Rare Tumors in Children and Adolescents

Dominik T. Schneider, MD , is Director of the Clinic of Pediatrics at Dortmund Municipal Hospital and an extracurricular Professor of Pediatrics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. After graduating from medical school at the Charité in Berlin, he completed his clinical training at Heinrich Heine University and also worked as a post doc research fellow at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Dr. Schneider is vice-chair of the German MAKEI working group and since 2006 has co-chaired the German Working Group and Registry of Pediatric Rare Tumors (STEP). He is involved in several clinical research groups, including the European Cooperative Study Group for Pediatric Rare Tumors (EXPeRT) and the Ovarian and Testicular Sex Cord Tumor Registry.  He has served as an executive board member of the German Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology (GPOH) and is a member of the executive board of the German Society of Pediatrics (DGKJ). His research focus is on germ cell tumors and rare tumors, in particular rare gonadal tumors.

Ines B. Brecht , MD, is a senior physician and pediatric oncologist at the Children’s University Hospital Tübingen, Germany. She completed her medical studies at Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, in 2000 and undertook clinical training in Ulm, Erlangen, and Stuttgart before completing a post doc research fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University (Detroit, USA). Dr. Brecht has received scholarships from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach Foundation, and the Madeleine Schickedanz Foundation.  Since 2006 she has co-chaired the German Working Group and Registry of Pediatric Rare Tumors (STEP). Dr. Brecht is a co-founder of the European Cooperative Study Group for Pediatric Rare Tumors (EXPeRT) and chair of the group since 2021. In 2017 she founded the Center for Rare Pediatric Tumors in Tübingen. Dr. Brecht is involved in clinical research on several rare pediatric tumors, especially on melanomas, colorectal carcinomas, and the epidemiology and genetics of rare pediatric cancers.

Andrea Ferrari , MD, is an oncology consultant and responsbile of the Outpatient Service at the Pediatric Oncology Unit of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan in Italy, a position he has held since 1994. He tackled research projects dedicated to soft tissue sarcomas, pediatric rare tumors and adolescents/young adults projects. He worked as chair and board member of various international cooperative groups, developing a large experience in leading and coordinating multidisciplinary working team. Among the various accomplishments, he co-founded the Italian TREP project dedicated to pediatric very rare tumors, and he co-founded the European EXPERT (European Cooperative Study Group for Pediatric Rare Tumors) project,for which he has been the first chair.

He was founding member of the EpSSG (European Pediatric Soft Tissue Sarcoma Study Group). Within EpSSG, he is member of the board and chairman of the NRSTS (Non-Rhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma Scientific Committee). In the last years, Dr. Ferrari dedicated himself also to the special needs of adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer. He developed the “Youth Project” in his center. He currently chairs the Italian Committee on AYA, and the AYA Committee of the SIOPE (European Society for Paediatric Oncology), and he is co-chair of the joint Working Group on AYA of SIOPE and ESMO (European Society of Medical Oncology). He is author or co-author of more than 450 papers published on international scientific journals, and 30 book chapters.

Thomas A. Olson , MD, is Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, and Program Director Solid Tumor at the Aflac Cancer andBlood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  He is also Chair of the Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee of the Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Olson graduated from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois and did his residency and fellowship training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC.  As a member of the Children’s Oncology Group, he has served on the Rare Tumor Executive Committee as Chair of the Germ Cell Tumor Subcommittee.  He was a founding member of and continues to serve on the Malignant Germ Cell Tumor International Consortium.  He is an editorial board member of the National Cancer Institute’s PDQ Pediatric Treatment and Journal of Clinical Oncology. He has authored numerous articles and chapters on germ cell tumors and rare tumors.