We are an international, multi-disciplinary expert group dedicated to increasing cervical cancer screening participation.

Thomas Iftner is the Director of the Institute of Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases at the University Hospital of Tübingen, Germany and Full Professor of Experimental Virology. His research interests range from basic research on human papillomaviruses to clinical and epidemiological trials with 208 peer reviewed publications in Pubmed; 330 in Google Scholar; (citations above 15,000, h-Index 64; i10-index 164) along with 10 international patents.

On the basis of his research more than 70 students have been awarded PhD and MD degrees. Apart from this Prof. Iftner is providing support and guidance to worldwide leading companies involved in diagnostics and pharmaceutical research.

Thomas Iftner received his diploma in biology in 1985 and his doctorate from the University of Erlangen in 1988. His postgraduate training included a research fellowship at the University of California, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Los Angeles, USA. From 1990 to 1997 he was at the University of Erlangen, where he habilitated in 1993. From 1997 to 2018, he was a full professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and head of the Research Section for Experimental Virology. In April 2018, he took over as head of the Institute of Medical Virology. He founded the Molecular Medicine programs in 2006 at the University of Tübingen and was dean of studies for Molecular Medicine from 2006 to 2017. From 2009 to 2020, he was also Vice Dean in the Faculty of Medicine. Furthermore, he has been an associate professor at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, from 2009-2018 and is CEO of the company UFE supporting start ups at Tuebingen, Germany. From 2011 – 2020 he was Member of the Board of Directors of the International Papillomavirus Society. Since 2020 he is affiliated with the National Institute of Virology at the ICCBS in Karachi, Pakistan and oversees its further development.

After activities as co-founder and director of the European Consortium Against Cervical Cancer (ECCA, Lyon, France), Iftner has been chairman and initiator of the Zervita project group since 2006, whose aim is to inform the public in Germany about risk factors, prevention, early detection and treatment of cervical carcinoma and its precursors, as well as about human papillomaviruses. He belonged to expert groups of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, for the preparation of the monograph on cervical cancer prevention and papillomaviruses, in which the valid risk classification of HPV genotypes was established, and the “Cervical Cancer Screening Handbook”.
The multinational cohort studies by Iftner and Dillner and Cuzick and Iftner are one of the most cited papers in national guidelines on cervical cancer screening. He is a member of the International Papillomavirus Society, the American Society of Microbiology, the German Society of Virology and member of the COMSTECH distinguished scholar program of the OIC.

Dr. Nguyen is the Director of Cytopathology at Unity Health Toronto, Canada. She is also an Associate Professor and Associate Graduate Faculty Member at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Nguyen is affiliated with several professional associations including the Canadian Association on Neuropathologists (CANP), Ontario Medical Association (OMA), and American Society of Cytopathology (ASC). She has been Vice-Chair of the Cytopathology Committee and Expert Advisor on the Quality Measures Technical Expert Panel for the College of American Pathologists (CAP). She is also an Expert Consultant to the European Hologic Cervical Health Advisory Board.

Dr. Bosch is a Senior Consultant for the Institute d’Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL) as well as an Honorific Consultant to the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) at Hospitalet de Llobregat in Barcelona, Spain. He is the founder of both the Papillomavirus Research (PVR) journal and the e-learning platform, www.eoncologia.net, specialising in e-courses on cervical cancer prevention.

Dr. Bosch’s epidemiological studies on cancers linked to infectious agents have played a catalytic role for the initiation of the vaccine trials and programs for HBV and HPV, as well as for the evaluation of HPV tests as screening tools. His interests now reside in sharing clinically important scientific information and in studies that integrate HPV vaccination and screening in environments with limited resources.

Dr. Bosch has published over 500 original publications, over 25 monograph books & major reviews, and has over 900 scientific communications at medical meetings.

Athena Lamnisos is a senior third sector leader and is currently CEO of leading women’s health charity, The Eve Appeal which is focused on the five gynaecological cancers and prevention. Athena is experienced at forging partnerships between private, public and not for profit sectors. She has a track record of directing successful change programmes in the arena of public health and oncology and is passionate about making service user voices central to strategy. Her career spans extensive cross sector working from environmental NGO Friends of the Earth which she led the communications and fundraising directorate through to leading public sector campaigns as a founding Board director of leading strategic communications consultancy Forster. She has held numerous trustee roles including at food waste charity FareShare and as a founding trustee of restorative justice charity The Forgiveness Project.  

Athena has extensive experience in UK and international patient participation and stakeholder engagement work around gynaecological cancers and specifically, cervical cancer prevention. She has led international patient participation events and presented research papers and evidence as part of ENGAGE (the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology) and BGCS (the British Gynaecological Cancer Society). She has sat on policy forums on women’s health strategy, cancer prevention and HPV, genomics (and genetic testing programmes around BRCA and Lynch Syndrome) as well as national cancer strategy convened by NHSE, DHSC and Health Improvement Scotland. Athena represents Eve as part of the Hatfield Vision Group convened by the FSRH (Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health).

Dr. Monsonego is a Gynaecologist based in Paris, France, where he specialises in colposcopy and in the management of HPV associated diseases.

He attended the Medical University of Paris and is the former Head of the Onco-Gynaecological and Breast Screening Unit (Paris Nord University, Department of Professor Lucien Israël – Bobigny). His institutional affiliations include Medical Director of Institut of the Cervix Paris, France; Member of the President and Founder of EUROGIN (European Research Organization on Genital Infection and Neoplasia); Expert Consultant on Cancer for the World Health Organization (WHO/OMS); and President of the international Women Against Cervical Cancer (WACC) Foundation.

Dr. Monsonego’s specialist areas of research include: Management of abnormal pap smear and papillomavirus infection, Cervical cancer screening and prevention, Colposcopy and treatment of genital papillomavirus lesions, Clinical trials of HPV vaccines, Prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for human papillomavirus infections, Screening for cervical cancers, colposcopy, and drugs for the treatment of HPV-related lesions, and new technologies applied to cervical cancer screening and management, such as HPV DNA testing and genotyping, liquid-based cytology, real-time screening methods, and molecular markers.

Dr. Smith is an Epidemiology Professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, North Carolina.

She is also affiliated with the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC Center for Aids Research, and the UNC Center for Women’s Health Research.

Additionally, Dr. Smith has conducted research on HPV infection and associated cervical neoplasia and cancer since 1995 and has published over 200 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. Her current research focuses on epidemiological studies of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer worldwide (primarily in China, Kenya, South Africa, and North Carolina), with a focus on prevention via screening, HPV self-screening, and prophylactic vaccines.

Dr. Smith is currently conducting self-screening demonstration projects of HPV infection among high-risk women in Mombasa, Kenya, and in rural North Carolina.

Professor Descamps is a Distinguished Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has been the Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Angers University Hospital in France since 1999. He is also the Director of the Regional Reference Centre for Endometriosis, Endo Ref-Angers.

Professor Descamps is the Vice President of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and was elected as the French representative to the FIGO Council (2015 – 2021). He has sat on the Minimal Access Surgery Committee (2018 – 2021) and was a member of FIGO’s Strategic Planning Committee (2020 – 2021).

At a national level, he has supported the French National College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (CNGOF) by serving as the President of its International Relations Committee (2012 – present) and a member of its Board and Bureau (2005 – present). He was also the Vice President of the French Society of Gynaecological and Pelvic Surgery (SCGP) between 2011 and 2021.

Dr. O’Connor is a researcher and ICE Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and has been involved in CERVIVA, a multi-disciplinary research consortium investigating cervical cancer screening and HPV-associated diseases since 2009.

She has over 12 years of experience in planning, coordinating, and conducting research studies underpinned by behavioural science in cancer prevention. Much of her research has focused on understanding the psychological impact of cervical cancer screening on women.

She has collaborated with national and international stakeholders across diverse disciplines and institutions including the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI), the University College Cork (UCC) and the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP).

Jeanne Conry, MD, PhD is President of the Environmental Health Leadership Foundation and Executive Board Member for the Forum Institute. She was President of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics from 2021 through 2023. She was the 64th President of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, a membership organisation representing over 57,000 OBGYNS in the USA. She chaired the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative, a United States coalition of health professional organisations and advocates with expertise in women’s health. WPSI develops, reviews and updates recommendations for preventive healthcare. While FIGO President she served as vice Chair for the Partnership on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Partner Engagement in Country Committee and a member of its Health Care Professionals Association.  She introduced the US National Maternal Health Initiative to reduce maternal mortality and improve health before, during and after pregnancy. Dr. Conry leads national policy on Reproductive Health and the Environment and received the Environmental Protection Agency Health Champion Award. Dr. Conry served in leadership as an obstetrician gynaecologist at Kaiser Permanente, the largest health maintenance organisation in the United States. She received the Visionary Leadership Award from the University of California, and The United States House of Representatives honoured her for accomplishments in women’s health. Dr. Conry earned her medical degree and completed residency at the University of California, Davis where she served as an Associate Clinical Professor. She has a PhD in biology from the University of Colorado. Dr. Conry has been awarded Honorary Fellowships in eleven global obstetric and gynaecologic societies: The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, The Taiwan Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics, The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland- the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Indian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Asia and Oceania Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the French Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society, and The International Academy of Human Reproduction. 

Ody Neisingh is a seasoned public affairs professional with extensive experience in gender equality, human rights, and sexual and reproductive health advocacy. Currently serving as Coordinator of Public Affairs at WOMEN Inc. in Amsterdam, she leads campaigns on gender equality, including significant political advocacy during the 2021 elections. She also manages programs aimed at reforming child care policies, contributing to a €2.5 billion increase in the national child care budget.

Ody is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), where she collaborates with EU institutions to develop consensus-based opinions on legislation concerning gender equality, LGBTIQ rights, and mental health. She has played a key role as rapporteur on issues like gender-based violence and gender budgeting.

Her previous roles include Senior Advisor on Women’s Economic Empowerment at UN Women, Program Manager at the Humanist Union, and Advocacy Officer at Rutgers, where she contributed to expanding paternity leave in the Netherlands and led campaigns on sexual and reproductive health rights.

Ody holds a Master’s in International Relations & Diplomacy from the University of Antwerp and a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology from Utrecht University. She has a passion for creative writing, with several publications to her name, and is fluent in Dutch and English, with proficiency in German and French.