Meet the ECP 2024 Keynote Speakers

Prof. Manuel Salto-Tellez (MD-LMS, FRCPath, FRCPI) is Professor on Integrative Pathology at the Institute for Cancer Research in London (ICR), and the lead of the Royal Marsden Hospital / ICR Integrated Pathology Unit. He is also the Chair of Molecular Pathology at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), a clinical consultant pathologist and the Lead of QUB’s Precision Medicine Centre of Excellence. 

Prof. Salto-Tellez studied Medicine in Spain (Oviedo), Germany (Aachen) and The Netherlands (Leiden). He specialized in Histopathology in the UK (Edinburgh and London) and in Molecular Pathology in USA (Philadelphia). For more than 10 years he worked at the National University of Singapore and its National University Hospital, where he was associate professor, senior consultant, director of the Diagnostic Molecular Oncology Centre, Vice-dean for Research and senior scientist at the Cancer Research Institute. 

Prof. Salto-Tellez is author or co-author of more than 320 internationally peer-reviewed articles in translational science, molecular pathology and diagnostics, has published a similar number of abstracts in international conferences, and is editor or contributor to some of the key textbooks of pathology and oncology, including the WHO Blue book on Digestive Tract (5th edition, co-editor); Ian Talbot, Ashley Price, Manuel Salto-Tellez. Biopsy Pathology in Colorectal Disease, 2Ed, Hodder Arnold; and the Oxford Textbook of Oncology. Third Edition. Edited by David J. Kerr, Daniel G. Haller, Cornelis J. H. van de Velde, and Michael Baumann. 

Prof. Salto-Tellez has served in key committees in cancer and academia, at national and international levels, and holds more than £21M in competitive grant funding, including major programmes with CRUK, UKRI and NIHR. He is scientific advisor to 2 companies in the digital pathology and artificial intelligence space.

Professor Anna Sapino is Professor of Surgical Pathology at the University of Torino (IT) and serves as the Head of the Department of Medical Sciences Sciences-University of Torino (IT). She also holds the position of Scientific Director at the Institute of Cancer Research, Fondazione del Piemonte per l’Oncologia FPO-IRCCs Candiolo (TO), Italy, and is the President of the Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine.

Prof. Sapino leads a well-consolidated research group focusing on improving the quality of diagnostic tests and innovating pathological diagnosis. Her work emphasizes enhancing the pre-analytical phase in surgical pathology to ensure optimal downstream analysis quality. Additionally, she validates new biomarkers for personalized therapeutic approaches and enhances the efficacy of established biomarkers for targeted therapy.

She has authored over 400 peer-reviewed papers, garnering more than 14,000 citations and has received numerous accolades, including the 2018 Carrier Award of the German IAP, the Women of Talent (IT)-Award in 2019 and the 2022 International award from Scuola Medica Salernitana for her commitment in medicine, ethics, and high managerial skills in the health field. She worked for several years as President of the Association of Women operated for Breast Cancer (Torino-IT) and Chair of the Working Group of Breast Pathology of the ESP.

Günter Klöppel is Emeritus Professor of Pathology of the University of Kiel since 2009 and consultant for pancreatic and endocrine tumors at the Department of Pathology of the Technical University of Munich, Germany. In 1970, he obtained an MD (Dr.med.) from the University of Hamburg and a PhD in Pathology in 1976. He was Professor of Pathology and Director of the Department of Pathology at the Academic Hospital Jette and the Department of Experimental Pathology at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium from 1987 to 1995. From 1995 to 2009 he headed the Department of Pathology of the University of Kiel, Germany.

He is a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and several other societies. He was President of the German Society of Pathology (2002) and the European Society of Pathology (1999-2001). He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Ferdinand Bertram Award of the German Diabetes Society, the Jühling Award, the Lifetime Achievement Awards of the European Pancreatic Club (EPC), and the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS), and the German Cancer Award for Clinical Research. He is Honorary Member of the European, Spanish and Austrian Society of Pathology, the Belgian Society of Gastroenterology, and the EPC. From 1996 to the present day, he contributed as editor and author to the development of the World Health Organisation (WHO) classifications of digestive diseases and endocrine neoplasms. Since 2009 he works as an auditor for the ENETS Center of Excellence Programme.

His scientific contributions comprise research on classification and genetics of pancreatic and extra- pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms, the precursor lesions of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and their molecular progression, the description and classification of special pancreatic tumor types, the pathology and pathogenesis of non-neoplastic pancreatic diseases such as alcoholic and autoimmune pancreatitis, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and nonneoplastic hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. He has authored/co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and edited 14 books.

Dr. Abbas Agaimy, M.D., holds the position of Professor & Deputy Director at the Institute of Pathology, Friedrich‐Alexander‐University Erlangen‐Nuremberg, University Hospital, Erlangen, Germany. He pursued his medical education at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and regraduated after a complementary study from the University of Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany. Dr. Agaimy completed his residencies in Histopathology at various German clinics and earned board certification in anatomic pathology from the Bavarian Medical Council.

Throughout his career, Dr. Agaimy has garnered recognition through prestigious awards such as the Dr. Hans und Elisabeth Birkner‐Stiftung’s Award, Sarcoma Research Prize, and GIST Prize. Notably, he has been acknowledged as one of the top 2% most-cited scientists globally in the field of pathology. He actively contributes to the academic community by serving on the editorial boards of esteemed leeding journals in the field (The American Jorunal of Surgical Pathology, Modern Pathology & Histopathology) and "Virchows Archiv," where he currently holds the position of Editor‐in‐Chief.

A dedicated member of various pathology societies such as the International Academy of Pathology/USCAP and the European Society of Pathology, Dr. Agaimy's research interests encompass a wide array of areas including head & neck cancer, GI stromal tumors (GIST), GI & pancreatobiliary cancer, soft tissue tumors/sarcoma, undifferentiated malignancies, hereditary tumor syndromes, and SWI/SNF‐deficient neoplasia.

With over 600 PubMed‐listed publications to his credit and a cumulative impact of over 4000, Dr. Agaimy's contributions to the field are substantial. His expertise extends to over 40 book chapters, including contributions to the the World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors in various organ systems.