BIOGRAPHY
MD and PhD. Dr Caleffi is Head of the Breast Centerat Hospital Moinhos de Vento and coordinator of Nucleo Mama Porto Alegre. She holds Pharmacy and Medicine degrees and a residency in Gynecology and Obstetrics. She completed her doctoral thesis at the University of London, and undertook postdoctoral studies in molecular biology in genetics and breast cancer at Vanderbilt University. Dr Caleffi is the founder and the olunteer President of IMAMA and FEMAMA. She is a member of The Brazilian Association of Palliative Care; Brazilian Breast Cancer Study Group (GBECAM); ASCO; Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI); The Harvard School of Public Health - GTF.CCC; ISPOR; Unión Latinoamericana Contra el Cáncer de la Mujer (ULACCAM).
MOTIVATION FOR JOINING THE UICC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
As a 20-year veteran in the breast cancer (BC) fight, my life as a doctor and as an individual has been guided by one vision: promote, maintain, educate and restore breast health and eradicate breast cancer as a life threatening disease. I founded IMAMA in 1993 to address the BC problem in my home state where we have the highest BC incidence and increasing mortality rates. FEMAMA, in 2006, was a consequence of the need for a national coalition (currently there are 53 NGOs). I alsostarted the ULACCAM with ACS and other Latin-American institutions. As a breastdedicated academic surgeon, I am involved in BC research projects for low and middleincome countries, improved risk factor and management models, and specialised technical training. International cooperation is needed to expand and share successfulexperiences with other countries not yet involved with UICC. I see the empowerment of patient groups as a key factor to successfully guarantee medical access and treatment in the future for underserved communities. Mutual cooperation and the need to strengthen our grass roots movements with the objective to reduce mortality rates are fundamental. My professional experience and my involvement with ASCO, BHGI, GTF, CCC, ISPORand the Brazilian NTCDs initiative allow me a unique view and insight into cancer issues. The tasks facing UICC in LMICs in the future are serious and challenging; we have to make cancer and its risk factors priorities in our governments' agendas. I am committed to UICC and to accomplishing this task.