Prof. Fedor Šantek, MD, PhD

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Biography

Prof. Fedor Šantek, MD, PhD, specialist in radiotherapy and oncology, was born in Zagreb, where he graduated at Medical School.

After completing his specialization in radiotherapy and oncology at the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy of the University Hospital Centre (UHC) Zagreb, he received training in clinical oncology and radiotherapy at Christie Hospital and Paterson Laboratories in Manchester under the mentorship of Dr. Nirmal Gupta, and conducted apoptosis research with prof. Catherine West. In 2017, he joined the UK General Medical Council (GMC) Specialist Register for Clinical Oncologists in London.

He worked at the Department of Oncology, UHC Zagreb, as Head of the Radiotherapy Center and Head of the Central Nervous System Tumor Unit within the Institute for Radiation Oncology of the same department.

In 2015, he was appointed Coordinator of Multidisciplinary Oncology Teams at UHC Zagreb, where he established and implemented 12 MDT teams at the hospital level. This organizational model was introduced into clinical practice and significantly contributed to the advancement of oncology in the Republic of Croatia.

In his professional and clinical work, he has focused on the treatment of central nervous system tumors, where—in addition to clinical work—he initiated translational research. As a member of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Team at UHC Zagreb, he worked on total body irradiation with in vivo dosimetry. He collaborated with teams treating breast cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck tumors, melanoma, and sarcomas. He introduced more precise radiotherapy planning on the linear accelerator at UHC Zagreb, Petrova Hospital, using CT verification for radiotherapy planning. He introduced alternative fractionation regimens in radiotherapy and began developing radio chemotherapy principles.

He is co-author of the national lymphoma treatment guidelines for the Republic of Croatia (2007 and 2013).

He is the author of numerous cited papers in indexed journals and has actively participated as a lecturer at many national and international scientific and professional conferences. He co-organized three Croatian–English Clinical Oncology Symposia in 1997, 1999, and 2002, and organized the 1st Croatian Symposium on Personalized Oncology at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) in 2013.

He is co-author of a university textbook of the University of Zagreb School of Medicine and several university handbooks, as well as numerous chapters in teaching textbooks on clinical oncology and radiotherapy, internal medicine, and medical oncology.

He was actively involved in teaching at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine as head of the teaching unit of the Department of Clinical Oncology at UHC Zagreb and through participation in teaching other subjects as a lecturer and co-author in textbooks used in Pharmacology, Internal Medicine, and Family Medicine. He also served as head of the undergraduate medical program in English and as deputy head of the Department of Clinical Oncology at the School of Medicine.

He is President of the Croatian Society for Oncology and Radiotherapy at the Croatian Medical Association (HLZ). He is a member of the Croatian Medical Chamber and several prominent international professional organizations: EORTC (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer), ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology), ESTRO and the UK51 Radiotherapy Club. He was active member of the British General Medical Council (GMC) with the status of Clinical Oncology Specialist.

In 2026, he joined the team at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Croatia.