Prof. Krzysztof Kałwak, MD, PhD
Head of Clinical Department of Paediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation, Oncology and Haematology, CIC 817,
Wroclaw Medical University
Supraregional Center of Paediatric Oncology "Cape of Hope", Wrocław, Poland
"The efforts of our Paediatric Diseases Working Party to harmonize practices across Europe and to promote European guidelines in paediatric HSCT and cellular therapy are projects that were initiated over the last years, and I am eager to continue this work and fully support the ongoing projects aiming for an international consensus.It is pivotal for the WP to engage strongly with the paediatric transplant colleagues across countries and continents to develop our ambitious goals. Our success will be dependent heavily on our capabilities to work as a team. Together we can move the mountains”
My Manifesto
With great enthusiasm, I would like to put forth my candidacy for the position of the EBMT Paediatric Diseases Working Party (PDWP) chairperson.
After becoming a member of the board of the EBMT PDWP 7 years ago, it has quickly become clear to me that this group of enthusiasts - many of whom have become friends over the years - has been a perfect fit for my own clinical and scientific interests. Just like us all, I have always felt deeply inspired and driven by the innovations and advancements in our community, and I am very grateful to be a part of it.
I graduated from Wroclaw Medical Academy in 1995 and attended research scholarships at the Universities of Tübingen and Ulm (Germany). During many years of work in the Department of Paediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT in Wroclaw, I completed subsequent steps of my scientific career and became a full professor in 2014. I am a specialist in paediatrics, clinical immunology, paediatric oncology and hematology, and clinical transplantology.
In 2021, I became the chair of Department of Paediatric Hematology, Oncology and BMT, Supraregional Centre for Paediatric Oncology “Cape of Hope” at Wroclaw Medical University (PL) which hosts one of the largest paediatric transplant units in Europe. I have had the honour to be the director of the transplant programme for 16 years now.
In more than 25 years of clinical and scientific work I have gained comprehensive experience in paediatric HSCT, with special interest in paediatric leukaemias, primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs), inborn errors of metabolism and posttransplant infectious and non-infectious complications, which is reflected by a steady accrual of multiple peer-reviewed publications that I have authored or co-authored. I have been entrusted a position of National Coordinator for HSCT in PIDs and metabolic disorders, treatment of CML and congenital neutropenia. I had the honour to be the first physician in Poland to use CAR-T cells in a paediatric patient (March 2020). Since then, 28 more children have been offered a salvage therapy with CAR-T cells. In 2022 I was ranked 43rd on the “List of top 100 most influential representatives of Polish medicine”. In the current EBMT PDWP I have been working as a member of the Clinical Trials Subcommittee and a co-chair of the Infectious Diseases Subcommittee.
If elected, I intend to continue the excellent work started by former leaders: C. Peters, P. Bader and S. Corbacioglu. The efforts of our WP to harmonize practices across Europe and to promote European guidelines in paediatric HSCT and cellular therapy are projects that were initiated over the last years and I am eager to continue this work and fully support the ongoing projects aiming for an international consensus.
I would also like to bring the WP forward by:
- Creating or strengthening an existing formal group of sub-committee chairs responsible for particular disease groups (i.e. ALL incl. relapsed ALL, AML, CML) or issues (cellular therapy incl. CAR-T, GvHD).
- Continuing and supporting the work of freshly constituted subcommittees (i.e. Outreach Programme, Infectious Diseases)
- Encouraging registry-based studies in particular with the participation of younger colleagues
- Introducing novel ways to educate and motivate junior colleagues in the field, by introducing a dedicated educational event for PDWP juniors
- Continuing to organize highly interactive scientific and educational PDWP webinars, sessions and meetings
- Increasing collaborations with other working parties within EBMT (IEWP, SAAWP, Haemoglobinopathies WP, ALWP and IDWP), other registries, societies incl. international trial groups i.e. from the U.S. and networks
- Providing collaborative support for both Ukrainian children requiring transplant and physicians by offering them a continuous education program (internships) for the maintenance of their quality work.
It is pivotal for the WP to engage strongly with the paediatric transplant colleagues across countries and continents to develop our ambitious goals. Our success will be dependent heavily on our capabilities to work as a team.
Thus, I am fully committed, and it is my great honour to rely on the expertise of colleagues and friends of the PDWP, as well as those who will join us in future times.
I am looking forward to your support and will do my utmost to further hold your trust.
Note: Voting for the EBMT Elections opens on 11 April. Principal Investigators (PI's) from active EBMT member centres will be able to cast their vote online for their preferred candidate within the open positions. The elections results will be announced live at the General Assembly Meeting on 25 April, during the 49th Annual Meeting of the EBMT. Instructions on how to vote will be sent out to PI's closer to the voting start date.