Conference Committees

Suzanne Garland

Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Royal Women’s Hospital, Department of Microbiology, RCH Honorary Research Fellow, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Michelle Adair Ozbun

Professor, Departments of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology; Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of New Mexico School of Medicine Co-Leader, Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Working Group, The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Anna R. Giuliano

Anna R. Giuliano, PhD, is the founding director of the Center for Immunization and Infection Research in Cancer (CIIRC) at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr Giuliano’s career had its inception in the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer, and has evolved over the past 30 years to encompass penile, anal, and oral cancers in men, as well as other infectious diseases and their causal relationships with various cancers. Her work has contributed significantly to our understanding of HPV natural history and to HPV vaccine protection against multiple diseases in women and men.
An expert in the field of cancer research she has led numerous studies conducted globally. Dr Giuliano was a contributor to the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report titled The Unequal Burden of Cancer and the 2005 International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report that concluded for the first time that HPV is a cause of multiple cancers in women and men. In 2013, at the American Cancer Society (ACS) 100th anniversary, she was the recipient of the ACS Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award. In 2018, she was selected for the ACS Clinical Research Professor Award for “Prevention of Infection-Related Cancers.” In 2019, Dr. Giuliano received the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) Fraumeni Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr Giuliano has authored >400 peer-reviewed publications.

Sheila Graham

Margaret Stanley

Margaret Stanley is Emeritus Professor of Epithelial Biology in the University of Cambridge
and Honorary Fellow of Christs College, Cambridge. She has a lifetime award
for contribution to research on cervical cancer and cervical precancers from the American
Society for Colposcopy and Cytopathology (ASCCP) and a lifetime award for achievement
from the IPVS.

Kate Cuschieri

Kate is a consultant clinical scientist in virology, Director of the Scottish HPV Reference Laboratory at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Lead for the HPV Research Group at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh. She is one of the founder members of the Scottish HPV Investigators Network and has a honorary position at the University of Glasgow. She has a professional and research interest in the evaluation and development of HPV tests to support screening and/or disease management for diseases with an HPV aetiology, including but not confined to the cervix. She is on various groups that support the delivery and monitoring of cervical screening in the UK and beyond. The team at the reference lab have been involved in testing services to support immunisation surveillance since 2008.

Aimee Kreimer

Dr. Kreimer is a Senior Investigator at the US National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. She focuses her research on the etiology and prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cancers at multiple sites, including the head and neck and anogenital region. She has particular interests in translational research, cancer etiology related to the natural history of HPV infection at multiple anatomic sites, and cancer prevention. She leads investigations on associations between HPV serostatus and risk of HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancers. She is the Principal Investigator on several prophylactic HPV vaccine trials including “ESCUDDO: A Randomized Trial of One-Dose HPV Vaccination,” a research initiative of the Cancer Moonshot.

Sharon Hanley

Michelle Adair Ozbun

Professor, Departments of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology; Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of New Mexico School of Medicine Co-Leader, Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Working Group, The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Joel Palefsky

M.D., C.M., F.R.C.P.(C). Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. His interests include the molecular biology, treatment, pathogenesis and natural history of anogenital human papillomavirus infections, particularly in the setting of HIV infection. He is the director of the world's first clinic devoted to prevention of anal cancer, the Anal Neoplasia Clinic Research and Education Center at the UCSF Cancer Center. He is the chair of the Anal Cancer /HSIL Outcomes Research (ANCHOR) Study, a national multi-site NIH study designed to determine whether treatment of anal cancer precursor lesions prevents the development of anal cancer. He is the founder and past president of the International Anal Neoplasia Society and is the past president of the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS). He continues to serve on the board of IPVS and leads the IPVS International HPV Awareness Day Campaign.

Yin Ling Woo

Professor Woo Yin Ling is a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University of Malaya and a consultant gynaecological oncologist in University Malaya Medical Centre. She completed her specialist and subspecialty training in gynaecological oncology and postdoctoral research degree in the UK and was conferred her PhD by Cambridge University. She returned to Malaysia in 2010 and have since been actively involved in of several research programs focusing on screening, prevention and management of gynaecological cancers in the Malaysian setting. Prof. Woo believes that any innovation in healthcare services must take into account the local resources with input from the stakeholders, particularly the women themselves. In 2021 and 2022, she was the recipient of the FIGO and Rachel Pearline award respectively for her contributions to gynaecological cancers in LMIC settings. She is currently the country representative for the Asia-Oceania Research Organisation in Genital Infection and Neoplasia (AOGIN), member of the Asia Pacific Economic Consortium (APEC) Cervical Cancer working group, member of the WHO screening and treatment working group (WHO), newly elected board member of the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) and is a founding trustee to ROSE Foundation.

Aimee Kreimer

Dr. Kreimer is a Senior Investigator at the US National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. She focuses her research on the etiology and prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cancers at multiple sites, including the head and neck and anogenital region. She has particular interests in translational research, cancer etiology related to the natural history of HPV infection at multiple anatomic sites, and cancer prevention. She leads investigations on associations between HPV serostatus and risk of HPV-driven oropharyngeal cancers. She is the Principal Investigator on several prophylactic HPV vaccine trials including “ESCUDDO: A Randomized Trial of One-Dose HPV Vaccination,” a research initiative of the Cancer Moonshot.

Ann Burchell

Dr. Ann Burchell, Canada Research Chair in Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention, uses epidemiological data to improve prevention and health care for HPV, HIV, and other STIs and minimize the complications associated with these diseases. She and her research team hope to promote sexual health for all by supporting effective and practical strategies to prevent STIs and related cancers in high-risk populations. Dr. Burchell is a scientist with MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, and Research Director of St. Michael’s Department of Family and Community Medicine. She is also a scientist with ICES, an Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine (Department of Family and Community Medicine) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Division of Epidemiology).

Talía Malagón

Dr. Talía Malagón is an epidemiologist, mathematical modeller, and academic associate in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology at McGill University. Her research projects include understanding the predictors of human papillomavirus transmission between sexual partners, risk factors for cervical precancer, and decision modeling to evaluate the balance of screening harms and benefits of cervical cancer screening, and health inequalities in cancer incidence and cancer care pathways. Dr. Malagón is a member of the McGill Department of Oncology COVID-19 and Cancer Program, whose goal is to generate evidence to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer-related services across its network and inform decision-making for the resumption and improvement of cancer-related services. Dr. Malagón has a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Université Laval (2016). She teaches graduate-level and resident courses in cancer epidemiology in the Departments of Oncology and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health. She is a senior editor of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (2022-), a reviewing editor at eLife (2020-), and a Board member of the International Papillomavirus Society.

Cristine Campbell

Dr. Campbell is a Reader in Cancer and Primary Care at the Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK. She leads a programme of health services research into socio-demographic and ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes, the role of primary care in screening provision and symptomatic diagnosis, and implementation of ‘screen and treat’ cervical screening in Malawi. Current research includes an inclusion health study on cervical cancer control on marginalized populations in Scotland, and involvement in a UK-wide study examining risk stratification in bowel cancer screening. She teaches on the Masters of Public Health course at the University of Edinburgh, and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate students. She was involved in the UK's NCRI Primary Care Clinical Studies Group from 2005 – 2017, including as chair of the Screening subgroup for three years. She sits on the Executive Group of Ca-PRI (the international cancer and primary cancer research network) and is Chair-Elect of the international Cancer Screening Network. As co-Chair of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Research Ethics Committee she provides a strategic lead on global health ethics review.

Allison Portnoy

Dr. Allison Portnoy is an assistant professor of global health focused on vaccine decision science and policy. Her research includes economic evaluation and public health policy, simulation modeling, health equity, and the impact of vaccination on population health and economic outcomes. She is particularly interested in broadening the value of vaccination in high-burden settings. Her ongoing work spans multiple diseases areas, including human papillomavirus (HPV), measles, and tuberculosis (TB).

Valerian Mwenda

I am a medical doctor and epidemiologist, providing technical support to the Division of cancer and noncommunicable diseases at the Kenya Ministry of Health. My research interests span implementation research in cancer control, especially within the context of Universal Health Coverage and digital health. The focus of my ongoing doctoral studies is policy enablers of cervical cancer elimination in Kenya. I have wide experience in policy formulation, implementation and evaluation, stakeholder coordination, advocacy, economic evaluation of various interventions and evidence synthesis for policy. My recent work in cervical cancer control is health system assessments in Kenya for scaling screening and treatment, as well as cost-effectiveness of HPV vaccination, both assuming continuation of the current two-dose strategy as well as switching to a single-dose program.

Qudus Lawal

Dr Qudus O. Lawal is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with an interest in Oncology at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria. He is the convener of CANCAD NIGERIA, a youth-based cancer advocacy organization and also serves as the director of Programs End Cervical Cancer Nigeria Initiative. He is a member of the IPVS community as an Early Career Researcher. He is an alumni of the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) Summer School and also obtained WHO/IARC Certificate on Improving Quality of Cancer Screening and HPV Vaccination. He also had UICC certification on Advocacy for cervical cancer elimination as well as International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) certificate on Preinvasive Cervical Disease Program.
His research interest is in resource stratified intervention to achieve cervical cancer elimination targets. He has made peer reviewed publications and conference presentations on HPV related conditions.

Erin Scherer

Dr. Scherer is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Emory University School of Medicine. The Scherer Laboratory focuses on understanding immune mechanisms underlying durable and protective B cell/antibody responses to more reliably design infectious disease vaccines that provide life-long immunity. Dr. Scherer received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Scherer pursued graduate studies at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, where she was selected into a joint PhD/DPhil program with the University of Oxford in England. After focusing on mechanisms of HIV inhibition by broadly neutralizing antibodies for her graduate work, Dr. Scherer transitioned to cellular immunology research in HIV and HPV vaccinology for her postdoctoral studies in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington and in the Human Biology Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. Following her postdocs, Dr. Scherer transitioned to lead an antibody discovery team for approximately two years at the biotech Seagen. Realizing her passion for infectious disease vaccine research, Dr. Scherer returned to the field as a fellow in the Respiratory Disease Branch at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention for two years before joining Emory.