Meet the experts

Patty Cason is a family nurse practitioner, trainer, and educator with a specialty in sexualand reproductive health. She has practiced for 40 years in a wide variety of clinical andacademic settings and is an Assistant Clinical Professor and lecturer atthe UCLA School ofNursing. Her goal is centering patients with a sex-positive, trauma-informed, anti-racist lens.Patty is a contracted consultant to training agencies, non-profits, and state departments ofhealth across the United States. Patty developedthe PATH framework and the ASA Cycle forperson-centered conversations and counseling. She wrote a seminal chapter on person-centered counseling for the 21st Edition of Contraceptive Technology and is the lead authorfor the 22nd Edition. Patty serves onthe board of directors for the American Society forColposcopy and Cervical Pathology, the National Medical Committee for PlannedParenthood, and several other advisory boards including the Clinical Training Center forFamily Planning. She recently helpedrevise the CDC’s “A Guide to Taking a Sexual History”,in order to make the questions more inclusive. Other publications include research andopinion pieces in peer reviewed journals, nationally utilized on-line learning courses,instructional videos, textbook chapters, clinical protocols, job aids, and manuals.

Dr. Carolyn Westhoff isthe Sarah Billinghurst Solomon Professor of Reproductive Healthat theVagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, andProfessor ofEpidemiologyand of Populationand Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health.She directedtheNYPTitle X-fundedfamily planning clinicfor 20 years and spent ten years working with the NYC DOH onintroducing contraceptive care into the city’s school-basedclinics.She chairedPlannedParenthood’s NationalMedical Committee,worked on developing NQF-endorsed contraceptiveperformance measures,and collaborateswith the CDC and WHO onthe Medical EligibilityCriteria (MEC)and Selected Practice Guidelinesfor contraceptive use.She isthe CUIMCPrincipal Investigator ofthe NICHD ContraceptiveTrialsNetwork. Dr. Westhoff isalsoEditor-in-Chief of the journalContraceptionanda member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Michal Yaron, is head of gynecological ambulatory unit and pediatrics and adolescent gynecologyin the department of women, adolescent and pediatrics at Geneva University hospitals, Switzerland.Dr Yaronhas trained in Israel (Tel Aviv University andShamirmedical center) andinToronto (TheHospital for Sick children) beforemoving toSwitzerland. She is a certifiedFIGIJfellow(InternationalFederationofPediatric and Adolescent Gynecology).Dr Yaron is very involved in theteachingof medical students at the Faculty of Medicine where shehas been a teacher since 2007 andsince 2018co-responsible forBachelor2ndyear unit ofREPRODUCTION.Dr. Yaroninterests are in the areas of contraception, sexual education andyoung women’sempowerment and psychosomatic aspectsofgynecology.Since 2016 she is the president of the foundation “Myriam de Senarclens” (www.fdmds.org)

Dr Lorussoobtained her degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1995, her residency in Obstetricsand Gynecology in 1999 and her PhD in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2003. She is currentlyAssociate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Catholic University of Romeandresponsible for clinical research at Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS.She is an active member of the European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial groups(ENGOT) where she leads the Gynecological Cancer Academy (since 2020). Dr Lorusso isamember of the Board of Directors of the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG) where she ispast chair of the Endometrial Cancer Committee and the Nomination and Meeting Committee.Currently, she is a member of the ESGO Council and scientific coordinator of the ESMOGynaecological Cancers Congress. She is involved in preclinical and clinical research ingynecological cancer, and she is the author of more than 250 papers on gynecological cancers.Her work has hugely contributed to improving the quality of care and clinical outcome and toreducing the toxicity of treatments in women with advanced gynecological malignancies.

DrMirza is Chief Oncologist at the Dept. of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen UniversityHospital, Denmark and Medical Director of the Nordic Society of GynaecologicOncology-ClinicalTrial Unit (NSGO-CTU). He is also Vice-Chairman of the Danish Society of Gynaecologic Oncology(DGCG).He is author and principal investigator of several phase I, II and III studies and is chair/memberof Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) of several international trials. He is a seniorauthor of national guidelines for the management of endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, vulvarcancer and nonepithelial ovarian cancer as well as NSGO radiotherapy guidelines for cervicaland vulvar cancers.He is an ESMO Faculty Member, Member of the Danish Society of Clinical Oncology (DSKO); theEuropean Society of Gynaecologic Oncology (ESGO), the International Gynaecologic CancerSociety (IGCS), the European Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO), theGynaecologic Oncology Group (GOG, USA) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology(ASCO).

Having completed her nursing degree in Portugal, AndreiaFernandeshas been working at TheRoyal Marsden NHS Foundation in London since 2003 and became a Clinical Nurse Specialist inGynaecology-Oncology in 2008.In 2010 shecompleted a Masters’degree at Kings College London, undertaking a dissertationthat looked at the correlation of vaginal symptoms and quality of life in women previouslytreated for cervical cancer. She now leads the team of Clinical Nurse Specialists, Advanced NursePractitioners, and Surgical CarePractitionersin Gynae-oncology at the Royal Marsden, whilstcontinuing her clinical commitments.Her clinical interest lies in assessing and managing women with complex consequences ofcancer and its treatment, and promotion of self-management strategies. She is passionateabout improving the experience of women with Gynaecological Cancers.Andreia received the Lynn Adams award for Leadership and Innovation in Cancer Nursing in2016 for her work in appraisingthe value of Health and Well-Being events for women withendometrial cancer. She has presented at national and international conferences and continuesto actively participate in service development initiatives and research in the field ofgynaecology-oncology. She has been a member of the International Society of Nurses in CancerCare Knowledge Development and Dissemination Committees since 2022.She is currently undertaking a pre-doctoral fellowship studying the experiences of women withprimary gynaecological cancer receiving follow-up care.

Jo Pearson, RN has been a cancer nurse for over 15 years, beginning her career in SACTadministration in a busy cancer centre before developing an interest in supporting women whohave a gynaecologicalcancer diagnosis. Jo became a Macmillan Gynae/Oncology Clinical NurseSpecialist (CNS) 6 years ago and enjoys supporting women and their families from pre-diagnosisthrough their treatment pathways.Jo has a special interest in cancer genomics having recently completed a course with Guy’s andSt Thomas’,and has established a weekly BRCA consenting and holistic needs clinic. Jo haspresented at national and international forums and has contributed to several publications inrelation to nurse-led PARP clinics and other service development initiatives. Jo is a mother of 2who enjoys live music and travelling.