New IARC Director, Dr Elisabete Weiderpass, takes office

On the occasion of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) New Year Reception, held on 7 January 2019, the new IARC Director, Dr Elisabete Weiderpass, presented her best wishes for 2019 to all IARC personnel. Dr Weiderpass highlighted the strategic role of IARC as an international leader in cancer research. She also stressed the importance of ensuring that evidence-based science translates into public health policies that prevent cancer and improve people’s lives globally.

Dr Weiderpass is a cancer researcher and a medical doctor who has worked closely with IARC throughout her career as an expert in epidemiology, including as a member of the IARC Scientific Council. She took office as IARC Director on 1 January 2019.

Dr Weiderpass, MD, MSc, PhD, previously served as Head of the Department of Research at the Cancer Registry of Norway, and of the Genetic Epidemiology Group at the Folkhälsan Research Center in Finland. She was a Professor of Medical Epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and a Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at the Arctic University of Norway. She is the author of more than 700 scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals.

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