Experts wanted to help prioritise cancer research at European level
Despite substantial progress made in cancer research to date, there is much about the disease that remains a mystery. The facts are in the figures. In 2020 alone, 1.3 million people in the EU lost their lives to cancer – a figure that is expected to increase by more than 24 % by 2035 unless we take decisive action. To address the need for more investment in innovative research, the EU Mission on Cancer and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan intend to launch "UNCAN.eu", a European initiative to understand cancer. Established to coordinate this launch, the EU-funded "4.UNCAN.eu" project has now issued a call for European scientific leaders and patient representatives to help identify the areas in cancer research that need to be prioritised at European level. The experts identified through the call will form Expert Working Groups (EWGs). They will then be asked to take part in one or more Delphi consensus processes related to their selected area(s) of expertise. The resultant agenda of research priorities will inform the launch of specific Mission on Cancer research funding programmes. The funding programmes will also represent use cases feeding a European Federated Cancer Research Data Hub that will collect data from experimental models and patients. By means of this agenda, Europe’s scientific leaders will be able to help pave the way for new breakthroughs in cancer management, prevention and treatment.
Focus on six cancer research areas
Overall, "4.UNCAN.eu" has identified six areas of translational cancer research for which the multidisciplinary EWGs will discuss research priorities. They cover cancer prevention, early diagnosis, sensitivity and resistance to therapy, paediatric cancer, cancer and ageing, and survivorship. The call for EWGs uploaded on the website of "4.UNCAN.eu" project partner Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Spain, lists keywords and concepts related to each research area to help experts choose the area(s) most related to their field(s) of expertise. Applicants can choose up to two research areas to participate in. “Experts will be appointed following systematic criteria of scientific production and international research experience. EWGs will have a balanced representation of scientists at different stages of their career,” the call specifies. The Delphi consensus processes will consist of two online consultation rounds that will be held between September 2022 and February 2023 and one face-to-face meeting that will take place between March and May 2023. Expenses for the in-person meeting will be covered by "4.UNCAN.eu". To take part, interested applicants only need to fill out an online form and send a free-format CV to uncan-eu@vhio.net. The CV should include a brief biographical sketch, list up to 10 relevant peer-reviewed publications in the past 5 years and describe up to 10 international research activities engaged in during the last 5 years. The application deadline for the "4.UNCAN.eu" (A Coordination and Support Action to prepare "UNCAN.eu" platform) call for experts is 15 August 2022. For more information, please see: "4.UNCAN.eu" project
Keywords
4.UNCAN.eu, cancer, research, expert, expert working group, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan