Training to boost translational oncology base in Italy
The Alliance Against Cancer (ACC), an association working together with the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) are committed to promotion of the highest calibre of research in the rapidly advancing field of translational cancer. To help stem the rising tide of 'brain drain', ACC and ISS have set up a five-year research exchange scheme with EU funding under the umbrella of the TRAIN 2009 (Training through research application Italian initiative 2009) project. Fellowships offered included diverse areas such as oncogenomics and genetics and biobanks as well as management and technology transfer. With a multidisciplinary structure, TRAIN will be able to accelerate the narrowing of the gap between discovery and application. The first call for proposals was launched in May 2011 and 11 young scientists were awarded two-year fellowships. The scheme was also open to experienced non-Italian scientists who wished to spend two years in Italy. Despite revision of strategy and introduction of flexibility in the structure at many levels, the TRAIN initiative has succeeded in providing cutting-edge cancer research opportunities to gifted young scientists. A firm knowledge platform has been constructed to improve translational skills in oncology.
Keywords
Training, translational oncology, Italy, mobility scheme, fellowships
