Ines Buccimazza
Dr Ines Buccimazza is head of the Breast Unit, member of the Multidisciplinary Breast Team and a Senior Specialist in the Department of Surgery at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
She is the Chairperson of the Durban Breast Cancer Forum, a Council member of the Surgical Research Society of Southern Africa, and immediate past Treasurer of Breast Surgery International.
When not teaching postgraduate students and not dealing with breast health matters, she listens to opera, reads non-fiction and advocates for all matters Epicurean and Conservation
Frikkie Buitendag
Dr. Frikkie Buitendag did his undergraduate medical degree at the the University of the Free State, qualifying in 2002. He obtained his F.C. Rad degree in radiology at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban in 2010, thereafter spending one year as radiologist in Edendale hospital in Pietermaritzburg. This is where he met his lovely wife Anja Reuter who now heads up the MDR TB research unit in Kayelitsha under the flag of Medicines Sans Frontiers. Anja convinced him to immigrate to Cape Town in 2011 and he initially worked at Tuft & Partners in Constantiaberg.
He completed additional fellowship training in cross sectional body imaging and intervention in Vancouver Canada in 2015. He then returned to the Mother city and is currently a partner at Morton and Partners where he spends his days in a dark room in front of a bright screen! Frikkie enjoys diagnostic and oncology cross sectional imaging but gets particularly interested when this involves doing an intervention. A new found interest is pelvic MRI which he hopes to grow in the future!
Jill Harris
Dr. Jill Harris completed her MB. ChB undergraduate training through the University of Cape Town in 1991 and her oncology qualification FC Rad Onc (SA) through the Colleges of Medicine in Cape Town in 1998. She initially worked as an oncologist at Tygerberg Hospital until 2008. She has been in private practice sine then with GVI/Cancercare.
She has a particular interest in planning and radiotherapy techniques and most of her clinical work focuses on prostate and breast cancer patients.
She is a mom of 2 little people, who grudgingly allow her to spend the occasional weekend with her oncology family…
Stephen McCulley
Stephen McCulley is a Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon based in Nottingham in the United Kingdom since 2002. He graduated within the United Kingdom in 1989 and completed his postgraduate specialist training between Cape Town, South Africa and Nottingham. He has specialist status in both countries.
He specialises in all aspects of Reconstructive, Oncoplastic and Cosmetic breast surgery. He is trained and performs both oncological and reconstructive aspects of breast surgery and has a special interest in Breast conserving techniques (namely Therapeutic Mammaplasty and local perforator flaps), mastectomy techniques, microvascular Autologous breast reconstruction and the planning of radiotherapy in reconstruction.
Along with Breast and Plastic colleagues he has developed the combined Oncoplastic service in Nottingham, which has become a leading centre for Oncoplastic Breast surgery research, teaching and development. The unit is often referred to as a model of combined working within the United Kingdom.
He is co-founder of the annual Oncoplastic Reconstructive Breast Surgery (ORBS) meetings in Nottingham, running since 2008. ORBS has the worlds largest on-line library of dedicated Oncoplastic lectures at www.orbsweb.com.
Salome Meyer
Salomé Meyer, a trained medical social worker by profession, has been in the cancer environment since 1996 in various capacities. She began by initiating a developmental approach and initiating the advocacy directorate at CANSA. She served as the CANSA Provincial Chairperson from 1998-2006 and also as member of the Board of Directors of CANSA between 2000-2006, where she also lead the Research Committee. From 2007-2009 she was appointed as Business Manager for CARISA (Cancer Research Initiative of South Africa) and advocated for the updating of the cervical cancer policy through the CARISA Cervical Cancer Strategic Committee as well as the development and implementation of the Cancer Regulation that was promulgated in 2011.
In 2013 as an independent cancer advocate she associated herself with Cancer Alliance – a collective group of cancer control non-profit organisations and cancer advocates brought together under a common mandate, to provide a platform of collaboration for cancer civil society to speak with one voice and be a powerful tool to affect change for all South African adults and children affected by cancer. She serves as member of the EXCO. She initiated the Advocates for Breast Cancer (ABC) with the primary focus to “advocate and lobby for an equitable and sustainable breast health policy in South Africa”. The blogforbreastcancer.wordpress.com became the flagship platform to promote the breast cancer continuum of care issues. In 2014 she was instrumental in convincing the Chief Director: Women’s and Reproductive Health to initiate a policy development process which led to the finalisation and approval of the Breast Cancer Policy on 10 April 2017. As project manager for ABC she was also responsible for the training of members of the ABC in advocacy and breast awareness and breast self-examination. She is instrumental in the LET’S TALK ABOUT CANCER campaign of the Cancer Alliance with the Advocacy Toolkit. Through the Cancer Alliance, who is a member of the Fix the Patent Law (FTPL) she is further involved in the Tobeka Daki Trastuzumab Access Campaign motivating for the access of this essential lifesaving drug in the public sector as part of the principle of equitable health.
Hannah Simonds
Prof Hannah Simonds is the Head of the Radiation Oncology Division at Stellenbosch University/Tygerberg Academic Hospital. Her main clinical and research interest is the implementation of international treatment guidelines in the management of female cancers in a low-resource setting.
Her specialist training was completed at UCLH, London. In addition she has a post-graduate diploma in Health Economics from the University of Cape Town. She has previously worked at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town and the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre in Accra.