Professor Ahmad Awada, MD, PhD, is the current Head of the Oncology Department and Director of the Chirec Cancer Institute in Brussels, Belgium, a position he has held since May 2, 2024. He has dedicated over 35 years of his career to the Jules Bordet Cancer Institute in Brussels.

Born in Lebanon, Professor Awada studied Medicine at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. He specialized in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the Jules Bordet Cancer Institute until 1992, focusing on the clinical development of new anticancer drugs, which remains his major area of expertise. As a research fellow, he trained at the New Drug Development Office at the Free University in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and at the Institute for Drug Development in San Antonio, USA, concentrating on new anticancer agents for solid tumors.

Upon returning to Brussels in early 1994, Dr. Awada became the Assistant Head of the Medical Oncology Clinic and Head of the New Drugs Development Unit at the Jules Bordet Cancer Institute. He was appointed Head of the Medical Oncology Clinic in April 2005 and Head of the Oncology Medicine Department in July 2017. Recently, he took on the role of Head of the Oncology Department for all CHIREC sites in Brussels and Walloon Brabant, and Director of the Chirec Cancer Institute.

Professor Awada has significant clinical expertise in the treatment of solid tumors, particularly breast cancer, and has been instrumental in developing new anticancer drugs, including cytotoxics, molecular-targeted therapies, and immunotherapy, many of which are now standard in clinical practice.

An active member of several international scientific societies (ASCO, ESMO, EORTC, BSMO), Professor Awada is also a Professor of Clinical Medicine and Medical Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He co-founded the Oncodistinct network for clinical oncology research, which includes several oncology centers from in Europe and outside. Currently, he chairs the ESMO/ASCO Global Curriculum Working Group and has previously served on the ESMO Clinical Research Observatory Task Force and as Faculty Coordinator for the ESMO Faculty Group Principles of Clinical Trials and Systemic Therapy.

Professor Awada has published 32 book chapters and 397 peer-reviewed articles, many as the first or last author. He is heavily involved in oncology education worldwide.