Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan has an MD degree in Radiation oncology followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Cambridge. After several years of experience in clinical oncology and cancer control in India, Dr Sankaranarayanan joined the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1993. Through the IARC Screening group, and through innovative partnerships with other international organizations, national institutions and investigators, Dr Sankaranarayanan is involved in conducting several studies worldwide with the aim of providing scientific evidence to support the development of appropriate public health policies of screening for common cancers in a range of health care settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. These studies provide valuable data on the accuracy, reproducibility, efficacy, benefits, harmful effects and cost-effectiveness of different screening interventions for cervical, oral, colorectal and breast cancers leading to the rational utilization of health care resources in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of screening programmes. Dr Sankaranarayanan has a strong commitment to research, training, programme development and technical assistance in the early detection and control of cancer, particularly breast, cervix, colorectal and oral cancers in low- and middle-income countries. He has taught as a faculty member in over 40 international courses on cervical cancer screening, colposcopy, diagnosis and treatment of cervical neoplasia, cancer registry epidemiology and cancer control. he is also an author in more than 240 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and his manuals on early detection of cervical cancer have been translated into several languages.