Indian-Origin cancer expert named as president elect of UK medical society
Indian origin woman cancer expert, Dr. Sudha Sundar became the first female gynecological oncologist to be elected to the prestigious post at the British Gynaecological Cancer Society (BGCS). She was named as president-elect of the BGCS. Currently, she is working as a senior lecturer in Gynaecological Oncology at the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.
She is the chief investigator of the ROCKETS project which aims to achieve earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer – a collaboration between international experts from KU Leuven (Netherlands), University College London and the University of Birmingham. Translational research in genomics, steroidomics, and metabolomics is also underway, the university added. An academic and a surgeon, she is working with partners across India and Africa to establish matched cohort studies that will help investigate ethnic diversity in women’s cancer genomics. She is also leading the SOCQER 2 study, commissioned by the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The study investigates surgical outcomes in advanced stage ovarian cancer in 15 cancer centers in the UK, India, and Australia.
In addition to her clinical and academic duties, her research programme investigates clinical challenges in patients with ovarian and endometrial cancer, using combined clinical trials and translational research approach, the University of Birmingham said. She carries out surgical research across sub-Saharan Africa, India and other countries as the cancer surgery work package lead for the NIHR global health research unit on Global Surgery.
Dr. Sudha was trained in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Oxford and Gynaecological Oncology at the Three Counties cancer center, Gloucestershire. She was also trained in Molecular Oncology as a Cancer Research UK Clinical Fellow at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford.
“This is an exciting time to be elected as President-Elect of the BGCS; we have a vibrant multidisciplinary society working together and engaging with patients. This is a real opportunity to improve outcomes for women with gynecological cancer and I look forward to contributing to this,” said Sundar. The BGCS describes itself as the society of professionals dedicated to improving the care provided to patients with gynecological cancers. It develops guidelines, advocates for advances in care, helps improve training and education for gynecological cancer professionals and works in partnership with charities and patients.