HARP Project

The HARP study Endpoint Committee (EPC) met in Montpellier between the 8th to 11th January 2013 and was made up of the the HARP study pathologists from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Prof Olga Goumbri-Lompo); Johannesburg, South Africa (Dr Tanvier Omar); from Montpellier, France (Prof Valérie Costes, Drs Sylviane Doutre and Hélène Perocchia); and an independent pathologist from the Institut Català d'Oncologia in Barcelona, Spain (Dr Omar Clavero).

The aim of the EPC was to retrospectively review all HARP participants’ biopsy tissue samples which were cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 or greater, i.e. with advanced cervical cancer precursor lesions, representing the worst diagnosis at the end of Study 1 of the project and with particular focus on CIN1/2 borderline cases. In addition, around 10% of cases that were graded less than CIN2 in the laboratories in Johannesburg and Ouagadougou were also reviewed. Over 200 cases were reviewed and examined for consensus diagnosis during the 4 day meeting.

The EPC members are pictured below in the" Salle des Actes" at the Faculty of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the world (founded in 1220) which is still in existence and operation.

Top row (left to right): Dr M. Segondy (Co-PI and Scientific Leader, UM1), Prof P. Mayaud (HARP Director and PI, LSHTM);

Middle (left to right): Prof O. Goumbri-Lompo (Pathologist, CHU-YO), Dr S. Doutre (Senior Pathologist, UM1), Dr T. Omar (Pathologist, NHLS), Prof V. Costes (Co-I and Senior Pathologist, UM1);

Bottom (left to right): Dr C. Bonnel (Anatomy Museum, UM1), Mr N. Leventoux (Laboratory Technician, UM1), Dr O. Clavero (Independent Pathologist, ICO), and Ms H. Kelly (International Study Coordinator, LSHTM).