Verna Vanderpuye is from Ghana, West Africa and is a senior consultant at the National Center for Radiotherapy, Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Korlebu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana with affiliation to the University of Ghana, in Accra. Her interests are in breast, sarcoma, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal cancers and researching the specificities of managing cancer in Africa. 

Dr Vanderpuye trained at Howard University and the University of Chicago Hospitals, USA, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the American Cancer Society. As a female pioneer in the West African region, she has mentored many regional and international young cancer professionals throughout their training, young- and middle-level career phases. She inculcates in them the importance of a holistic approach to patients considering economic, socio-cultural, and psychological factors in relation to current evidence of practice. This approach indeed has resulted in improved quality of life even in the face of limited resources, at the same time prompting research opportunities and developing cost effective, pragmatic approaches to the implementation of new evidence.

Dr. Vanderpuye was the recipient of the 2019 International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award from Conquer Cancer, the ASCO foundation. She is currently the Treasurer and is the immediate  past secretary of the African Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (AORTIC) and is the past clinical oncology program director of Ghana’s postgraduate medical training program. She is a member of several local, regional and international cancer organizations and serves as committee member in AORTIC, ESMO, ASCO, IAEA and the World Health Organization.

Dr. Vanderpuye serves on many editorial and advisory boards for highly acclaimed oncology journals as well as international grant review committees. She also has experience with cancer guideline development for low resource regions and is a regional and international speaker presenting the facts and views on cancer care in LMIC especially Sub-Saharan African Africa.  Dr Vanderpuye is currently the Co-chair of the new Lancet Commission on Women and Cancer and served as commissioner for several other Lancet commissions published and in progress. She currently has authored/coauthored over 70 peer reviewed journal articles, 12 book chapters and contributed to 7 technical documents and collaborated on several more and still manages to keep a well-manicured garden as a hobby.

Dr Vanderpuye is an ESMO member and a member of the ESMO Global Policy Committee.