Developing the Next Generation of Research Leaders in Precision Oncology

Project Information

DevelopMed

Grant agreement ID: 945425

DOI

10.3030/945425

EC signature date 25 September 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 June 2027

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 2 648 160,00

EU contribution

€ 1 324 080,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DevelopMed (Developing the Next Generation of Research Leaders in Precision Oncology)

Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Cancer is a major and fast-growing societal challenge with 2.7Mi people in the EU diagnosed and 1.3M people dying from cancer each year (1). This contributes to Europe bearing 25% of the global cancer burden despite only having 9% of the world population (2). Cancer healthcare expenditure and concomitant economic impacts are currently unsustainable, particularly in light of Europe’s ageing population. New innovative precision approaches can provide more effective diagnostics and cancer therapeutics to improve health resource allocation. For instance, using precision approaches to develop more targeted therapeutics can enhance treatment efficacy and can spare patients from unnecessary long-term side effects. Recent technological advances in genomics, imaging, computational modelling and artificial intelligence have provided a new arsenal of powerful weapons in the fight against cancer. However, there is an acute shortage of skilled scientists and clinicians able to deploy this arsenal of precision oncology approaches. As such, there’s an increasing need to develop a new generation of researchers who are educated and trained to work confidently at the interdisciplinary boundaries between biology, computing and clinical studies.

DevelopMed aims to produce the next-generation of research leaders in precision oncology. The programme offers 12 prestigious Precision Oncology Fellowships to experienced researchers at the early stage of their career. DevelopMed seeks to ensure its fellows gain hands-on experience developing cross-disciplinary and entrepreneurial skills through individual research projects with a mandatory 3-6 month secondment at an accredited research organisation (academic, industrial, clinical and/or charity sectors). Fellows are based in one of three universities which have all received the “HR Excellence in Research” designation for their high standard working environments for researchers: University College Dublin (UCD), the University of Galway (UoG) and University College Cork (UCC). The general programme precision oncology research themes include Diagnostics, Drug Development and the Tumour Microenvironment.

1. Europe's Beating Cancer Plan 2021.
2. Ferlay J et al. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns in Europe: Estimates for 40 countries and 25 major cancers in 2018. Eur. J. of cancer 2018;103:356-87.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In Period 1 the programme has successfully put in place its management and governance structures, and has completed its two planned application calls. The review process consisted of a three-phase evaluation process entailing: 1) an eligibility check and ethical issues review; 2) international peer review of eligible written proposals by 3 independent reviewers concluding with a consensus discussion and rankings; and 3) interviews of applicants who reached the threshold of 70% from phase 2. Assessment criteria used to evaluate proposals was based on the EU Horizon 2020 MSCA criteria: 50% Excellence; 30% Impact; 20% Quality and efficiency of the implementation. Scores out of 5 were assigned to each category with the aforementioned weightings applied. An overall weighting of 70% for the written application and 30% for the interview (where applicable) yielded an overall score /100 for each applicant. 5 fellowships were offered and accepted in Call 1, with fellowships commenced between November 2021 and April 2022. 7 fellowships were offered and accepted in Call 2, with fellowships commenced between June 2022 and October 2022.

Programme dissemination activities in Period 1 focused primarily on call promotion. A detailed, easy-to-navigate website and supporting social media channels were created. Application calls were advertised on numerous international channels including recruitment websites, international networks and consortia, and networks specifically directed to women and gender equality.

All fellows are required to develop a Researcher Development Plan (RDP) to assist the supervisory board in closely monitoring their research progress, training and development. The PM team also facilitate bi-monthly fellow meetings, which provide an opportunity for fellows to share their research expertise and forge collaborations, and also enable the PM team to discuss progress and feedback with the fellows.

To-date, fellows have made excellent progress with 2 papers published and a further 8 publications in press or preparation for publication. Fellows have actively disseminated their research to both academic audiences and non-academic audiences (e.g. public and patient audiences). The latter has entailed participation of the fellows in engagement initiatives such as a public cancer research showcase and in an outreach initiative for young people with cancer. Fellows are also actively pursuing training in both transferable and technical skills areas, having attended over 17 transferable skills workshops and 11 research skills workshops. A programme training retreat was held in October 2022 with topics including 1) Commercialisation, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and 2) Leadership & Mentorship in Research. Training topics for 2023 include Grant Writing and Funding Strategies, as well as Scientific Publishing.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

DevelopMed’s overall objective is to develop the next generation of skilled researchers in precision oncology who, through the completion of their fellowships, will become excellent scientists and clinicians with a problem solving, entrepreneurial mind set and a cross-disciplinary approach to thinking. The programme involves a highly multidisciplinary consortium of cancer researchers from leading Irish research institutions with expertise in translational biology, computational modelling, bioinformatics, immunology, and cutting-edge precision technologies. DevelopMed host institutions are also part of a large-scale national strategic partnership in precision oncology involving 6 cancer charities and 7 industry partners (‘Precision Oncology Ireland’; POI). These charity and industry partners are available as potential secondment hosts to fellows. Furthermore the united partnerships between DevelopMed researchers, POI, industry and charity sectors integrates key scientific, societal and commercial interests in cancer research. By bringing together these state-of-the-art resources and expertise, DevelopMed has created a truly unique training environment for fellows that can support both career development and scientific innovation.

DevelopMed creates impact by enhancing the future career prospects of fellows as well as strengthening research human resources on a regional, national and international level. Given that precision oncology research is now producing an overwhelming amount of data on cancer biology, there is an urgent demand for high-calibre researchers with the skills to translate this data into meaningful know-how with patient benefits. DevelopMed is addressing this skills-gap by providing fellows with interdisciplinary training opportunities at the interfaces between computational, biomedical and clinical research. Fellows from the programme are therefore anticipated to go on to very competitive positions in academia, industry or non-profit sectors. Ultimately, DevelopMed aims to serve as a blueprint for what precision medicine training can look like in the future. It is intended that the programme will inform future research training programmes in Ireland to continue building these critical human capacities.

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