Dr. Lorenzoni is being honored with the IGCS Award for Community Advancement in Resource-Limited Settings for her work and determination to improve cervical cancer prevention and treatment in Mozambique. She is the Head and Coordinator of the National Cancer Control Program (Ministry of Health) where she works with the government to increase access to cervical cancer screening and prevention. She is also the Director of Science and Teaching at Maputo Central Hospital (HCM), the major and referral hospital in the country, and in these roles, she was instrumental in building local capacity for specialty gynecologic cancer training and cervical cancer prevention in Mozambique through the design and support of implementing the IGCS Global Curriculum and Mentorship Program in partnership with MD Anderson.
Her efforts, influence, and research improve access to cancer screening services and quality cancer care to save lives and directly improve the quality of life for women and communities in Mozambique and beyond.
About Dr. Lorenzoni
Dr. Cesaltina Lorenzoni is a pathologist, Head of the National Cancer Control Program at the Mozambican Ministry of Health, Director of Science and Teaching at Maputo Central Hospital, and Professor of Pathology at the Eduardo Mondlane University Faculty of Medicine. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health in Cancer Epidemiology through the Eduardo Mondlane University, a Master’s Degree in Policy and Health Program Planning, and a PhD in International Health and Translational Epidemiology of Cancer from the University of Barcelona, Spain.
In her role as Head of the National Cancer Control Programme, and as the Scientific and Teaching Director at Maputo Central Hospital, she has improved training for residents in cervical cancer prevention and has supported and promoted the IGCS fellowship program in Mozambique to improve capacity in Gynecology Oncology. In partnership with MD Anderson, she has designed and supported training programs to improve the quality of cervical cancer screening and treatment of women with pre-invasive cervical disease throughout the country of Mozambique.
Dr. Lorenzoni’s research interests are in cancer epidemiology, cancer prevention and building cancer registries. She has served as principal investigator for many research projects in these areas in partnership with international institutions. She has published more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has authored chapters in two books published by the African Cancer Registry Network
(AFCRN), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization (WHO), and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
Currently, she is the Coordinator and Principal Investigator of four research projects including: (i) Records of population based cancer registries in Maputo City and throughout Mozambique (ii) Project ECHO as a tool to assist providers in Mozambique delivering cervical cancer screening services through telementoring; (iii) Prevention of cervical cancer through the development and use of lower cost methods for detection of HPV and development of new technologies for diagnosis of pre-invasive cervical disease.(iv) A Training Program for Obstetrics & Gynecology Residents in the diagnosis and management of women with pre-invasive cervical disease ( Capacity building for gynecology residents at Maputo Central Hospital in management of women with pre-invasive cervical disease through clinical skills building (colposcopy, LEEP) and classroom training)
She is a member of the Education and Training Committee of the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) and was representing Portuguese Speaking Languague in Africa (PALOP) from 2020-2021.
She served as the President of Association of Fight Against Cancer of Mozambique from 2013 to July 2022.