Program

Collaborating to Improve HPB Cancer Control in Africa: Prevention, Treatment, Research, and Survivorship

August 12–16, 2026 Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria

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This year’s conference is hosted in partnership with Nigerian professional societies and local leadership, including Prof. Abidemi Omonisi, AHPBCC Team Nigeria Lead & President of the Nigerian Cancer Society; Prof. Abdulfatai Olokoba, President of the Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Nigeria (SOGHIN); and Prof. Abubakar Bello, President of the Association of Radiation and Clinical Oncology of Nigeria (ARCON).

Pre-Conference Workshops (August 12)

Pre-conference workshops will take place Wednesday, August 12th . Transportation to all workshops will be provided.

Preconference Workshop Chair(s) Location
Wed Aug 12 Advanced Endoscopy Dr. Akwi Asombang (USA, Zambia), Prof. Abdulfatai Olokoba (Nigeria) AMCE, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Surgical Skills Dr. Michael Okello (Uganda), Dr. Jackson Chipaila (Zambia), Prof. John Devar (South Africa), Prof. Olusegun Isaac Alatise (Nigeria) AMCE, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Ultrasound Techniques Prof. Ashraf Omar (Egypt), Prof. Yaw Wiafe (Ghana), Prof. Mitchell Mah’moud (USA, Nigeria) AMCE, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Basic and Translational Research Prof. Ekene Emmanuel Nweke (South Africa), Dr. Marco Zaki (Egypt), Prof. Bolni Marius Nagalo (USA, Burkina Faso), Prof. Solomon Rotimi (Nigeria), Dr. Romuald Boua (Burkina Faso) ROCKVIEW, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Patient Advocacy Dr. Riaz Kasmani (Kenya), Pharm. Bisi Bright (Nigeria), Danjuma Adda (Nigeria), Dr. Adamu Alhassan Umar (Nigeria) ROCKVIEW, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Establishment of Liver Transplant Program Prof. Abidemi Omonisi (Nigeria), Prof. Ashraf Omar (Egypt) ROCKVIEW, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 HPB Pathology Dr. Ernest Adjei (Ghana), Prof. Fatimah Abdul-Kareem (Nigeria) NATIONAL HOSPITAL, ABUJA
Wed Aug 12 Radiation and Clinical Oncology Prof. Abubakar Bello (Nigeria) AMCE, ABUJA

Main Conference

Thursday, August 13th Day 1: Cancer Burden, Treatment, and Quality of Care in HPB Cancers in Africa

  • 07:00 – 08:00 am| Registration and Welcome Coffee
  • 08:00 – 08:05 am| Welcome to Nigeria, AHPBCC Team Lead Nigeria Prof. Abdidemi Omonisi
  • 08:05 – 10:05 am| Grant Writing, Prof. Mohammed El-Kassas
  • 10:05 – 10:35 am| Coffee Break & Networking

Session 1: Cancer Treatment Advances in Africa

Moderators:

  • 10:40–10:55 am| Olusegun Alatise (Nigeria)

  • 10:55–11:10 am| Clara Odhiambo (Uganda)
  • 11:10–11:25 pm| Ashraf Omar (Egypt)
  • 11:25–11:40 pm| Yves Chabu (Congo, USA)
  • 11:40–12:00 pm| Panel discussion

Opening Ceremony and Declaration of Conference Open: 12:00 – 12:40 pm

  • 12:00 – 12:10 pm| Welcome Speech, President of AHPBCC, Prof. Lewis Roberts, (USA, Ghana)
  • 12:10 – 12:15 pm| Goodwill Message, President of SOGHIN, Prof. Fatai Olokoba
  • 12:15 – 12:20 pm| Goodwill Message, President of ARCON, Prof. Abubukar Bello
  • 12:00 – 12:25 pm| Goodwill Message, President of NCS, Prof. Abidemi Omonisi
  • 12:25 – 12:30 pm| Goodwill Message, Director General of NICRAT , Usman Malami Aliyu
  • 12:30 – 12:35 pm| Goodwill Message, Director General of NIMR, Prof, John Oladapo Obafunwa
  • 12:35 – 12:40 pm| Goodwill Message, President Elect of UICC, Her Excellency Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu
  • 12:40 – 13:10 pm | Keynote Speaker  Professor Eileen O’Reilly, MSK Cancer Center, USA
  • 13:10 – 13:25 pm | Cultural Presentation

 Ministerial Address and Declaration of Conference Open: 13:25 – 13:45 pm

  • 13:25 – 13:45 pm| Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Services
  • 13:45 – 14:00 pm | Group Photo
  • 14:00 – 15:00 pm | Lunch Break and Strategic Networking

Session 2: International Association of Pancreatology Spotlight

Moderators:

  • 15:10 – 15:30 pm| Prof. Santhi Vege
  • 15:30 – 15:50 pm| Prof Kyoichi Takaori
  • 15:50 – 16:10 pm| Professor Pramod Garg
  • 16:10 – 16:30 pm| Panel discussion

Session 3: Palliative and Supportive Care Innovations in Cancer Management

Moderators: Prof Edith Okeke

  • 16:30 – 16:45 pm| Prof. Chioma Asuzu (Nigeria)
  • 16:45 – 17:00 pm| Samuel Otene ( Nigeria)
  • 17:00 – 17:15 pm| Helena Musau (Kenya)
  • 17:15 – 17:30 pm| Panel discussion

Day Ends

Friday, August 14th Day 2: Capacity/Collaborative Building, Policy, and Patient Advocacy

  • 7:30 – 8:30 am| Breakout session: Biorepository & Registry Management: Hands-On REDCap Data Entry, Mayo Team (USA)
  • 8:30 – 9:00 am| Keynote Speaker: Empowering the Next Generation Cancer Researchers and Caregivers in Africa through Capacity and Collaborative Building, Prof.(Mrs) Folakemi Odedina (USA)
  • 9:00 – 9:30 am| TBD

Session 5: Quality Improvement and Access to Cancer Treatment in Resource-Limited Settings

Moderators:

  • 09:30 – 09:45 am| Collaborative Partnership on Pan-African Oncology Care and Capacity Building Program by Shefa Al-Orman International Cancer Hospitals (SOH) in Luxor, Egypt, Dr. Mahmoud Elzembely (Egypt)
  • 09:45 – 10:00 am| Building Clinical Trial Infrastructure as a Tool for Quality Improvement and Access to Cancer Therapies in Africa, Yaw Asare Aboagye (Ghana)
  • 10:00 – 10:15 am| Operational Research Projects for Hepatitis B Elimination and Liver Cancer Control in Africa, Dr. Gibril Ndow (The Gambia)
  • 10:15 – 10:35 am| Panel discussion
  • 10:35 – 11:05 am | Coffee Break & Strategic Networking
  • 11:05 – 11:35 am | Oral Abstract Presentations
  • 10 Oral Presenters (3 minute Rapid Talks)
  • 11:35 – 12:35 pm | Poster Session and Exhibit Tables
  • 12:35 – 13:35 pm| Lunch Break

Session 6: Health Systems Stregnthening and Policy Implementation for Cancer Care

Moderators: Wendy Spearman

  • 13:40 – 14:00 pm| TBD, Dr. Uchechukwu Nwokwu (Nigeria)
  • 14:00 – 14:15 pm| Implementation Science: How to Implement Cancer Control in Africa, Njoki Nijraini (Kenya)
  • 14:15 – 14:30 pm| The Financial Case for Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr. Homie Razavi
  • 14:30 – 14:50 pm| Panel discussion

    Session 7: Building Cancer Research Capacity and Collaborative Networks in Africa
      

    Moderators:

    • 14:50 – 15:05 pm| The African Cancer Atlas, Dr. Yaw Bediako (Ghana)
    • 15:05 – 15:20 pm| Global Bridges, Dr. Kenneth Merrell (USA)
    • 15:20 – 15:35 pm| Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF), Prof. Akhere Omonkhua (The Gambia)
    • 15:35 – 15:55 pm| Panel discussion

    Session 8: Patient Advocacy in Cancer Treatment and Survivorship

    Moderators:

    • 15:55 – 16:10 pm| LiveWell Foundation, Pharm. Bisi Bright (Nigeria)
    • 16:10 – 16:25 pm| Hepatitis B Foundation, Dr. Chari A. Cohen (USA)(Representative)
    • 16:25 – 16:40 pm| Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, Stacie Lindsey (USA)(Representative)
    • 16:40 – 17:00 pm| Panel discussion
    • 17:00 – 18:00 pm| Break Before dinner
    • 18:00 – 21:00 pm| Networking Dinner

    Saturday, August 15th Day 3: Translational Research and Innovation in HPB Cancer Treatment

    • 08:30 – 09:00 am| Keynote Speaker: Immune Cell Responses in Cholangiocarcinoma Dr. Abasi Ene Obong, Syndicate Bio (Nigeria)
    • 09:00 – 09:30 am| AASLD Special Lecture: Prof. Scott L Friedman, Mt. Sinai Icahn SOM (USA)

    Session 9: Precision Medicine and Molecular Profiling for HPB Cancers

    Moderators:

    • 09:30 – 09:45 am| Genomics in Cancer Patients of African Ancestry, Prof. Solomon Rotimi (Nigeria)
    • 09:45 – 10:00 am| Unraveling the Tumour Microenvironment of African PDAC Patients by genomic prolifing, Ms Sinegugu Dubazana (South Africa)
    • 10:00 – 10:15 am| Multimodal Profiling of PDAC of African Patients, Prof. Emmanual Nweke (South Africa)
    • 10:15 – 10:30 am| Empowering the Next Generation of Precision Genomics in Africa, Dr. Derrick Akpalu (USA)
    • 10:30 – 10:50 am| Panel discussion
    • 10:50 – 11:20 am| Coffee Break & Strategic Networking

    Session 10: AI, Data Science, and Digital Tools in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

    Moderators:

    • 11:20 – 11:35 am| TBD, Doyin Bademosi, NovaUCD University College of Dublin, Belfield, Ireland
    • 11:35 – 11:50 am| Advancing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa through AI, Ahmed Hamma
    • 11:50 – 12:05 pm| TBD, Dr. Vinay Chandrasekhara (USA)
    • 12:05 – 12:20 pm| Machine Learning Tools for Multiomics Analysis, Dr. Stefano Cacciatore (South Africa)
    • 12:20 – 12:40 pm| Panel discussion

    Closing Ceremony: Future Directions and Conference Outcomes

    • 12:40 – 13:10 | Consortium Project Progress Reports
    • 13:10 – 13:15 | Consortium Member Successes
    • 13:15 – 13:20 | Closing remarks by the Conference chair and AHPBCC leads
    • 13:20 – 13:30 | 2027 Announcement
    • End by 14:00 pm | Take Away Lunch
    • 14:00 – 17:00 pm | NCS AND SOGHIN ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGs.