EpSSG Board

This is a group of between 7 and 11 individuals elected from the membership of EpSSG who are responsible for the general management of all EpSSG activities.The Chair of the Board is elected by the Assembly and the Board elects, from its own members, the Vice Chair and the Treasurer of EpSSG.
Board/8Hans Merks is Consultant Pediatric Oncologist, Principal Investigator and Clinical Lead of the Translational Sarcoma Research Program at the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology in Utrecht. Prof. Hans Merks is one of the founding members of EpSSG, current Chair of the EpSSG, and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board of the EuroEwing Consortium (EEC), co-chair of the imaging committee of FOSTER, and member of the Clinical Research Councel of SIOPe. Hans Merks’ aim is to bring together European countries and collaborative groups in their efforts to improve cure and quality of life, and coordinate, design and implement international prospective clinical trials, including translational research, focused on sarcoma across the pediatric and young adult age range. His has authored and co-authored over 150 articles in peer reviewed journals.
Board/4Nadege Corradini is a full-time specialist assistant at the Institute of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology (IHOPe) department of Leon Berard Center in Lyon, FRANCE, Nadège Corradini, MD, is also associated research worker in the “Cell death & Paediatric cancers” (Marie Castets, PhD and Jean-Yves Blay, PhD) and “Genetics, epigenetics and biology of sarcomas” (F Tirode, PhD) teams of the Cancer Research Center of Lyon. Her topics in pediatric oncology field are sarcomas & mesenchymatous tumors, oncogenetics, and new drugs development. She is a board member since December 2019.
Board/5Andrea Ferrari has been working at the Pediatric Oncology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori since 1994, where he is responsible for the Outpatient Service. He has a demonstrated record of successful and productive research projects and accomplishment in the fields of pediatric oncology with main interest for clinical assistance for soft tissue sarcomas. He has a huge experience in working in strategical committees and boards of various national and international scientific societies and working groups, including EpSSG, EXPeRT, SIOPE Clinical Research Council, and many others. He also cooperate with adult medical oncology groups. He is one of the founding members of the EpSSG and a board member since December 2019. He authored and co-authored about 400 scientific papers and several books.
Board/6Dr. Gabriela Guillén is a paediatric surgeon, full-time consultant and head of section of the Paediatric Surgical Oncology Unit of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (Barcelona, Spain). Vall d´Hebron is a comprehensive cancer center (adult and paediatric) that treats more than 120 children and adolescents newly diagnosed annually. Since 2012 she has been a member of the Surgical Subcommittee of the EpSSG, and also collaborates with other SIOP groups and SEHOP (Spanish Society of Paediatric Oncohematology) groups. She develops clinical research in paediatric cancer and other areas of paediatric surgery, and also participates in programmes of personalized medicine and PDX model generation. She is a board member since December 2019.
Board/7Lisa Hjalgrim is paediatric oncologist, working at Rigshopitalet, Copenhagen and daily leader of the Department of Paediatric Hematology and Oncology. Her clinical responsibilities are lymphoma and sarcoma patients with a special focus on the AYA patient group. In her hospital they treat approximately 110 newly diagnosed patients with paediatric cancer. She is involved in a large number of clinical trials and national PI on 3 phase 3 paediatric international trials at the moment – specifically she is the national PI on the FaR-RMS trial. She has been a member of the EpSSG community since 2015 and a board member since December 2020.
Board/9Timothy is a full-time NHS consultant in Paediatric Surgery and has worked in this role for the past 14 years. He works collaboratively both locally and nationally to deliver and improve high quality surgical care to children. His job includes a major commitment to the surgery of childhood cancer, neonatal surgery, and minimally invasive surgery. He takes an active role in clinical research with a specific interest in paediatric rhabdomyosarcoma. These responsibilities include being a Board member of EpSSG (European pediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study Group) and surgical lead for the International FaR-RMS (Frontline and Relapsed Rhabdomyosarcoma) trial. He is also an active surgical member of the INSTRUCT (International Soft Tissue Sarcoma) Consortium. He is the paediatric surgical lead for the SW SIC ODN (Southwest Surgery in Children Operational Delivery Network) that strives to co-ordinate delivery of general surgery of childhood and specialist paediatric surgery for Southwest England. He is an examiner for the exit Intercollegiate examinations of the Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS paed).
Daniel OrbachDaniel Orbach is a MD at the Paediatric Oncology Department, Institut Curie (since 1998) and associate director (clinic) of the SIREDO center (Care, Innovation and Research for children and AYA with cancer), since 2017.
He is Member of the EpSSG association since 1998 and a Board member in 2013 and started a new term this 2024 as a board member.
Member of the SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) since 2001. Moreover he is founder and chair of the French SFCE very rare tumor Group – Fracture and founder and member of the European rare tumor Group – EXPeRT, since 2010
Chair of the SFCE (French Society for Cancer in children) Germ cells tumor Group from 2012 to 2016 and member since 2006.
SIOP-Europe Scientific Committee Member since 2021.
He is a past president of the Ile de France pediatric oncology network (RIFHOP) from 2013 to 2017. Daniel has published 300 Pubmed indexed articles (including 145 on pediatric sarcomas).
Gianni BisognoGianni Bisogno is Professor of Pediatrics and Consultant Pediatric Oncologist at the Department of Woman’s and Child’s Health, University of Padova, Italy. His clinical and research activities focus on childhood solid tumors. He has been the Coordinator of the Italian Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee (STSC) since 2007, promoting the launch of several clinical trials and creating a multidisciplinary team that supports the activities of all Italian pediatric oncology centers. He is one of the founders and chair (2013-2019) of the European paediatric Soft tissue sarcoma Study Group (EpSSG), the largest European organization devoted to promoting research for children with soft tissue sarcoma and PI of the RMS2005 trial. Since 2024, he is the chair of the RMS Working group of EpSSG and a board member.
Julia ChisholmJulia Chisholm is a Consultant Paediatric and Adolescent Oncologist specialising in soft tissue sarcoma and drug development at the Royal Marsden, Hospital, Sutton, UK and Reader at the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton. She has been an EpSSG member for around 20 years and had held several EpSSG positions previously, including Chair of the Phase I/II Committee (2010-16) and Board Member (2013-2019) and started new term in December 2024. She remains a member of the phase I/II committee, is an inaugural member of the Rhabdomyosarcoma Working Group established in 2023 and assists with the EpSSG parents’ group.

She is highly experienced in international clinical trials leadership, as international Chief Investigator for the EpSSG/ITCC BERNIE study in metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (2008-13) , supporting the VIT0910 study (2012-18) in relapsed rhabdomyosarcoma when phase I/II committee chair, Joint International Lead and Relapse lead for the FaR-RMS relapse study and, since January 2024, as (Acting) international Chief Investigator for FaR-RMS replacing Prof Meriel Jenney. She also has clinical and academic leadership experience in her own service at The Royal Marsden and in previous and current national UK leadership roles.
Monika Sparber-SauerMonika Sparber-Sauer is Senior Pediatric Oncologist at Stuttgart and University of Tübingen. Her dedicated research field are Non-rhabdomyosarcoma and rare sarcoma since more than 10 years and nowadays Rhabdomyosarcoma. Since 2021 she is mandated Chair of the GPOH Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (former CWS Group including Sweden, Finland and Poland). She is member of EXPeRT since 2019 and the national coordinator for Germany of the FaR-RMS EpSSG trial. Monika Sparber-Sauers`aim is to bring together all European countries and to design future international prospective clinical trials including translational research to improve the treatment and outcome of our patients at an international level.
Martin EbingerMartin Ebinger is a Consultant Pediatric Oncologist and Clinical Lead of the General Pediatric Oncology program at the University Children's Hospital in Tübingen. He is a board member of the Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (GPOH), spokesperson for the University Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Oncology in Tübingen, and Co-Lead of the GPOH Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group (formerly CWS). Martin Ebinger's research focuses on individualized therapies for pediatric cancers, including leading the PerVision Trial, a Phase I/II study on personalized peptide vaccination for fusion-driven sarcomas. With 120 peer reviewed publications and significant research funding, he has significantly contributed to translational oncology.