Jelena Rascon

Prof. Jelena Rascon graduated from Vilnius University’s Faculty of Medicine in 1995. She completed her pediatric hematology and oncology training at Vilnius University in 1998. In 2002, she pioneered a pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant program in Lithuania after completing specialized training at the Children’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit of the Charité University Medicine in Berlin. During 2002-2003 she studied the prognostic significance of chimerism after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in children at the Humboldt University of Berlin thanks to the research grant awarded by the German Academic Exchange Office. She defended her PhD thesis in 2009 at Vilnius University. In 2014, she completed a fellowship at the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit of the Institute of Blood and Immune Diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital pursuing the development of stem cell transplantation services in the field of immunodeficiency in Lithuania. From 2009 to 2015 prof. J. Rascon chaired the Lithuanian Society of Paediatric Oncology and Hematology. Since 2015 she is heading the Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinics. She is a board member of the European Reference Network in Pediatric Oncology and Pediatric Transplantation. From 2019 to 2021 she was a member of the EU Cancer Mission Board Assembly which aimed to shape the direction of the Horizon 2021-2027 research program in cancer. Since 2022 she is heading Cancer Coordination Centre at Santaros Clinics.  Prof. Rascon coordinates an EU-funded project “Twinning in Research and Education to improve Survival in Childhood Solid Tumours in Lithuania – TREL” aiming to strengthen research excellence at Santaros Klinikos with a special focus on pediatric solid tumors. The project was selected to be announced as the Success Story for DG Research & Innovation at CORDIS. Prof. J. Rascon is a co-author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications. In 2019 she was awarded the Lithuanian Ministry of Health and conferred the title of Distinguished Lithuanian Doctor and the Medal of Honour. In 2023 she was awarded a Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas from the President of the Republic of Lithuania for excellence in professional activity, innovative research and its practical implementation.