From October 6 to 11, Cancer Core Europe (CCE) once again brought together young professionals and experts from science and clinical practice in the CCE Summer School in Translational Cancer Research in the Portuguese Algarve to discuss current developments in cancer medicine and research, present their own research, and lay the foundation for future collaborations.

This year's Summer School was once again a highly international event with 70 participants and 30 speakers from Europe and beyond. The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg, other NCT locations, the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and their sponsors were well represented.

This year, Stefan Fröhling, Managing Director at NCT Heidelberg and Head of the Division of Translational Medical Oncology at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and Priya Chudasama, Emmy Noether Junior Research Group Leader at DKFZ and NCT Heidelberg, were present as speakers. Stefan Fröhling gave a lecture on rare cancers, while Priya Chudasama and Bruno Köhler, Department of Medical Oncology, NCT Heidelberg and Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD), conducted a workshop on the translation of research results into clinical studies.

Cindy Körner, spokesperson of the Patient Research Council at the NCT Heidelberg and scientist at the DKFZ, led a workshop on “Patients as research partners” together with two scientists from the Istituto Mario Negri in Milan.

Simon Linder from the Department of Translational Medical Oncology at the NCT Heidelberg received special recognition. He was awarded the prize for “Best Participant Talk” in a live vote by the participants. In addition, poster prizes were awarded, with Anna Loboda (Hopp Children's Cancer Center KiTZ and NCT Heidelberg) and Simon Linder receiving an honorable mention for their posters.

The Summer School was largely organized by Petra Oberrauch from the NCT Heidelberg, together with team members from other CCE centers.

In addition to other partners and sponsors, the DKTK is a key partner of the event.

Another review can be found here on the CCE website.

About the CCE Summer School

The Summer School in Translational Cancer Research was launched in 2011 by the EU-funded project EurocanPlatform. Since 2016, it has been organized annually by Cancer Core Europe. During the week-long event, PhD students, postdocs and clinical scientists from around the world receive the latest knowledge on topics from the entire spectrum of cancer research, with a special focus on precision medicine. A central element of the Summer School is the interdisciplinary composition of participants and speakers, which promotes exchange in a relaxed environment – a successful concept that has proven itself over the years.

Cancer Core Europe was founded in 2014 to accelerate the development of innovative cancer therapies through close collaboration in translational and clinical research. In addition to the NCT Heidelberg and the DKFZ, the seven members include the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (Spain), the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre (United Kingdom), the Institut Gustave Roussy (France), the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands) and the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (Italy). Michael Baumann, Chairman of the Management Board of the DKFZ, and Stefan Fröhling are members of the Board of Directors from Heidelberg.

Picture overview:

Picture 1: Strong representation of the NCT Heidelberg, other NCT locations, the DKTK and the respective sponsors
Picture 2: Simon Linder receives the prize for the “Best Participant Talk”
Picture 3: Engaging discussions at the workshop on “Patients as Research Partners” by Cindy Körner
Picture 4: Lively exchange at the poster sessions
Picture 5: Productive collaboration at the workshop by Priya Chudasama and Bruno Köhler
Picture 6: Group picture of the CCE Summer School 2024