Bio

Associate Professor Alan Davidson graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1992 and specialised in paediatrics and then paediatric oncology. He is currently the head of the Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Service at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. The service treats 130 new cases of childhood cancer each year with over 2000 admissions and over 5500 outpatient visits. The service also treats the full spectrum of blood disorders, acts as a regional haemophilia centre and advises a large network of shared carers across sub-Saharan Africa with the help of a telemedicine platform.

Professor Davidson is the past chair of the South African Children’s Cancer Study Group, and was chair of the local organising committee for the SIOP (International Society of Paediatric Oncology) Cape Town conference in 2015. He also served as co-chair of SIOP’s PODC Adapted Treatment Regimen Working Group which commissions and guides the publication of adapted treatment guidelines. His clinical and research interests include paediatric brain tumours, B-cell malignancy and other HIV-related cancers in children, genetic syndromes predisposing to childhood cancer, stem cell transplantation for primary immunodeficiency and adapted therapy regimens for low and middle income settings. He has co-chaired South Africa’s annual Paediatric Brain Tumour Workshop since 2008, and currently serves as co-chair of SIOP’s Paediatric Oncology in Developing Countries Committee.