Italian oncologists elect their top management: Di Maio as president, relay with Berardi ready

Massimo Di Maio is officially the new president of Aiom, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology. He takes office after having been president-elect for the last two years, a role that will now be held by Rossana Berardi. Nicola Silvestris will be secretary, Nicla La Verde treasurer, and past president Francesco Perrone will lead the Aiom Foundation. The election took place during the scientific society's 27th national congress, which ended yesterday in Rome and was attended by over 3,000 specialists from all over Italy. The congress also saw the appointment of the new board of directors, which will remain in office until 2027 and is made up of: Antonella Brunello, Chiara Cremolini, Carmen Criscitiello, Alessandra Fabi, Luigi Formisano, Lorena Incorvaia, Marcello Tiseo, Dario Trapani.

Di Maio, born in 1975, Neapolitan by birth and Turinese by adoption, is Professor of Medical Oncology at the Department of Oncology at the University of Turin and Director of Medical Oncology 1U at the Aou Città della Salute e della Scienza in Turin. "In the next two-year period I will work in the name of continuity and will try to implement what has been achieved so far, especially starting with all the training initiatives aimed at young oncologists," Di Maio says. "More than half of Aiom's members are under 40. The new national board must work for them. In addition, the already excellent relations with Esmo - European Society For Medical Oncology - will be strengthened. Italy is second in the world, after the United States, for the number of members of the European Society for Medical Oncology. Aiom,' the president emphasises, 'continues to be the scientific society with the largest number of guidelines in the Snlg', the National Guideline System. 'The efficiency of updating these documents is important, as is the timeliness of updating diagnostic and therapeutic protocols in clinical practice. Finally, Aiom will continue to engage in public awareness campaigns on healthy lifestyles and adherence to screening. Investing in prevention means guaranteeing the sustainability of the National Health Service. All health professionals have an important duty in this regard'.

Rossana Berardi is the new president-elect of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom). Berardi is professor of Oncology at the Marche Polytechnic University and director of the Oncology Clinic at the Marche University Hospital. She will take office as president in 2027 and will be the second woman to lead Aiom. She will sit on the board with Massimo Di Maio (president), Nicola Silvestris (secretary) and Nicla La Verde (treasurer). "It is a great satisfaction for me and I express my gratitude to all Aiom members," Berardi says, "I am honoured by the trust placed in me and I intend to continue in the wake of previous presidencies. At the same time, I want to give an innovative spirit to our scientific society, which must be increasingly willing to listen to and include all members. Oncology is going through a time of great challenges and numerous critical issues, but it remains an excellence of the National Health Service. It is also one of the truly cutting-edge Italian medical specialities in the world. It is therefore essential, as a first step, to continue the dialogue and confrontation with the institutions in order to find shared solutions. The first aim of our work is obviously to take care of our patients, whose numbers are constantly growing throughout Italy. Ensuring the accessibility and sustainability of care must be everyone's priority, and as a scientific society we can play an important role in facilitating this. A primary commitment will be to take care of health workers and their welfare at work. Great challenges await us, including technological and digital innovation, and we must play a leading role in the change this brings'. "Together with the new board," Berardi continues, "I intend to work to ensure that Aiom is increasingly open to collaborations with other scientific societies and associations to promote joint activities. In particular, we must encourage initiatives in support of cancer prevention, which is also fundamental for ensuring the sustainability of Italian healthcare'. Lastly, 'we must strengthen the relationship with other medical colleagues, because cancers are diseases that must be tackled with an unavoidable multidisciplinary approach. The vision to be shared must be that of One Health,' concludes the president-elect of Aiom.