The 2nd Face-to-Face UNCAN.eu Consensus Meeting, held in Rome in May 22nd-23rd, was organized and hosted by Alliance Against Cancer (ACC) in partnership with the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO).
Following the same format as the previous one in Barcelona, the workshop focused on the remaining three areas among the six ones that were identified as cancer research challenges to address at a European level: paediatric cancer, cancer and ageing, survivorship. In a bottom up process, around 100 experts among basic and translational scientists, clinical researchers, data scientists and patient advocates from all over Europe gathered to further refine the topics that were prioritized during the former online consensus exercise. Participants were encouraged to share their views and perspectives on their scientific area of expertise and on the transversal aspects, such as funding and innovation, diversity, patient engagement.
The insights provided during the breakout sessions and roundtable discussions will contribute to advise the European Commission on the most appropriate funding scheme to tackle the identified challenges at a supranational level.
After the opening remarks by Ruggero De Maria (ACC President) and Franco Locatelli (Bambin Gesù Children Hospital, Rome), the chair of the Horizon Europe Mission Board on Cancer, Walter Ricciardi, gave an overview of the European strategy to fight cancer, whereas Jaime M. Guidry Auvil from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) shared their inspiring efforts in data sharing, ranging from the “Cancer Moonshot” program to the “Childhood Cancer Data Initiative”. Eric Solary, coordinator of UNCAN.eu, outlined the scope and strategy of the UNCAN.eu initiative, while Javier Carmona (VHIO) showed the design of the bottom up Delphi process and the conclusions from the first meeting in Barcelona, followed by the workshop presentation by Lidia Villanova (ACC).
On the second day, Sara Badreh (CCI Europe) reported the priorities in cancer research identified by patients and citizens. Federico Caligaris Cappio, the Scientific Director of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) gave a lecture on the role of AIRC in funding cancer research, which introduced the panel discussion on funding opportunities and patient involvement among the representatives of some of the largest European charities (AIRC, AECC, ARC, UICC) and patient associations (ECPC, Imagine for Margo, CCI Europe).
Take a look at the agenda here.