Akram Ghantous
Staff Scientist and Official of the United Nations,
International Agency for Research on Cancer (lARC), World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr. Akram Ghantous is a staff scientist at IARC-WHO, France. After having ranked first in Lebanon for the International Fulbright Award for PhD studies at elite universities abroad, he embarked on the challenge to contribute to re-initiating the PhD program in his country and became the first PhD graduate from Lebanon after the program had been terminated since decades of regional unrest. He then moved to ARC through its prestigious International Postdoctoral Fellowship, where he subsequently secured a staff scientist position as an official of the United Nations. His expertise spans (epi genomics, transcriptomics, microbiome and cross-omics analso in cancer research, applied across preclinical, clinical and epidemiological models, including large scale interdisciplinary studies. This broad interdisciplinarity has also enabled him to lead studies focusing on evidence synthesis and foster partnerships with public health and non-governmental organizations.
Dr. Ghantous has also mentored numerous students across disciplines, most of whom earned research awards and advanced to scientific careers. He also co-initiated and co-leads the first ARC-WHO childhood cancer research team and has been an invited speaker at multiple international conferences. His contributions have earned numerous awards spanning leadership, research excellence, academia and science communication, including top distinctions from ARG-WHO, SIOP, and global institutions. Several of his publications have achieved international recognition, such as press coverage, awards, and top-1% citation rankings, including those generated from low-resource settings.
Research Expertise: Data Science, (Epi)Genomics, Transcriptomics & Microbiome, Cell & Molecular Biology, Epidemiology, Biostatistics/Bioinformatics, Systematic Reviews/Meta Analyses, Biomarkers, Translational Research, Cancer