Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees
*Members of the Board of Directors
President*
Biography
Born in Verscio in 1942, Prof. Cavalli is a full professor of medical oncology at the Faculty of Medicine in Bern, Switzerland.
In 1978 he created the Cantonal Oncology Service in Ticino, which became the Institute of Oncology of Southern Switzerland (IOSI) based in Bellinzona, Canton Ticino (Switzerland) in 1999, an institute which encompasses medical oncology, radio-oncology, nuclear medicine, palliative care and haematology, and is an important research centre. Furthermore, he was scientific director of oncology of the Institute until 2017.
Prof. Cavalli has an international reputation for the treatment and research of malignant lymphoma and new drugs.
In 1981 he organised the first edition of the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, which was held every three years until 2011 and since then has been held every two years.. It has become the most important congress worldwide on malignant lymphoma.
In 1990 he founded Annals of Oncology, the leading European journal of medical oncology, and was its chief editor until the year 2000.
In 1996 he founded the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group (IELSG), which now comprises more than 200 institutions over 4 continents. IELSG is the leading cooperative group in the field of biological and clinical studies on extranodal lymphomas.
Prof. Cavalli has also been very active in the field of clinical evaluation of new anti-cancer drugs. The quality of his work has been recognised with 24 national and international awards, including the Petzcoller Award for his special dedication to oncology and the ESMO Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is an honorary professor at the Universities of Tianjin (China), Biskek (Kyrgyzstan), Managua (Nicaragua) and Havana (Cuba). He has published more than 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to numerous books on cancer, including the Textbook of Medical Oncology, along with Stanley Kaye (London), Heine H. Hansen (Copenhagen) and James O. Armitage (Omaha, Nebraska). He is also on the editorial board of several other journals.
Franco Cavalli was President of the Swiss Cancer League and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the European School of Oncology (ESO) and the World Oncology Forum (WOF). He was President of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) from 2006 until 2008. Since 2015, he has been a member of the WHO Committee for the selection of essential medicines for cancer.
He is currently president of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research, based in Bellinzona, which manages the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group (IELSG) and the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML).
He was a member of the Swiss Parliament from 1995 until 2007.
Contacts
Attorney Mario Branda
Vice President*
Biography
Attorney Mario Branda was born on 15 February 1960. He graduated with a law degree from the University of Geneva and qualified as a lawyer in 1986.
He was a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross between 1986 and 1988, taking part in missions in Pakistan and Lebanon, where he worked on the application of the Geneva Conventions to civilians and prisoners of war.
On his return to Ticino, he worked for the State at the Appeals Service of the Council of States, then as Head of the Office of of Guardianship Supervision.
He was appointed Public Prosecutor in 2001 and has been Deputy Attorney General of the Canton of Ticino since 2009.
After leaving the judiciary at the end of 2010, he was elected to the Grand Council in April 2011 (until 2013) and in the same year he founded his own law firm in Bellinzona.
He has been the Mayor of Bellinzona since 2012.
Mr. Branda has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2021.
Contacts
Mrs. Marina Carobbio
Member
Biography
Dr. Carobbio was born in Bellinzona on 12 June 1966.
After studying medicine at the University of Basel, where she graduated in 1991, she worked as a family physician.
From 1991 to 2007 she was a deputy to the Ticino Grand Council, and from 2007 to 2019 to the National Council, where she served on the Finance Committee, the Social Security and Health Committee and the Finance Delegation. Between 2018 and 2019 she was President of the National Council and the Federal Assembly. In 2019 she was elected to the Council of States, the first Ticino female and Socialist Party member in history to achieve this. In the House of Cantons, she was a member of the Finance Commission, the Social Security and Health Commission, the Science, Education and Culture Commission, as well as the Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe. She has been State Councillor of the Canton of Ticino and Director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport (DECS) since 2023.
Married to Marco Guscetti, she has two children, Matteo (1996) and Laura (2004).
Contacts
Prof. Thomas Cerny
Member
Biography
Prof. Cerny was born in Nesslau (SG) in 1952.
Education:
1959-1963: Primary School in Bern
1964-1972: High School in Feldkirch (A), Bern and Sarnen (CH)
1972: High School graduation certificate A
Medical studies:
1972-1978: Faculty of Medicine, Bern
Medical and Academic Career:
1979-1980: Pathologisches Institut der Universität Bern, Prof. H. Cottier
1980-1981: Medical Department, Burgdorf Regional Hospital, Dr. H. Schütz
1981-1982: Medical Polyclinic and Dialysis Unit oft he University of Bern, Prof. F. Reubi
1982-1985: Medical Clinic oft he University of Bern, Inselspital, Prof. W. Straub and Prof. H. Studer, with additional rotational internships in Cardiology, Haematology and Oncology
1985-1986: Research Fellow of the EORTC, Department of Medical Oncology, University of Manchester, Christie Hospital and Patterson Institute, Prof. D. Crowther and Prof. N. Thatcher, with last post as Senior Lecturer.
1986-1993: Consultant of the Institute for Medical Oncology (IMO) of the University of Bern, Inselspital, Prof. K. W. Brunner
1993-1997: Deputy Chief Physician of the IMO (Director Prof. M.F. Fey) and Head of the External Advisory Service of Canton Bern
1995-1997: Head of Tumor Registry of Inselspital
1998-2017: Head of Dept. of Medical Oncology and Haematology of Kantonsspital St. Gallen (KSSG). During this period, for 6 years he was member of the hospital board of directors und director of the entire Dept. of Internal Medicine. Former Founder and President of the Scientific Board of the Institute of Medical Research (KSSG) until 2014.
2017: Prof. emeritus of the University of Bern.
Promotions/Diplomas:
1988: FMH Internal Medicine
1997: FMH Medical Oncology (also ESMO certificate)
1991: PD, Privatdozent (lecturer) at the University of Bern, for Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology
1995: Professor for Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology, University of Bern, Diploma in Palliative Oncology (KLS)
Current roles held in Switzerland:
Acting President Stiftung Krebsforschung Schweiz (KFS)
Board-member Krebsliga Schweiz (KLS, Honorary-President)
Board-member Oncosuisse (Past-President)
Board-member of the Human Medicines Expert Committee (HMEC) of Swissmedic
Board member TOLREMO and ProteMediX (ETH-University start-ups, Board membership for ProteoMedix; since 2019 cofounder of ProteoMediX)
Board-member and Vice President of APC-Society (Advanced Prostate Cancer)
Noteworthy Memberships:
SAKK
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin (SGIM)
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Medizinische Onkologie (SGMO)
European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Riviste
Editor in chief: info@onkologie (Medinfo-Verlag)
Editorial Board: Oncology, Research and Treatment, Karger Verlag
Relevant Research Awards
1995: Robert Wenner Prize for Cancer Research (CHF 150,000.)
He has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2020.
Contacts
Prof. Silke Gillessen
Member*
Biography
Born in Niederdorf in 1965, Prof. Gillessen graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Basel in 1990, where she received her doctorate in 1992. After working as an assistant physician at Thurgauisch-Schaffausch-Höhenklinik in Davos, she became an associate researcher in the department of inflammatory/auto-immune diseases at Hoffmann-La Roche in the United States. After working in the Claraspital and Kantonsspital in Basel, she moved to the cantonal hospital of St. Gallen, where she obtained her specialisation in internal medicine.
She moved to the United States from 1998 to 2000, where she worked as a researcher at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She then returned to the St. Gallen Cantonal Hospital, where she was head of the oncology/haematology department; there she obtained her specialisation in medical oncology and was appointed head of service.
In 2006, she was awarded the qualification of Free Lecturer (PD) in Medical Oncology by the University of Bern, which then awarded her the title of Full Professor in 2011. Since 2018, her main activity has been in the field of teaching and research. She is a professor at the British University of Manchester in the Cancer Science Division, responsible for research into systemic therapy of genito-urological cancers, where she also mentors and provides post-graduate training.
With regard to research, she has published around 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has received considerable recognition for her research projects. She is considered a key opinion leader internationally in the field of prostate cancer and malignant genito-urinary diseases. She is a member of the main scientific committees and the major associations in her field of expertise at both national and international level. She is often called upon to speak at major international symposia.
She has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2019.
Contacts
Prof. Luisa Lambertini
Member
Biography
Prof. Luisa Lambertini is Rector of the University of Southern Switzerland (USI) and Professor of International Finance at both EPFL and USI. She is former Associate Vice-President of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she was head of the doctoral school (with 2400 students and 22 programmes) and continuing education. Professor Lambertini has held the chair of International Finance at EPFL since 2009, after a brilliant academic career developed at prestigious American universities, including the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Boston College. A world-renowned expert in the fields of international finance, macroeconomics and political economy, she has worked with a number of major international institutions, notably as an advisor to the European Central Bank (Fiscal Policy Division), the Federal Reserve Bank and the Swiss National Bank. She was also President of the International Banking, Economics and Finance Association (IBEFA). For many years she has chaired the WISH Foundation (Women in Sciences and the Humanities) at EPFL, inaugurating innovative initiatives, financed by private donations, to promote women’s careers in research. Professor Lambertini was born in Bologna, she has dual Swiss and Italian citizenship, is married to Prof. Demetri Psaltis and has one daughter.
Contacts
Prof. Pietro E. Majno
Member
Biography
Prof. Pietro Majno-Hurst was born on 22 April 1960 in Milan, Italy, where he graduated with a degree in medicine in 1986.
After training in general surgery in the UK (FRCS England), he joined the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) in 1992.
In 1996/1997 he specialised in liver surgery and liver transplantation in Paris. Since his return, he has been a member of the adult and paediatric transplantation and liver surgery team at the University Hospital of Geneva, where he became Head of the Multidisciplinary Centre for the treatment of Hepato-biliary-pancreatic diseases. Since 2018 he has been Full Professor of Surgery for the Medical Master’s programme of the University of Southern Switzerland and Head of the department of Surgery at the Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale.
He is the author of more than 200 articles published in leading medical journals, including The Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Hepatology, Journal of Hepatology, Annals of Surgery and British Journal of Surgery.
He has received awards from the Swiss Society of Surgery and the Swiss Transplant Society.
Ticinese by adoption (his father was taken in as a refugee in 1943), he has dual Italian and Swiss citizenship. He is committed to environmental and social issues, which he considers to be inextricably linked to health.
He has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2022.
Contacts
Ing. Glauco Martinetti
Member
Biography
Born on 29 April 1966 in Iragna, Mr. Martinetti graduated from the ETH Zurich in 1990 (Ing. agr. ETH).
After working for three years for a Dutch company in the young plants sector, he took over the management of the Cantonal Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative in 1993.
In 2002 he became Sales and Marketing Director of Rapelli SA and was promoted to CEO in 2012.
In 2015 he joined the extended management of the Orior food group and in the same year he became President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CC-TI) of Canton Ticino: this completed his curriculum with a broad view of the Ticino economic landscape.
In 2021 he was appointed Director of the Cantonal Hospital Organisation (Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale).
Since 2022 he has been active in various foundations in the field of oncology.
Over his career, he has gained particular experience in managing small and large teams and deepened his knowledge of resource management, marketing studies and targeted communication, as well as the topics of process optimisation, supply chain excellence and management by objectives.
He has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2022.
Contacts
Avv. Florian Marxer
Member*
Biography
Born in St. Gallen in 1976, Attorney Florian Marxer graduated from high school in Feldkirch (Austria) in 1995. He studied law at the Universities of Innsbruck (Mag. iur. 2002), Strasbourg (Erasmus 1997/98), Yale (LL.M. 2005), Vaduz (specialisation course in Liechtenstein in company law 2006) and Zurich (Dr. iur. 2007). He has been qualified to practice lawin New York (since 2006) and Liechtenstein (since 2010) and is the author of several books and articles on Liechtenstein law. Florian Marxer is a partner in the law firm Marxer & Partner Rechtsanwälte (Vaduz) and a member of the board of directors of various companies and foundations, including Belvédère Asset Management AG (Glarus) and Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (Vaduz).
He has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for Research and Treatment of Lymphomas in Ticino, now the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) since 2016.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation since 2019.
Contacts
Mrs. Alba Masullo
Member
Biography
Born in Saignelégier (Canton Jura) in 1964, Ms. Masullo graduated from high school in Lugano in 1985, then – after several years of university studies in medicine – was awarded a Diploma in Psychology from the University of Lausanne in 2000 and a Master’s degree in Medical Humanities from the University of Insubria in Varese in 2004.
She worked in a reception centre for refugees of the charity Caritas and for several years in the field of human resources management at the State employment offices, then for seven years as a consultant for the professional integration of people with health issues at the office of invalidity insurance of Canton Ticino. From 2003 to 2005 she was project manager in the professional assessment centre for disability insurance in Gerra Piano.
Since 2005, she has been the director of the Ticino Cancer League and, in this capacity, a member of various working groups and commissions within the Swiss Cancer League and the cantonal administration, as well as a member of several foundations and societies linked to the research and/or care of people suffering from cancer and their families.
She has been a member of the Foundation Board of the Foundation for Research and Treatment of Lymphomas in Ticino, now the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), since 2008.
Contacts
Prof. Giorgio Noseda
Member
Biography
Nato a Mendrisio il 14 luglio 1938.
Prof. Noseda was born in Mendrisio, on 14 July 1938. He was Head of Internal Medicine at the Mendrisio Regional Hospital, Cardiology at the Civic Hospital of Lugano and full professor (now emeritus) at the University of Bern. He has devoted his career passionately to the fight against cancer.
He was President of the Swiss Cancer League (1989-1992) and at the same time a member of the Board of Trustees of the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) in Lausanne.
In 1996 he founded the Administrative Centre of the Swiss Cancer Organisations (Haus der Krebsliga) in Bern. He contributed to the creation of various institutions involved in the fight against cancer: in 1991, the Swiss Cancer Research Foundation, which he chaired until 2006; in 1999, the Oncosuisse Association, which he chaired until 2006; and in 2007, the National Institute for Cancer Registration and Epidemiology (NICER), based at the University of Zurich, which he chaired until 2018.
From 2001 to 2012 he chaired the Swiss Bridge Foundation, which raises funds for cancer research. He has been Vice-President of the Ticino Foundation for Cancer Research (Lugano, since 1984), the Foundation for the European School of Oncology (Bellinzona, since 1990) and the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), associated with the Faculty of Biomedicine of the University of Southern Switzerland (USI). In 1997 he was one of the founding members of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) in Bellinzona, associated with the Faculty of Biomedicine of the University of Southern Switzerland (USI), which he chaired until 2012.
He was a member of the Grand Council of Ticino from 1975 to 1989: he chaired the Commission for Hospital Law, for which he was a speaker at the Parliament, which led to the foundation of the Cantonal Hospital Organisation (Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale) in December 1982.
Prof. Noseda is the author of numerous scientific publications and is an honorary member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. He was awarded the Swiss Award in 2007 and received the Medal of the Swiss Cancer League in 2011 for his contributions in the field of cancer.
He has been Vice-President and member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Research and Treatment of Lymphomas in Ticino, now the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), since 1999.
Contacts
Prof. Georg Stüssi
Member
Biography
Prof. Stüssi was awarded his degree in medicine from the University of Zurich. He first worked in transplantation immunology, looking at the impact of the ABO system in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He then obtained his clinical training in Internal Medicine and Haematology at the Kantonsspital Baden and the University Hospitals in Zurich and Basel, and worked as a senior physician in Zurich. In 2010 he qualified at the University of Zurich, was appointed head of haematology at the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland in 2011 and head of the haematology laboratory of the hospital service in 2015. He chaired the Swiss leukemia research group and was an expert in laboratory haematology. He has a long-standing research interest in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and leukemia treatment and is head of the cellular therapy programme in Ticino.
He currently is professor of haematology at the University of Southern Switzerland (USI) and President of the Swiss Cancer League.
Contacts
Mr. Giovanni Zürcher
Treasurer*
Biography
Born on 4 August 1960, Mr. Zuercher obtained the Federal Certificate of Commerce in 1979, and after several language and professional internships abroad, obtained the AIBD (ICMA, International Capital Market Association) diploma in Montreux in 1986. In the same year he joined the Paribas group, performing various tasks in the field of Investment Banking and later in asset management, becoming, first of all responsible for the Italian market and then for Southern Europe for the whole group. In 2001, with the merger between BNP and PARIBAS, he was appointed to the general management of the new bank. Giovanni also served for several years as director of the PARVEST investment fund in Luxembourg. In 2005, with a number of partners, he founded Pentagram wealth management based in Lugano and Geneva and currently holds the position of CEO and member of its board of directors. In addition to the IOR Foundation, he is also member of the board of several non-profit foundations.
He has been the Treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Research and Treatment of Lymphomas in Ticino, now the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), since 1999.
Contacts
Past members
| Barazzoni Fabrizio | 1999 | 2019 |
| Camponovo Emilio | 1999 | 2019 |
| Canova Rosalba | 1999 | 2008 |
| Erez Boas | 2016 | 2023 |
| Ferrari Paolo | 2018 | 2022 |
| Foiada Sandro | 2017 | 2018 |
| Ghielmini Michele | 1999 | 2023 |
| Goldhirsch Aron | 1999 | 2016 |
| Jackson Olga | 1999 | 2023 |
| Maggini Carlo | 2011 | 2016 |
| Malacrida Roberto | 2017 | 2021 |
| Mathis Nicola | 2014 | 2017 |
| Mozzini Aris | 2014 | 2019 |
| Pandolfi Elena M. | 2019 | 2023 |
| Rusconi Alessandro | 2011 | 2014 |
| Zanetti Felice | 2011 | 2017 |