Pioneering Sylvester physician elected to Society of Neuro-Oncology board

Macarena de la Fuente, MD, chief of neuro-oncology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been elected to the Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO)’s board of directors.

She will serve as the neurology representative and becomes the first Hispanic elected to the multidisciplinary board, which strives to advance brain tumor research, education and collaboration.

De la Fuente has been an SNO member for over a decade and previously served as chair of the society’s membership and women and diversity committees. During her three-year term, she will be the voice of neurology on a board representing several other specialties, including neurosurgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, pediatrics and basic science.

She plans to use her leadership platform to advance long-overdue coordination between basic and clinical neuro-oncology research that ultimately will enable revolutionary advances in brain tumor treatment and management.

Additionally, de la Fuente will advocate for keeping diversity and inclusion at the forefront of SNO’s mission. “These are important topics for me, as they impact the communities that I represent,” she explained. “I want to help Hispanics and women to be better represented in neuro-oncology.”

As head of Sylvester’s Neuro-Oncology Division, de le Fuente has created an innovative and impressive clinical trial portfolio for primary brain tumors. She recently helped develop precision therapy for a mutant glioma with specific compounds that are on track to be approved as therapeutic standards for the disease.

She also has conducted research to address brain-tumor disparities in the Hispanic/Latino population, an interest that’s near and dear to her heart.

Originally from Argentina, de la Fuente moved to New York 12 years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a world-leading brain tumor expert. She completed a neuro-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center before joining Sylvester’s cancer center in 2014.

“I am blessed to do what I love for a living,” she said. “It’s my passion.”

De la Fuente and other elected board members will officially assume their roles at the society’s annual meeting in Vancouver, Nov. 15-19. The meeting is the world’s largest neuro-oncology conference, attended by 2,600-plus researchers and clinicians from more than 40 countries.

Read more about de la Fuente and her pioneering work on the InventUM blog.

Follow @SylvesterCancer on X for the latest news on Sylvester’s research and care.

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