Dr Elisa Fontana, MD, PhD is the Hospital Medical Director of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in London, UK (part of HCA International and ESMO Designated Centre of Oncology and Palliative Care).  She is Principal Investigator for over 20 first-in-humans to late phase clinical trials and oversees a portfolio of more than 70 active clinical trials and translational studies.

She graduated from the University of Parma, Italy in 2008 and completed her specialisation in Medical Oncology in 2014. She worked as sub-investigator in the gastrointestinal and drug development clinical trial units at The Royal Marsden Hospital, UK (2014-2019). She was awarded a PhD in colorectal cancer and biomarker assays development at the University of London, Institute of Cancer Research in 2019; she received the Chairman’s Prize for outstanding PhD. She successfully completed an entrepreneurial training programme for early career researchers aiming to translate research into clinical practice. She served as co-Chair of the Adolescent and Young Adult Gastrointestinal Cancer Task Force at the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) (2019-2020).

She is the current secretary of the EORTC Gastrointestinal Tract cancer group (2021-2024 mandate). She has received multiple academic funding as lead applicant and over 10 ESMO and ASCO Merit Awards for conference presentations; she has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts and book chapters.