Presenter Profile: Rossana Ruiz, MD
Thoracic Medical Oncologist at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases in Lima, Peru
ILCN: What is your presentation about?
Dr. Ruiz: My presentation examines why Latin America contributes only a small share of global oncology research activity, despite carrying a substantial and growing cancer burden and having both a large patient population and highly trained investigators. It explores the structural factors underlying this gap, including chronic underinvestment in research and development, the geographic concentration of trial activity in a limited number of countries, heterogeneous and often sequential regulatory pathways, and limited institutional capacity to generate, initiate, conduct, and sustain locally led research.
Together, these constraints have contributed to a research ecosystem that remains heavily dependent on industry-sponsored, late-phase trials. It then shifts from diagnosis to what is needed to build a more mature research ecosystem and an investable agenda.
LATAM Forum: Working to Improve Lung Cancer Therapy in our Low- and Middle-Income LATAM Countries
Saturday, September 12, 2026, at 14:00 KST • Room 101, Grand Ballroom, 1F
During the LATAM Forum, Rossana Ruiz, MD, of the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases in Lima, Peru, will discuss challenges clinical researchers face in Latin America. LEARN MORE
ILCN: Why is this topic timely or important in 2026?
Dr. Ruiz: Several forces make this topic timely. Latin America’s cancer burden is increasing rapidly, oncology innovation is accelerating, and access to molecular diagnostics and new treatments remains uneven across the region. At the same time, several countries are introducing regulatory reforms to modernize and expedite trial activation.
While these reforms alone will not create research capacity, they may reduce some of the structural friction that has historically limited research in the region. This makes it critical to close the remaining gaps so that Latin America can move beyond participating in global trials and generate evidence for its own populations, clinical questions, and health system constraints.
ILCN: How do you envision your work in this area benefiting future clinical strategies or patient care?
Dr. Ruiz: Closing these gaps is not only about producing more research; it can directly improve patient care. Research-ready systems make care measurable by helping to identify who receives molecular testing, where delays and losses occur, and whether patients receive appropriate treatment.
Real-world evidence and implementation research can then inform care pathways, patient navigation, health technology assessments, coverage decisions, and quality improvement, while stronger institutional and cooperative-group infrastructures enable more locally led multicenter research. Ultimately, the goal is to create a tighter connection between evidence generation and actual care delivery.
ILCN: What do you hope the audience will take away from your presentation?
Dr. Ruiz: I hope the audience leaves with one central message: the challenge is not simply to bring more clinical trials to Latin America. We need the capacity to ask, fund, regulate, conduct, analyze, and publish the questions that matter to Latin American patients. The goal is for Latin America to move from primarily participating in global oncology research to generating and leading its own.
ILCN: What are you most looking forward to at the 2026 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC)?
Dr. Ruiz: What I am looking forward to most is exchanging ideas with investigators from across Latin America and other regions about practical models that have worked, not only in initiating trials, but also in building sustainable research capacity. The WCLC provides an opportunity to connect people working on regulatory reform, cooperative groups, data systems, implementation research, and investigator-initiated studies, as well as to identify collaborations that can move us from isolated institutional efforts toward regional evidence generation.
Please refer to the 2026 WCLC Scientific Program for the most up-to-date schedule information.
