COMMUNICATION WORKING GROUP 

Stavroula Chante, UK, Co-chair

Stavroula is originally from Greece, and she has been working in the NHS for more than 10 years. She currently works as the Macmillan Lead Cancer Nurse within the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust in the UK, which is a pivotal, strategic role that provides expert knowledge and support and involves the responsibility of improving patient outcomes and experiences by providing strong leadership and implementing changes across the cancer services within the organization. She places great importance on diversity, equality, staff well-being and support in all settings.  

She also works clinically as Haematology Advanced Clinical Practitioner where she can maintain her clinical skills by assessing, reviewing, and performing procedures for haematology patients. She is involved with academic responsibilities as Senior Lecturer, Module Leader and dissertation supervisor within Oxford Brookes University, providing teaching on haemato-oncology, chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. 

Carlos Fernandes Cargaleiro, UK, Co-chair

Carlos Fernandes Cargaleiro is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner at Rapid Diagnostic Clinic, at Guy’s Hospital in London. This service is an outpatient oncology clinic for patients with suspicion of malignancy but with no clear criteria for referral to a site-specific speciality clinic.  

Carlos has more of 13 years of work experience in UK Oncology services (Outpatient clinics, inpatient wards, telephone assessment clinics, ICU) but also worked previously in Portugal as a Nurse for 18 years.  

Carlos attended the ESO-EONS Masterclass in Oncology Nursing in 2014, and he is currently co-chair of the Communication Working Group. 

Remziye Semerci, Turkey

Remziye is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatric Nursing at Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey. She is interested in childhood cancer and symptom management. Her research and teaching focus on management of chemotherapy-induced symptoms and reducing these symptoms with non-pharmacological methods. She is a member of the Turkey Oncology Nursing Society; additionally, she also has a role in some commissions; Pediatric Oncology Group (group secretary) and Research Group (group secretary). She is a Turkish representative of the Young Cancer Nurses Network and a member of the SIOP Nursing Working Group.​

Ezgi Bilmic, Turkey

Ezgi has been working as an oncology nurse at a state hospital in Turkey since 2020. She is also a research assistant in a project regarding breast cancer at Koç University. She completed her master’s degree in internal medicine nursing there in 2022. Her master’s dissertation was on “The effectiveness of an online pain management education on the patients related barriers to cancer pain management”. She was awarded the EONS Early Career Development Grant in 2021 with her thesis project. And she received the Academic Excellence Award in Recognition of Outstanding Academic Achievements from Koç University. Rightnow, she is doing PhD education in internal medicine nursing at İstanbul University. She has participated as a management committee member in international congresses in İstanbul. She has received the certificate of oncology nursing from the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Health. She completed the masterclass in oncology from the ESO (The European School of Oncology). She also attended the research proposal workshop at the University of Barcelona. She is a member of the Turkish Oncology Nurses Society and the International Society of Nurses in Genetics. Her research focus area is cancer pain.

Gabriela Mavrodin, Romania

Gabriela graduated as a nurse in 1984 and she studied at the University of Nursing in 2011. She has a postgraduate specialisation in Paediatric Nursing (1992) and Paediatric Oncology Nursing in (2016). She has been working in the Maria Sklodowska Curie Paediatric Emergency Hospital Bucharest for 39 years. As a paediatric nurse she has worked primarily in a neonatology unit and respiratory unit for 27 years. She has currently been working as chief nurse in a paediatric oncology unit in the same hospital for 12 years. Gabriela is an individual member of EONS since 2016. She attended the 10th ESO-EONS Masterclass in Oncology Nursing in 2017 in Germany, the ESO-EONS Masterclass in Oncology Nursing in 2018 in Hungary and the ESO-EONS Clinical Fellowship for Cancer Nurses, in Milan, Italy, in 2019. She believes that improving cancer nurse education improves cancer care.

Lace Matarlo Sölvebrand, Sweden 

Lace works as a clinical nurse specialist for Breast Endocrine Tumours and Sarcomas in Karolinska University hospital clinical ward, Sweden. She has worked in cancer care since 2019 and has been engaged in teaching students and colleagues the basics of cancer surgical and oncological care. She works as a Deputy University Nurse for radioactive therapy. She is a clinical adjunct for Karolinska Institute for nursing students and acts as a link between the academic and the clinical field. 

Selma Islamčević, Croatia

Selma has been working as a pediatric cancer nurse since 2016 at the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia. From 2020 to 2024, she  was YCN national representative for Croatia. She is also an external associate lecturer in the graduate nursing program at the School of Medicine within the University of Zagreb, specializing in occupational health and occupational diseases. She is passionate about pediatric hematology and oncology, nursing and patient education. 

Maria Lapuente, UK

Maria is working as a Lead Oncology Research Nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, UK. She has more than 12 years of experience in oncology of which over 7 years within cancer research. She has specialised in immunotherapy, Anti-Drug Conjugated (ADCs) therapies and novel treatments; particularly in phase I and II combination trials. She leads the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) group at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC). With a focus on promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion within clinical trials. She is part of the CRUK Senior Oncology Research Nurse team. They facilitate the delivery of high-quality clinical trials within the ECMC network and beyond. 

Bilal Awad, Palestine

Bilal Awad is a dedicated Oncology and Palliative Care Nurse Specialist with 18 years of experience in clinical practice, research, and education. He works at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, serving at Beit Jala Governmental Hospital. Bilal is an active member of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) -Communication Working Group, where he contributes to the dissemination of oncology nursing knowledge, engagement strategies, and digital outreach to enhance the visibility and impact of EONS activities.

His professional journey includes international exposure through specialist training in the UK and participation in the ESO-EONS MasterClass in Barcelona, as well as involvement in global oncology and palliative care conferences. He holds a Master's in Critical Care Nursing and has completed a Global Fellowship in Palliative Care and a Higher Diploma in Oncology and Palliative Care Nursing. Bilal is also a lecturer and clinical instructor at several universities in Palestine, advocating for cancer patient care and palliative services.

As a passionate researcher, Bilal has published multiple studies, including his award-winning abstract poster, "Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy Towards Palliative Care in Intensive Care Units," which received recognition at EIOC 2024. His latest research focuses on "Using Artificial Intelligence in the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Palestine," exploring AI-powered diagnostic tools to enhance early detection and treatment outcomes for breast cancer patients in the region.

Priya Raja, Spain

Priya Raja is EONS Communications Officer. She is responsible for overseeing the EONS website, newsletter and social media.​