Head of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit at HUG, Marc Ansari has worked in the medical field for more than 15 years, more particularly in the fields of pediatric oncology and hematology and genetics. In 2011, he founded the CANSEARCH Foundation and the research platform at the University of Geneva. Since January 1, 2013, he has been Head of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit at HUG. In November 2015, he was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Geneva.

Holding an Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education (ES) as a biomedical analyst, Montserrat Alvarez has 10 years of experience in research laboratories (HUG and CMU), primarily in the field of immunology. After working for 2 years in Japan within the nephrology department at Juntendo University Hospital, she returned to Geneva, where she worked for 6 years in cancer immunopharmacology before joining the CANSEARCH research platform in October 2023.

Montserrat is proficient in most laboratory techniques, particularly histology, cell culture, flow cytometry, molecular biology, ELISA assays, killing assays, and murine models. Within the CANSEARCH platform, Montserrat contributes to various research projects and participates in managing the Geneva pediatric oncology and hematology biobank (BaHOP) at the Geneva University Hospitals.

Frédéric Baleydier received a training in pediatric onco-hematology and immunology in France (IHOP, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital-Necker-Enfants-Malades, Assistance-Publique Hôpitaux de Paris), supplemented by a scientific background in Paris and Boston in the USA (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School).

He was a senior physician in pediatric hemato-oncology in Lyon (IHOP, Hospices Civils de Lyon) then in the United Kingdom in Bristol (Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, University Hospitals Bristol) before joining the HUG pediatric onco-hematology team in September 2016.

Aurore Britan-Wood Holding a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Physiology from Blaise Pascal University (France), Aurore Britan-Wood joined the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform at the University of Geneva in February 2022, where she manages clinical trials. Since 2023, Aurore has also served as the Operational and Financial Director of the platform, as well as the Operational Director of the BaHOP biobank.

Update – June 2026 ZG Aurore spent several years in fundamental research at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, where she gained expertise in bioinformatics, biocuration, and human protein databases. After earning a Continuing Education Diploma in Clinical Trial Management from the University of Geneva, she joined the HUG Clinical Research Center in November 2018 as a scientific collaborator. In this role, she participated in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the General Consent for Research at HUG, as well as managing various clinical trials conducted within the hospital. She was also part of the Data Management team, handling data for numerous clinical studies in compliance with all laws and regulations related to Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP).

Aurore has been a member of the Geneva Cantonal Ethics Committee for Human Research (CCER) since 2021 and was also a member of the data management platform of the Swiss Clinical Trial Organisation (SCTO).

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Lara Chavaz is a pediatric intern, currently in her third year of training. After obtaining her medical degree at the University of Geneva, she spent two years in general pediatrics before joining the CANSEARCH research platform in November 2024 for a year of research. In this context, she received the BERC grant to conduct a project focused on the study of genetic factors associated with post-treatment hearing complications (ototoxicity) in child cancer survivors, under the supervision of Dr. Yvonne Gloor and Prof. Marc Ansari. At the same time, she completed her medical doctorate on the reactivation of cytomegalovirus (CMV) after stopping letermovir prophylaxis in stem cell transplant patients. His career is also marked by several research projects dedicated to childhood brain tumors carried out within the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit at HUG.

A pharmacist specializing in pharmacometrics and clinical pharmacology, Seef Abdalla worked as a practitioner at Cochin Hospital and Georges Pompidou European Hospital (Paris, France). There, he notably developed his expertise in pediatric and neonatal pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology. He joined the CANSEARCH research platform in November 2025 as a post-doctoral fellow. His research focus within the team centers primarily on studying the relationship between pharmacokinetics and the efficacy/toxicity of drugs used in pediatric oncology and hematology, in order to determine optimal dosages for this specific population.

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Youssef Daali is the head of the Pharmacological and Toxicological Investigations Unit at HUG and collaborates with the CANSEARCH research platform on topics related to the individualization of treatments in pediatric oncology and hematology, specifically focusing on therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacogenetics, and pharmacokinetics.

Letizia Fioravanzo joined the platform in March 2024 as an apprentice laboratory technician. She obtained her Federal Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (CFC) as a laboratory technician in June 2026.

Yvonne Gloor completed her PhD in molecular biology at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden (Germany). She also obtained a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) and a Master's degree in Human Toxicology from the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Yvonne joined the CANSEARCH research platform team in October 2022 as a pharmacogeneticist.

Fanny Gonzales completed her training as a pediatrician in France, at the University of Lille. She specialized in pediatric oncology and hematology by obtaining an inter-university diploma in pediatric immunology and hematology (2014) and a diploma in pediatric oncology (DIUOP) (2015). She served as a Chief Resident (Cheffe de Clinique) in the pediatric hematology department at the Lille University Hospital from 2017 to 2020. Alongside her clinical career, she completed a PhD in Biology at the University of Lille within the unit "Cancer Heterogeneity, Plasticity and Resistance to Therapies" UMR 9020 CNRS - UMR-S 1277 Inserm, on the "Factors of Leukemic cell Persistence" team. She defended her work, entitled "Functional study of prognostic markers CD81 and ABCB1 in acute myeloid leukemias," in February 2020. In January 2021, she joined Dr. Kimberly Stegmaier's team at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute – Harvard Medical School (USA) for her post-doctoral research, focusing on the discovery of new therapeutic approaches in pediatric acute leukemias. She joined our team in October 2023 and works both in the clinical unit and within the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform at the University of Geneva.

Fabienne Gumy-Pause is a pediatric oncologist and hematologist who has been working in the pediatric oncology and hematology unit at HUG for 25 years. Her professional interests focus particularly on solid tumors, cancer predisposition syndromes, long-term follow-up, and fertility preservation. For many years, she has been the head of the oncogenetics group within the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform. Her current research on neuroblastoma aims to discover new therapeutic targets and to study the role of new molecules in the treatment of this particularly aggressive cancer.

Denis has been a member of the CANSEARCH oncology and hematology research platform since 2013. In 2018, he took on the role of administrative and financial director. Denis holds a degree in biomedical sciences and has extensive experience in the field of biomedical research, covering biochemistry, cytometry, immunology, murine models, and biosafety. Following his involvement in creating the Geneva pediatric oncology and hematology research biobank (BaHOP) in 2016, as well as selecting and implementing its IT system, Denis assumed the role of co-director of the Geneva pediatric oncology and hematology biobank (BaHOP) at the Geneva University Hospitals. In parallel, he obtained a Master of Science degree in biobanking from the Medical University of Graz. In September 2023, Denis decided to relocate to the United States to expand his skills in the field of biobanking, while continuing his collaboration with the CANSEARCH research platform remotely.

Veneranda Mattiello has been a member of the medical team in the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit at the Geneva University Hospitals since 2010. After graduating in Medicine from the University of Naples in Italy, she completed her specialization in pediatrics and subsequently in oncology-hematology in Switzerland. She later advanced her training in pediatric hematology and hemostasis in Italy (Milan Polyclinic) and France (University of Lyon). Since 2015, she has been responsible for the management of clinical trials in pediatric oncology and hematology in Geneva. Veneranda is also the deputy director of the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Biobank (BaHOP) established within the CANSEARCH research platform.

Mourad Mseddi holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Monastir (Tunisia), as well as a Master 2 in Pharmacological Innovation and Pharmaceutical Professions from Université Toulouse-III-Paul Sabatier (France). He joined the CANSEARCH research platform team in October 2023 to complete his doctoral thesis (PhD) under the supervision of Prof. Marc Ansari, Dr. Rao Chakradhara S. Uppugunduri, and Prof. Youssef Daali. His research project focuses on dosage adaptation of fludarabine in the pediatric population, studying the influence of genetic determinants and drug interactions on the pharmacokinetics of conditioning agents for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Mélissa Nunes de Sousa joined the CANSEARCH research platform in September 2025 as a Master's student intern in Biology. During her internship year, she is working on the Neuroblastoma project.

Danai Papangelopoulou joined the CANSEARCH pediatric oncology and hematology research platform at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) in August 2023. She completed her specialization in pediatrics at HUG and was appointed Chief Resident (Cheffe de Clinique), initially in general pediatrics, and subsequently in pediatric oncology and hematology. She completed her medical doctorate (MD) on brainstem tumors in infants under three months of age. She participates in several research projects. Her interests center on the impact of pharmacogenetics on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as well as on solid tumors, particularly liver tumors and neuroblastoma.

After obtaining her nursing degree from the IFSI (Nursing Training Institute) Esquirol in Lyon (France), Valentine Pradet worked in the multi-specialty pediatric operating room at the HFME (Woman Mother Child Hospital) in Bron (France). She then moved to Montreal (Canada) to pursue a Master of Public Health at the University of Montreal (UdeM), which she obtained in 2019. Following this new degree, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator within the Hematology-Oncology-Immunology Clinical Research Unit (URCHOI) at CHU Sainte-Justine in Montreal for 3 years. After that, she advanced her clinical research training with an Inter-University Diploma (DIU) – Training for Clinical Research Assistants and Clinical Trial Technicians (FARC-TEC) at Sorbonne University in Paris (France). With this wealth of experience, she joined the Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit (UOHP) at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) in 2023 as a Clinical Research Assistant to participate in various clinical studies.

Rao Uppugunduri holds a PhD in clinical pharmacology. He contributed to the development of the platform from its very inception, as one of its first collaborators. Rao served as a senior researcher, leading experimental research. His research focuses on pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine, specifically aiming to identify pharmacogenetic information that can optimize clinical care, particularly in pediatric oncology and hematology. He was a member of the "Education" division of the European Society of Pharmacogenomics and Personalised Therapy (ESPT). He was also part of the group working on personalizing chemotherapy and conditioning regimens before stem cell transplantation in children and adolescents. In May 2024, Rao decided to relocate to India, his home country, specifically to Pondicherry, where he joined the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) as a Professor. Rao nevertheless continues his collaboration with the CANSEARCH research platform.

André von Bueren is a senior lecturer (CC) at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, an associate physician in pediatric hematology and oncology, head of the pediatric neuro-oncology program at the Geneva University Hospitals, and a board member of the Swiss Pediatric Oncology Group. Pediatric neuro-oncology has been at the core of his translational and clinical research efforts over the past 20 years. His main interest lies in improving the diagnosis and treatment management of childhood brain tumors, particularly medulloblastoma and pediatric high-grade gliomas (HGG) / diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, with a special interest in HGG in young children and infants.

Nicolas Waespe is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist. He worked in pediatric oncology-hematology in Switzerland and completed his training with a clinical and research fellowship at the SickKids Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Nicolas joined the CANSEARCH research platform team at the University of Geneva as a researcher in August 2018. In parallel, he is a collaborator at the University of Bern. His research projects aim to better understand the effect of genetic differences on the development of childhood cancers and the side effects following anti-cancer treatments.

After training in communication, Corinne Chaudet worked for 15 years as a project manager in the organization of scientific and medical congresses. In 2009, she was hired as an executive assistant for the Clinical Research Center and the Clinical Investigation Unit of the HUG and the Faculty of Medicine, where she handled the management, coordination, and follow-up of files, as well as internal and external communication. She was also responsible for organizing the "Good Clinical Practice" course and the annual Clinical Research Day. Since October 2025, she has been assisting Professor Marc Ansari with the management of administrative, financial, and organizational activities.

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Diplômée d’un Bachelor en hôtellerie et professions de l’accueil de l’Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), Zoé Giorgetta se passionne tôt pour l’univers hôtelier et particulièrement hospitalier. Elle travaille dans l’évènementiel pour de grands groupes hôteliers suisses et internationaux ainsi qu’au sein d’une clinique privée genevoise. Elle détient en parallèle un CAS en recherche de fonds. Zoé rejoint en septembre 2023 l’équipe de la plateforme en tant qu’assistante de la directrice opérationnelle et financière.