Meet the People

Behind EUCanScreen

Researchers, Clinicians, and Public Health Professionals from Across Europe Working Together to Make Cancer Screening Better for Everyone

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Work Package 1 Project Coordination
Mārcis Leja
WP1 · Coordination🇱🇻 University of Latvia

Mārcis Leja

Scientific Leadership of EUCanScreen

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What motivates him

"New challenges and finding the way to address them."

What inspired him

"Satisfaction with the results when the objectives are met."

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"International communication, transfer of the best available evidence."

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What he always brings

"New ideas."

Yelena Tarasenko
WP1 · Coordination🇱🇻 University of Latvia

Yelena Tarasenko

Scientific Co-Lead, WP1

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"I value the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from different countries and backgrounds, bringing diverse perspectives together to address shared challenges in cancer screening."

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What she always brings to her work

"I bring a collaborative and solution-oriented mindset, focusing on keeping teams aligned, addressing challenges, and ensuring steady progress."

Work Package 2 Dissemination
Federica Rosin
WP2 · Dissemination🇮🇹 ProMIS, Italy

Federica Rosin

Project Manager, Task Leader WP2.4

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What motivates her

"I am strongly motivated by the opportunity to contribute to strengthening public health systems through European cooperation — promoting more equitable access to prevention and care."

What inspired her

"Only through a European approach based on genuine cooperation and the sharing of different perspectives and experiences can we tackle common health challenges."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"The opportunity to collaborate with Europe's leading experts in cancer screening — promoting accurate, trustworthy information and supporting informed decision-making among citizens."

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What she always brings

"Communicating clearly and concisely, basing all content on reliable and verifiable sources, and taking responsibility for the impact that information may have."

Apostolos Vantarakis
WP2 · DisseminationWP5 · Monitoring🇬🇷 University of Patras

Apostolos Vantarakis

Scientific Responsible WP2 & Task Leader WP5.1

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What motivates him

"Unlike clinical medicine, where you help one patient at a time, public health work can affect thousands or millions of people through a single policy, program, or intervention."

What inspired him

"Witnessing health inequity firsthand — and a moment of seeing prevention succeed, realising this is where I can make the most difference."

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"The cross-pollination of perspectives — when clinicians, epidemiologists, health economists, and patient advocates sit around the same table, the solutions are richer than any one discipline could produce alone."

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What he always brings

"A population-level lens — the habit of asking 'what's happening across the whole group?' rather than just 'what's wrong with this one person?'"

Work Package 3 Evaluation
Ludwig Grillich
WP3 · Evaluation🇦🇹 Universität für Weiterbildung Krems

Ludwig Grillich

WP3 Lead

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"What I enjoy most working in EUCanScreen is the people - working alongside highly qualified professionals from different disciplines and cultures."

Work Package 4 Sustainability
Urska Ivanus
WP4 · Sustainability🇸🇮 Institute of Oncology Ljubljana

Urska Ivanus

WP4 Lead

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What motivates her

"The opportunity to make the world a little better: to help reduce suffering by preventing what is preventable. I feel especially fortunate to do this work together with knowledgeable and wonderful colleagues from around the world."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"The collaboration with dedicated colleagues from across Europe — sometimes proving commitment by joining from offices, airports, trains, and almost every possible location in between."

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What she always brings

"A constructive and collaborative mindset — and I also rarely give up. If the front door is closed, I will look for a side door, a window, or at least a very polite way to ask for the key."

Andre Carvalho
WP4 · Sustainability🌍 IARC/WHO

Andre Carvalho

WP4 Co-Lead, IARC/WHO

What inspired him

"I am inspired by the potential of cancer screening to prevent disease, reduce inequalities, decrease cancer mortality and improve population health at scale."

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"EUCanScreen creates a space to learn from diverse experiences, identify common challenges, and develop solutions that are relevant across different contexts."

Work Package 5 Monitoring & Evaluation
Gianluigi Ferrante
WP5 · Monitoring🇮🇹 CPO Piemonte

Gianluigi Ferrante

WP5 Contributor

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What motivates him

"The idea that good data leads to better decisions — and ultimately better health outcomes. He turns complex information into clear evidence that helps improve the quality, effectiveness, and equity of cancer screening, so that prevention efforts truly reach the people who need them most."

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Collaborating with people from different countries and disciplines — sharing experiences, learning what works in different settings, and co-developing tools that strengthen screening across Europe."

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What he always brings

"A pragmatic, problem-solving mindset — connecting methods to real needs, focused on solutions that can actually be used in practice."

Maiju Pankakoski
WP5 · Monitoring🇫🇮 Cancer Society of Finland

Maiju Pankakoski

Task Lead WP5.4

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What motivates her

"Improving cancer screening programmes is something that can truly have a positive impact on society. I have been fortunate to have access to rich, long-standing registry data for monitoring and researching Finland's cancer screening programmes — a resource that has taught me a lot through the years. Looking to the wider European context, I believe that through collaboration we could generate more comparable and timely evidence on cancer screening across countries."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Getting to know colleagues from different European countries and learning about the various screening and healthcare systems is really interesting."

Work Package 6 Barriers & Facilitators
Mari Nygård
WP6 · Barriers & Facilitators🇳🇴 Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Mari Nygård

WP6 Leader

What inspired her

"What inspired me to work in this field is a simple wish to help improve people's health. I trained as a medical doctor, and early on I felt drawn to work that could make a real difference in people's lives. Being able to contribute to preventing cancer deaths gives my work a strong sense of purpose. I believe that developing high-quality, population-based cancer screening programmes is one of the most demanding tasks in public health."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"What I value most about working in an international project like EUCanScreen is the opportunity to collaborate across countries, disciplines, and health systems toward a shared public health goal. There is a shared sense of purpose — that the cancer burden can be meaningfully reduced through high-quality, well-organized, and accessible screening programs."

Christoph Kowalski
WP6 · Barriers & Facilitators🇩🇪 German Cancer Society

Christoph Kowalski

Task Lead WP6.5

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"I enjoy working with all these inspiring and dedicated people from across Europe. I learn new things from our partners every day, and it's all for a good cause. I hope that we can also inspire others to improve cancer screening for people with an intellectual disability."

Work Package 7 Implementation
Gemma Binefa
WP7 · Implementation🇪🇸 Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO)

Gemma Binefa

WP7 Lead & Competent Authority Representative

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What motivates her

"Knowing that my work directly contributes to improving people's quality of life by detecting lesions at early stages. There's always something new to learn, and that keeps me engaged and motivated."

What inspired her

"As a specialist in preventive medicine and public health, I find working in screening programs incredibly rewarding. I really value being able to combine scientific rigor with something that has a clear, practical impact."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Gaining a broader perspective by seeing how similar challenges and patterns appear in other countries. Through WP7, I have the opportunity to enhance existing programs by improving quality management, implementing new strategies to increase participation, and incorporating AI into screening processes."

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What she always brings

"I always bring optimism and a positive mindset. Even in challenging situations, I focus on finding constructive solutions and look for ways to move forward and improve."

Montse Garcia
WP7 · Implementation🇪🇸 Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO)

Montse Garcia

Task Co-Lead 7.1 & 7.5

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What motivates her

"The gap. The gap between evidence and implementation. We know what works. So why is it not in place yet? That question is what gets me to my desk every morning."

What inspired her

"I came to cancer screening through research, driven by the challenge of understanding what makes screening programmes effective at population level. This is not about box-ticking — it is what makes the difference between a programme that works and one that simply exists."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Seeing that many countries face the same challenges but respond to them in very different ways. That variation is not a problem to solve. It is where the real learning happens."

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What she always brings

"A person-centred approach to implementation. All the quality frameworks and systems in the world mean nothing if the programme does not reach the people it is designed for. Screening only works when it works for the people it is meant to reach."

Work Package 8 Facilitation
Ildiko Horvath
WP8 · Facilitation🇭🇺 National Koranyi Institute of Pulmonology

Ildiko Horvath

WP8 Lead & National Pilot Lead

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What motivates her

"Offer more for better health of people."

What inspired her

"The beauty of breathing."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Changing the landscape on a deadly disease."

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What she always brings

"Kindness."

Monique J. Roobol
WP8 · Facilitation🇳🇱 Erasmus University Medical Centre, Cancer Institute

Monique J. Roobol

Task Leader 8.3 — Prostate Cancer Screening

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What motivates her

"Learning and teaching."

What inspired her

"Urological conditions generally have a significant impact on daily life, often for extended periods. Urological patients often suffer in silence and feel alone. Being able to help with this makes urology a wonderful field."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Working with so many people and learning how much healthcare structures differ between countries and even regions."

Work Package 9 Risk-based Approaches
Paola Mantellini
WP9 · Risk-based Approaches🇮🇹 ISPRO, Florence, Italy

Paola Mantellini

WP9 Co-Lead & Italian Competent Authority

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What motivates her

"The idea that I'm dealing with several challenges that need to be addressed in order to improve our citizens and patients quality of life."

What inspired her

"I really believe that prevention is a very beautiful concept that brings with it a lot of hope and helps people smile at life."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Listening to people's ideas and opinions and exchanging experiences and best practices."

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What she always brings

"An open approach ready to welcome suggestions and proposals."

Suzette Delaloge
WP9 · Risk-based Approaches🇫🇷 Gustave Roussy & Unicancer

Suzette Delaloge

WP9 Co-Lead — Risk-Stratified Cancer Screening

What inspired her

"I have been a medical oncologist for 30 years, devoted to diagnosing, treating and caring of patients with breast cancer. I strongly believe that cancer prevention is the major area where to invest to face the major rising cancer epidemic worldwide, and that our current knowledge in many fields will be absolutely transformative in the next 2 decades to enable what we dream of: beating cancer even before it arises."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Working with other international experts is amazing — not only enjoyable on a personal level, but also incredibly productive. These joint actions bring together very complementary visions and experiences throughout European countries, representing what collective intelligence and synergism can build."

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What she always brings

"Home made sparkling water with organic lime juice — it helps preserving energy throughout the day!"

Work Package 10 Modelling
Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar
WP10 · Modelling🇳🇱 Erasmus MC

Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar

WP10 Leader

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What motivates her

"What motivates me, is trying to help as many people stay healthy as we can, with the limited resources we have. We are living in an era of restrained resources, which is expected to only become more stringent. By identifying the most promising interventions, we can invest those resources wisely, and really put a dent in the burden of cancer across Europe."

What inspired her

"The most important reason to go work in the field of cancer screening evaluation, is the potential to prevent people from dying from this severe disease. I wanted to use my mathematical skills to help the population, and this combination of mathematical modeling with population impact can really help do that."

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"I enjoy the collaborative nature of international projects like EUCanScreen. Different people from different settings willing to learn from each other, share their experiences and knowledge to collaborate together and this way improve the health of the European population."

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What she always brings

"What I bring to the table is a positive mindset. I try to think in solutions, rather than problems. I feel that we can make anything happen, as long as enough people want it to happen, and we are willing to take it one step at a time."

Harry de Koning
WP10 · Modelling 🇳🇱 Erasmus MC

Harry de Koning

WP10 — Cancer Screening Prioritization

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What motivates him

"Improving (public) health of individuals."

What inspired him

"Starting with one of the first cost-effectiveness analyses on breast cancer screening, and informing the Dutch government on its possible implementation."

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What he enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Diversity of people and questions."

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What he always brings

"Out-of-the-box thinking with a smile."

Work Package 11 Capacity Building
Anna Kerpel-Fronius MD PhD
WP11 · Capacity Building 🇭🇺 National Korányi Institute for Pulmonology

Anna Kerpel-Fronius MD PhD

WP11 — Scientific Lead for LDCT Lung Cancer Screening

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What she enjoys most in EUCanScreen

"Working in international projects shows that even when there is a common goal there are several ways to achieve them, and all of those can be good. And together we can make so much more possible!"

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What she always brings

"I always try to start each day with optimism, and try to stay cheerful. I believe that radiology has to show care and compassion."

More profiles coming soon — we introduce new team members every week. 💜

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Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor HaDEA can be held responsible for them.
This website is managed by 6th DYPEDE, Greece.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s EU4HEALTH Programme under the Grant Agreement no 101162959