John Haanen, MD, PhD

Biography

John Haanen is consultant medical oncologist, scientific group leader at the Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, CSO Immunotherapy and Director of the Center for Cellular Therapy at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Since 2008 he is endowed professor of Translational Immunotherapy of Cancer at Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands. In 2023, he was appointed Head of Melanoma Clinic at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne Switzerland (one day a week). From 2009 till 2018 he headed the Division of Medical Oncology at NKI. His current research spreads over development of cellular therapies for solid tumors, neoadjuvant immunotherapies (renal cell cancer, involvement in GI cancers and head and neck cancers), and biomarker research. His clinical specialty is in melanoma and other skin cancers, kidney cancer and management of immune-related adverse events. He co-authored over 500 peer-reviewed articles, is currently Editor-in-Chief of ESMO IOTECH. John Haanen was scientific co-chair of ESMO IO Symposium/Congress from 2016-2019, and Scientific Chair of the ESMO 2020 Congress. Since 2018 he is member of the Central Committee for Research involving Human Subjects (CCMO).

SITC Election Platform Statement

What are the two or three critical issues facing the field of cancer immunotherapy?

1. With increasing incidence of cancer world-wide, costs for cancer care will keep on rising as well. Sustainability of cancer treatments will become a bigger challenge, even in developed countries. Selection of patients for immunotherapies based on predictive biomarkers are still mostly lacking. Maximal emphasis on development of these biomarkers will therefore be crucial.

2. The demand for and the potential alterations in cell therapies are likely to expand rapidly within oncology (and outside of oncology). How we are going to manage this in a safe, scientifically sound and affordable manner will be critical. 

What is Your Vision for SITC?

SITC is a leading society of immunotherapy of cancer, in education, in sharing and discussing scientific developments, and in discussions with regulatory bodies, thereby strongly supporting oncologists and scientists in their daily work. These aspects should be broadened to other areas in the world.

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