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About Thoracic Oncology Frontiers
An international multidisciplinary event bridging translational science & clinical medicine across thoracic cancers
Chaired by: Dr. Sean Dulloo (Consultant Medical Oncologist), Mr. Sridhar Rathinam (Consultant Thoracic Surgeon) & Dr. Rajini Sudhir (Consultant Respiratory Physician)
Keynote Speakers:
- Professor Jarushka Naidoo (Dublin, Ireland)
- Professor Paul Van Schil (Belgium)
- Professor Dean Fennell (Leicester, United Kingdom)
- Professor Sanjay Popat (London, United Kingdom)
Join us for an inaugural meeting dedicated to advancing education and collaboration in thoracic oncology. This international multidisciplinary event brings together leading experts and keynote speakers to explore the latest clinical innovations and scientific breakthroughs in thoracic cancers.
Engaging symposiums and parallel sessions will explore new advances across key areas in thoracic cancers, participants will gain fresh insights into how future of thoracic oncology will be shaped.
Be part of this exciting opportunity to learn and network.
12 CPD points will be awarded.
Agenda
Key Speakers
Dr Sean Dulloo (Chair)
Dr Sean Dulloo is a Consultant Medical Oncologist & Honorary Associate Professor at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and University of Leicester. Dr. Dulloo is the current Head of Service for Oncology and clinical lead for thoracic oncology. Dr Dulloo completed his Internal Medicine residency at the National University Health System, Singapore. He completed his Oncology training at Leicester and also successfully completed his higher research degree (MD) during this time focussing on Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in mesothelioma.
Dr Dulloo serves as a Chief and Principal Investigator in various international clinical trials including early phase trials. His work focuses on innovative treatments for pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. He has also presented his work at major conferences. He has published widely in high impact journals including Nature.
Dr Rajini Sudhir (Chair)
Dr Rajini Sudhir graduated from Bangalore, India, in 2002. She trained across London and the East Midlands and has been working as a Consultant Respiratory Physician since 2013. Her qualifications include; MBBS,MD, MRCP (Respiratory medicine),FRCP (London).
Dr Sudhir is an Honorary Associate Professor for University of Leicester. She chairs the ECAG and is involved with the Cancer RDN. She is interested in both lung cancer and Pleural Diseases Research.
Mr Sridhar Rathinam FRCSEd(CSiG), FRCSEd(CTh), FFSTEd (Chair)
Sridhar Rathinam is a Consultant Thoracic Surgeon and Head of service in the University Hospitals of Leicester with a special interest in parenchyma preserving oncological lung resections, chest wall surgery, minimally invasive lung resections and surgery for emphysema.
His research interests include Lung cancer proteomics(SELDI) and biomarker (TRACER-X), Lung Volume Reduction Surgery , Thoracotomy pain, Perioperative care and is Local Principal investigator for NIHR trials like CELEB, HARP2, TOPIC2, MURRAY and Fit4Surg.
He is the Communication secretary for Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery for Great Britain and Ireland (SCTS), Ex- Chair of the Intercollegiate Specialty Board Examinations (CTh) and Ex-Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgical specialty Board, for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was the Simulation Lead and Quality Assurance Lead for the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC).
He is a National Selection Panellist for trainee appointment in cardiothoracic surgery and Core surgical training. He is an examiner for the Intercollegiate Speciality Board Examination in Cardiothoracic surgery & European Board in Cardiothoracic Surgery.
He was the Training Programme Director and Chair of the East Midlands Cardiothoracic Training Programme.
As SCTS Thoracic Surgery Tutor (2013-16), he has co-developed an innovative portfolio of 12 structured simulation-based courses, which mirror the ISCP curriculum and are provided free of charge which is the first of its kind in the world. As Education Secretary, SCTS (2017- 2022) he oversaw the provision of education to all members of SCTS. He is a keen advocate on web based solutions for surgical education to disseminate surgical wisdom.
He has presented and published many articles and book chapters.
Prof. Jarushka Naidoo
Professor Jarushka Naidoo is a Full Professor of Medical Oncology and a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Beaumont RCSI Cancer Centre in Dublin, Ireland and an Adjunct Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Naidoo graduated with her medical degree (MB BCh BAO) from Trinity College Dublin and completed internal medicine and a medical oncology training through the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. She completed an awarded advanced medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York) and joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University from 2015-2020. At Johns Hopkins, she led a portfolio of clinical trials and translational studies focused on immunotherapy for lung cancer and immune-related toxicity. Dr. Naidoo led several investigator-initiated trials for patients with lung cancer, with a focus on stage III non-small lung cancer and CNS metastases.
She is a globally recognised leader in the field of immune-related toxicity, with >100 publications in this field, and her development of the multidisciplinary Johns Hopkins Immune-related Toxicity Team. She is the recipient of several grants and awards including a US NIH KL2 Clinical Scholar Award, Lung Cancer Foundation of America/IASLC Young Investigator Award.
Since her return to Ireland, she serves as the Chair of the Lung Cancer Disease-specific subgroup (DSSG) of Cancer Trials Ireland, is the Founder and Chair of the Irish national lung cancer research group, the ‘Irish Lung Cancer Alliance,’ and a national immunotherapy toxicity network through the RCPI. She is currently a part of the ETOP, EORTC, ECOG-ACRIN and NRG Cooperative clinical trial groups, and the clinical trials portfolio in lung cancer has tripled since her return.
Prof Naidoo was named the Irish Cancer Society’s Clinician Research Leader Award 2021.
Prof. Paul Van Schil
Professor Paul Van Schil was born in 1957 in Antwerp, Belgium. He graduated from medical school with great honour in 1982 at the Antwerp University in Belgium. After completing his training in general surgery, he became a fellow in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. His doctoral thesis was entitled “Bronchial sleeve resection for lung cancer: long-term results” (University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 1992).
In 1990 he became a staff member at the Department of Surgery of the Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium. He was chair of the Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery from 2000 till 2019. Currently, he is professor emeritus in thoracic and vascular surgery at the Faculty of Medicine and consultant thoracic surgeon at the Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery of the Antwerp University Hospital.
From October 2013 till October 2014 he was president of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EACTS). In 2017 he became member of Board of Directors of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and chair of the lung cancer domain of its Staging and Prognostic Factors Committee (SPFC). In September 2021 he was appointed president-elect of IASLC, and in September 2023, president of this worldwide organization. In 2025 he has become past-president of IASLC till 2027. Currently, he is an associate editor of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology and Acta Chirurgica Belgica. His main interest is thoracic surgery with a special emphasis on lung cancer staging and multimodality therapy, thymoma and mesothelioma.
Professor Sanjay Popat
Professor Popat is Chair of Thoracic Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital where he is Head of the Lung Unit and Head of the Lung Research programme. He is an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of thoracic malignancies.
His primary research interests include the complexities of cancer genomics, optimization of testing and implementation of genomic testing into routine clinical practice, as well as developing novel drug treatments through clinical trials.
He has published over 300 papers with over 17,000 citations, including influential trial manuscripts in oncogene-addicted NSCLC and mesothelioma, leading to global licensing, reimbursement in multiple territories, and recommendations in international treatment guidelines. He has co-authored European guidelines for the treatment of small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, mesothelioma, and ctDNA use.
Nationally, he is founding chair of the British Thoracic Oncology Group (BTOG) Research Group and is immediate past chair of the BTOG Steering Committee and past co-Director for the Cancer division of the UK South London Clinical Research Network. Internationally, he sits on the Foundation Council of the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) and holds several roles in the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).
Professor Dean Fennell
Professor Dean Fennell is a physician scientist focused on advancing stratified therapy and immuno-oncology for patients with mesothelioma . He has designed and led several investigator-initiated trials from phase 1 through phase III (including NERO, CONFIRM, VIM, MIST, MESO2, SELECT). His lab currently focuses on novel precision medicine strategies and understanding mesothelioma evolution.
He was past president of the International mesothelioma interest group (IMIG), past NCRI mesothelioma chair. He co-authored both the UK BTS, and European (ESMO, ERS) mesothelioma treatment guidelines, and served two terms on the EORTC board. Prof. Fennell held CRUK clinician scientist and MRC doctoral fellowships.
He originally trained in pharmacology and medicine at University College London, then completed medical training in the London Golden circuit, with Medical Oncology specialist training at Barts Hospital, London. He has published 180 peer reviewed articles in journals including The Lancet, Lancet Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature. He was the 2023 recipient of two international prizes; the IMIG Senior Investigator Research Medal, and also the MARF Pioneer award. In 2023 he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and in 2024 was elected as a fellow of the academy of medical sciences.
Dr Alan Sihoe MBBChir, FRCSEd(CTh), FCSHK, FHKAM
Dr Sihoe received his medical training at the University of Cambridge, and after working in Scotland and England, he returned to practice Cardio-Thoracic Surgery in Hong Kong and China, with a special interest in minimally invasive Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS).
He was Clinical Associate Professor of the Department of Surgery at the University of Hong Kong and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Hospital before recently moving to private practice in Hong Kong. Dr Sihoe is currently Consultant in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at the CUHK Medical Center in Hong Kong, and Honorary Consultant in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at the Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital.
Dr Sihoe is an internationally recognized advocate of ‘next generation’ VATS techniques – especially uniportal and needlescopic chest surgery. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, conference abstracts and book chapters in the international literature. His work in thoracic surgery and clinical research has won multiple awards – including from the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) and the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS).
In 2018, Dr Sihoe was the recipient of the Medical Sciences Technical Award (2nd Class) from the Chinese Medical Association. In 2023, he received the Tsuguo Naruke Lectureship Award in Surgery from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). Dr Sihoe recently stepped down from over a decade of service as the Thoracic Surgery Editor for three of the most important international Cardio-Thoracic Surgery journals: Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery, the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and the Asian Cardio-Vascular and Thoracic Annals.
Dr Sihoe has previously served in leadership roles in multiple Cardio-Thoracic Surgery societies in Europe and Asia, and he is one of the very few Thoracic Surgeons to have been invited to perform surgery and lecture on every continent in the world.
09:30 – 10:45
Chairs Introduction
- Patient Journey
- The Leicester Way Lung Cancer Pathway (10+5)
- The Leicester Way Imaging Updates
- Surgery Updates
- Radiotherapy Updates
- Systemic Therapy Updates
- Lung CNS Discuss Pathways And Updates From Nursing Aspect
10:45 – 11:15
Refreshments Break
11:15 – 12:30
- Setting Up Trials and Navigating Issues Within the NHS
- Updates from Leicester’s Thoracic Oncology Research Team (Oncology, Surgery and Respiratory Medicine)
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch + Industry Sponsored Symposium
13:30 – 15:00
Small Group Interactive Sessions:
- MDT Approach to Early Stage Lung Cancer Management
- MDT Approach to Thymic Tumours and NETS
15:00 – 15:30
Refreshments Break
15:30 – 17:00
Small Group Interactive Sessions:
- MDT Approach to Small Cell Lung Cancer
- MDT Approach to Screening Detected Lung Cancer
17:00 – 17:30
Industry Sponsored Symposium
19:00
Drinks Reception & Networking Dinner
Day 2: Thursday 22nd January 2026
08:30 – 09:00
Registration, Networking and Refreshments
09:00 – 10:45
Chairs introduction
- Prehabilitation in Lung Cancer
- Can Immunotherapy cure Lung Cancer? Is there a role for Rechallenge Immunotherapy?
- Palliative Care For the Patients with Thoracic Cancers
- MDT Approach to Brain Metastasis in Patients with Lung Cancer
- MDT Approach to Oligoprogression in Lung Cancer (SABR)
10:45 – 11:15
Refreshments Break
11:15 – 12:30
- Key Notes Lecture Oncology
- Key Notes Lecture Surgery
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch + Industry Sponsored Symposium
13:30 – 16:00
Small Group Interactive Sessions: Groups rotate to all four
- MDT Approach to Advanced Lung Cancer – Non Oncogene Driven
- MDT Approach to Advanced Lung Cancer – Oncogene Driven
- MDT Approach to the Management of Pleural Disease
- MDT Pathway to Pathway Improvements Including AI
16:00
Closing Remarks
Event Venue
Radisson Blu Hotel, East Midlands Airport
Address: Herald Way, Pegasus Business Park,
Derby, DE74 2TZ
Email: reservations.eastmidlandsairport@radissonblu.com
To book overnight accommodation: HOTEL IS FULLY BOOKED PLEASE SEEK OTHER LOCAL ALTERNATIVE HOTEL
Accommodation: Conference delegates can book their own overnight accomodation directly with the Radisson Blu hotel with the special delegate rate of £129 for Bed & Breakfast (subject to availability). HOTEL IS FULLY BOOKED
Attendees can book via the weblink above or call the hotel 01509 670575 and press 1 for the reservations team quoting the booking reference of “Thoracic Oncology Conference”.