**About the Editors**

#### **Bozena Smolkova**

Bozena Smolkova earned her undergraduate degree and completed PhD in Genetics from Comenius University Bratislava. She was employed as a research scientist in the Institute of Preventive and Clinical Medicine, Bratislava and currently, she is employed as a senior scientist at the Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava. She focuses on human molecular genetics and epigenetics, particularly on DNA methylation changes in tumor tissues and peripheral blood, including circulating cell-free DNA and circulating tumor cells. She published 73 original research publications in prestigious international journals. She is also a reviewer for national and international journals such as Mutation Research, Food and Chemical toxicology. In addition, she is an active participant in Oncology lectures, supported by the Cancer Research Foundation, where she shares her knowledge and expertise to promote the importance of cancer research in the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer.

#### **Julie Earl**

Julie Earl completed her PhD at the University of Liverpool, UK, in 2002 and her postdoctoral studies at the University of Liverpool from 2002–2008 and the Spanish Cancer Research Center (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain, from 2008–2011. She is a senior researcher in the Medical Oncology department of the university hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain, since 2011 and specializes ´ in cancer genetics and tumor biomarkers, particularly in digestive cancers. She is the coordinator of the Spanish familial pancreatic cancer registry and her lines of research include the genetics of familial pancreatic cancer and the use of the liquid biopsy for the identification and validation of tumor biomarkers. Currently, the group are performing whole exome sequencing to identify novel genes associated with familial cancer and also developing and validating liquid biopsy based tumor markers as prognostic and diagnostic tools. This includes Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) detection and circulating free tumor DNA detection (cftDNA) in plasma. She is a member of the board of the liquid biopsy group of the Biomedical Research Network in Cancer (CIBERONC) and the coordinator of the in vitro tumor models platform of her institute. She has published more than 40 articles and currently actively participates in several national and international projects related with pancreatic oncology research.

#### **Agapi Kataki**

Agapi Kataki is a biologist who completed her MSc and PhD studies in the field of Medical Genetics at the University of Glasgow, UK in 1992. Her postdoctoral experience was gained during her four-year stay in France in Faculte des Sciences—Universit ´ e de Montpellier, in Centre Hospitalier ´ Regional Universitaire de Nancy and in Institut de Canc ´ erologie de Lorraine—Alexis Vautrin. She ´ is currently a Senior Researcher, but also a Teaching Assistant in Athens Medical School both in undergraduate and postgraduate level. Her interest is focused on Translational Clinical Oncology, Cancer Genetics and Genetic Counselling. She is currently involved in the development of a pancreatic cancer registry, the analysis of pancreatic tumor profile and the application of liquid biopsy as a prognostic and diagnostic tool. Results from her long-term engagement in cancer research have been presented at various National and International Conferences and published in 35 articles. Currently, she is actively participating in several European projects related to pancreatic cancer research.
