric regulatory strategies and for pediatric regulatory science innovation within Bayer AG. Gesine represents Bayer in the Pediatric WGs of EFPIA, PhRMA, and BIO. She is member of EFGCP’s Children’s Medicines Working Group and was co-organiser of EFGCP’s Mechanism-of-Action PIP Workshop.Angelika Joos, MPharm, is responsible for Regulatory Policy issues within MSD's Global Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Safety department. This role includes identifying regulatory policy priorities that align with MSD’s business priorities, leading cross-functional networks to define policy positions, and informing MSD’s regulatory strategy development. Angelika represents MSD in various Committees of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. She is also involved in international policy activities as the MSD delegate in the IFPMA Regulatory Science Committee, and the BIO and the PhRMA international Committees. 

Michela Casanova

Michela Casanova is a senior full-time medical doctor working in Pediatric Oncology at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan. She has been involved in the field of paediatric solid tumours for several years, with a special interest new drug development, especially in soft tissue sarcomas. She is an active member of the executive committee of the Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (ITCC). She has been co-chair of the Solid Tumour Committee since 2020 and was previously member of the Clinical Trial Committee (2010-2020). She is a founding member of the European paediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG), member of the Rhabdomyosarcoma and Non-Rhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma Scientific Committee and Phase I-II Trial Committee. She is author/co-author of more than 300 scientific papers. 

Michele Cleary, PhD

Chief Executive Officer, Advancium Health Network 

Michele Cleary is CEO of Advancium Health Network, a nonprofit created by Deerfield Management and the Deerfield Foundation to bridge healthcare gaps by developing devices and therapies for underserved patients, especially children. Michele previously held senior-level positions at Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck Research Laboratories leading teams in translational research, early clinical development, and medical affairs. She also served as Vice President of Academic Outreach at Deerfield, working with research institutions to identify new drug targets for early-stage drug development campaigns. Her nonprofit experience includes launching the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, where she was the first CEO. Michele earned a PhD in molecular biology from Stony Brook University. She conducted graduate research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and completed postdoctoral training at Princeton University.

Brenda Weigel

Brenda Weigel, MSc., MD, is Vice President of Clinical Research Administration at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, responsible for industry engagement. She is a Full Member of the Department of Oncology. Prior to joining St. Jude in January of 2025, she was the Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and a Professor cross-appointed at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center and the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Weigel’s major interests have been advancing new therapies for children with cancer. Her research interests are centered in her extensive involvement with the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). She chaired the Developmental Therapeutics Committee and the NCI funded Pediatric Early Phase Trials Network from 2013-2024. She is also active in the COG’s Soft Tissue Sarcoma committee and led trials in rhabdomyosarcoma.

Dr. Francisco Bautista

Dr. Francisco Bautista is a leading Pediatric Oncologist and Group Leader in Pediatric Oncology Drug Development at the Princess Máxima Center (Netherlands), the central institution for pediatric cancer care and research in the country. A highly experienced clinical researcher, Dr. Bautista previously headed the Clinical Trials Unit at Hospital Niño Jesús (Spain), serving as PI for over 30 trials and National Coordinator for many ITCC academic international trials. His extensive fellowship training includes Great Ormond Street Hospital (UK), EORTC (Belgium), and Gustave Roussy (France). He holds key international leadership roles: Chair of the ITCC Sponsor Committee since January 2024, and Chair of the IBFM Early Clinical Trials Group. With expertise spanning early-phase trial design, translational research, and regulatory science, he is devoted to developing new, effective therapies to improve outcomes for children with cancer.

Daniel Morgenstern

Daniel Morgenstern is a Staff Oncologist at Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He originally trained and worked in the UK before relocating to Canada in 2016. He currently leads the early phase trial program and is Medical Director of the oncology trials unit at SickKids and was recently appointed as Head of Clinical Trials for the hospital. Nationally, he co-chairs the developmental therapeutics committee and is a member of the executive committee of C17 Council, as well as acting as one of the co-leads the clinical trials component of Access. 

Scott Diede, MD, PhD

Scott Diede, MD, PhD, leads pediatric oncology clinical development at MSD. He received his MD and PhD degrees from The University of Chicago and completed his generalpediatrics residency and pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at the University of Washington/Seattle Children’s/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Before joining MSD in 2014, his academic focus was on examining the role of epigenetic changes in cancer. 

Douglas Hawkins

Dr. Hawkins is Group Chair of the Children's Oncology Group (COG). Prior to becoming COG Group Chair in 2020, he was the Chair of the COG Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee, overseeing the conduct of biology studies and clinical trials for rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas across North America. Dr. Hawkins was a member of the COG Bone Tumor Steering Committee. His academic career has focused on clinical research, particularly in the treatment of pediatric sarcomas. He was the chair of two COG clinical trials, one for Ewing sarcoma and another for rhabdomyosarcoma. He chairs the international EURO EWING Consortium External Advisory Board and the international Frontline and Relapse in RhabdoMyoSarcoma Study (FaR-RMS) Data Monitoring Committee.

Lynley Marshall

Dr Lynley Marshall leads the Paediatric and Adolescent/Young Adult Oncology Drug Development 

Team at The Royal Marsden Hospital & The Institute of Cancer Research, London, focusing on early phase clinical trials of novel therapeutics for high-risk, poor prognosis cancers, especially solid 

tumours, neuro-oncology and lymphoma. She is Deputy Lead for the UK’s Paediatric Experimental 

Cancer Medicines Centre (ECMC) Network and Clinical Trials Theme Lead. She serves on the Innovative Therapies for Children and Young People with Cancer (ITCC) Solid Tumour Steering Committee and is a member of SIOPEN’s New Drug Development Group. She serves on the Scientific Steering Committee of ACCELERATE and is a founding member of the ‘Fostering Age-Inclusive Research (‘FAIR’) Trials Working Group. Dr Marshall is UK co-ordinating investigator on multiple academic and commercial early phase clinical trials, with expertise in tumour and age agnostic precision medicine trials.

Iris Valtingojer

Iris Valtingojer leads Sanofi’s childhood cancer program, with the ambition of accelerating the emergence of new therapeutic solutions for children with cancer. At the interface of R&D, innovation, and partnerships, she explores the extension of adult oncology pipelines into pediatrics and builds targeted collaborations to address the specific challenges of childhood cancers. She co-leads the Childhood Cancer Working Group of the Paris Saclay Cancer Cluster, which aims to mobilize startup and innovation ecosystems in support of pediatric oncology. A member of the ITCC-P4 Board, she contributes to the development of translational preclinical models adapted for children. With 20 years of experience in oncology drug discovery, she is convinced that collaborative innovation is key to sustainably transforming pediatric cancer treatments. Iris Valtingojer holds a PhD from the Max Planck Institute (Germany) and an MSc in molecular biology/biochemistry from the University of Vienna. 

Lucy Jones

Lucy Jones is founder and CEO of registered charity Neuroblastoma Australia and a board director on the Australian and New Zealand Children's Oncology Group, and also is an appointed member of the General Assembly for ACCELERATE. Lucy is a passionate advocate for childhood cancer having lost her 2 year old daughter Sienna to neuroblastoma 16 years ago and was recently awarded the Premier Award for Advocacy by Cancer New South Wales. She is a lived experience advisor to a number of scientific research committees and also takes an active role in psycho-social research with the goal of providing better and safer treatments for children and better support overall for families who are having to manage a neuroblastoma diagnosis.

Aleck Jones

Aleck Jones, PhD, is CEO and Co-Founder of Kindling Bio, an award-winning London-based biotech pioneering a fundamentally different approach to immunotherapy for childhood cancer and beyond. With nearly 20 years’ experience in cancer biology and child health at University College London and King’s College London, he leads Kindling Bio in building an engineered viral gene therapy platform that puts children first in oncology and turns neglected paediatric cancers into scalable, commercially viable markets for curative therapies.

Donna Ludwinski

Donna is a pediatric cancer research advocate. Her son Erik battled neuroblastoma and suffered a late relapse, diagnosed in 1991 at age 6 and died in 2010 at age 24. She has been involved in the pediatric cancer community for decades. She serves on the ACCELERATE Scientific Steering Committee as well as councils for the NCI, FDA, and DOD. Donna has worked for Solving Kids' Cancer since 2010 managing research programs and for Solving Kids' Cancer UK supporting neuroblastoma families since 2015. Donna has a BS in Chemical Engineering, lives in Virginia with her husband, and they have 3 surviving married children and 9 grandchildren.

Elly Barry

Dr. Barry is Chief Medical Officer at Day One Biopharmaceuticals where she oversees multiple functions including clinical development, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, patient advocacy, and clinical pharmacology. She is a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric hematologist/oncologist with over 18 years of experience in drug development. Prior to joining Day One in 2021, she was GlobalClinical Lead for Pediatric Oncology at Pfizer, as well as Head of Pfizer’s Pediatric Oncology Leadership Team where she managed more than 10 pediatric oncology clinical programs. She has also held previous roles at Genzyme and Millenium/Takeda focused on the development of oncology therapeutics in adults. Dr. Barry serves on the Industry Advisory Council for CureSearch and is a member of the ACCELERATE Platform Steering Committee. She is also a co-chair of the Children’s Oncology Group Industry Relations Council.