Kosj Yamoah, MD, PhD is a board-certified radiation oncologist and physician scientist, who is committed to unraveling and mitigating the cancer health disparities that impact clinical care. Leading as Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and holding a secondary appointment in the Cancer Epidemiology Program, Dr. Yamoah embodies a wealth of relevant expertise. He directs a global laboratory dedicated to pioneering translational research, with an emphasis on uncovering gene-specific factors that drive aggressive disease and contribute to poor survival outcomes among men of African origin with prostate cancer. A native of Ghana, he earned his medical degree from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and his PhD in Oncological Science from Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Beyond his significant contributions to the field, Dr. Yamoah finds joy in his free time through playing and watching soccer, and the artistry of music and music creation. 

 

 

 

 

Anna R. Giuliano, PhD, is the founding Director of the Center for Immunization and Infection Research in Cancer (CIIRC) at Moffitt. She received her doctorate from Tufts University, continuing her studies at the New England Epidemiology Institute, and at the University of Arizona as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Prevention and Etiology Fellow. Dr Giuliano’s career had its inception studying the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer. The research evolved over the past three decades to encompass HPV and penile, anal, and head and neck cancers, as well as other infectious diseases and their causal relationships with various cancers. Her HPV research has contributed significantly to our understanding of HPV infection natural history, the proportion of infections that progress to disease, and to HPV vaccine protection against multiple diseases in women and men. Dr. Giuliano is actively involved in advocacy to eliminate cervical cancer in the United States and globally. She worked closely with US congressional representatives to develop the Prevent HPV Cancer Act (HR1550). In 2013, at the American Cancer Society (ACS) 100th anniversary, Dr Giuliano was the recipient of the ACS Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Award, in 2018 she was selected for the prestigious ACS Clinical Research Professor Award for “Prevention of Infection-Related Cancers,” and in 2019 she received the Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., Distinguished Achievement Award from the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO). Dr. Giuliano was voted President-Elect of the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) in 2021. Dr Giuliano has authored ~500 peer-reviewed publications.

 

Dr. Alfred E. Yawson, MBchB, has over sixteen years of medical practice and research experience. He has a BSc. (Honours) in Medical Sciences and MB ChB, from the University of Ghana Medical School, an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing and Public Health from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the University of London. He is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians (Community Health), Fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians (Public Health) and has a post-doctoral fellowship from University of Michigan. As a physician, public health practitioner, academic and researcher, Dr. Yawson supports, develops and strengthens national and international health systems. His research interest is in improving systems and processes of health care delivery in general and for specific groups (older adults; persons living with HIV and AIDS; and chronic non-communicable diseases in adults and children). He is also interested in quality improvement in health care systems. He has over 97 peer-reviewed publications, has managed grants and mentors many students. He is currently the Head of Department of Community Heath, University of Ghana Medical School.

 

 

 

 

 

Joel Yarney, PhD, is the Head of the Medical Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana.