SILVIO GARATTINI
Physician and professor of Chemotherapy and Pharmacology
Plenary Sessions Speakers
Day 1 - Discovery and innovation for cancer prevention
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A physician and professor of Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, Silvio Garattini was born in Bergamo in 1928.
He established and led the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research (IRCCS) from its inception in 1963 until June 2018, after which he became President. A prolific author, he has published hundreds of scientific papers in both Italian and international journals, as well as numerous books on pharmacology. He is a member of Gruppo 2003, a group of highly cited Italian researchers. In 1962 he co-founded the European Group for Anticancer Chemotherapy (GECA).
Throughout his distinguished career, he has held many prominent positions, including Chair of the Anti-Cancer Chemotherapy Committee for the International Union against Cancer, President of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), and consultant to the World Health Organization.
GIROLAMO SIRCHIA
physician and politician
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An Italian physician and politician, Girolamo Sirchia was born in Milan in 1933.
He is married and has two daughters. He obtained a medical degree at University of Milan, specializing in Internal Medicine and Immuno-hematology.
He was Italian Minister of Health from June 2001 to April 2005 and he is known first for a smoking ban (Sirchia law) in all indoor public places: in 2005 Italy was the first large country banning smoking in indoor public places and workplaces.
KRISTINA MAUER-STENDER
senior public health executive
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Kristina Mauer-Stender is a senior public health executive with more than 20 years of managerial experience and a strong international background. She has overseen complex public health programmes across more than 20 countries. She holds master’s degrees in international public law and comparative human rights law from Strasbourg, France.
Ms Mauer-Stender joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2003 as a Technical Officer in the Tobacco Control Programme at the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen. She later served as Programme Manager and, since 2015, has led the WHO tobacco control programme for the European Region. In this role, she provides strategic advice to ministries of health and policymakers across health and other sectors.
Her work focuses on advancing evidence-based tobacco control policies in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and strengthening national capacities for its effective implementation. She works closely with policymakers and multisectoral partners in approximately 25 countries and engages with all 53 countries of the European Region through regional consultations and ministerial processes.
Ms Mauer-Stender also led the development of the WHO European vision for a tobacco-free Region, following the 2013 Ashgabat Declaration, as well as the 2015–2025 roadmap to strengthen FCTC implementation, which was endorsed by all 53 Ministers of Health in the European Region.
In recent years, she has served as Acting Divisional Director, where her leadership contributed to increased staff engagement and was recognized with the WHO Director-General’s Award of Excellence. She currently serves as Regional Advisor for Tobacco Control at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
ANDREA MONTI
Communications Director Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026
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A native of Milan, Mr. Monti has an extensive experience developed through a prestigious journalistic career – including as Editor in Chief of several magazine and newspapers such as Panorama, Sette, GQ, Oggi and, for the last 10 years, La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s leading sports daily.