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Press release of the National Center of Tumour Diseases

The Patient Expert Academy for Tumor Diseases (PEAK), a unique training program for and with patients and their representatives, will in future be run under the umbrella of the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). PEAK was co-developed and piloted for the first time as part of the NCT's expansion from two to six sites in Germany. Markus Wartenberg, Chairman of the German Sarcoma Foundation and Spokesperson of the NCT Patient Research Council, handed over the baton to the new PEAK Director, Ulrike Schmollinger, at the beginning of the year. The aim of the Academy is to provide patients and patient representatives with the necessary skills to enable them to better participate as active partners in clinical trials: True to the motto “Nothing for patients without patients”. PEAK benefits from an internationally renowned research environment and expanded networking opportunities within the NCT.

“I'm really looking forward to this exciting task and our first newly developed courses,” says Ulrike Schmollinger. “We want to design educational programs that are truly needs-oriented. Given the very heterogeneous target group, this is certainly a major challenge, but one that we are happy to take on and learn from together. Over the past few months, I have already learned an enormous amount from our NCT Patient Research Councils and Patient Advisory Boards and have noticed a great deal of commitment. It is precisely this energy and the exchange among each other that we want to promote with the PEAK Learning World.”

The aim of the NCT is to translate innovations in cancer research in Germany into studies in a targeted and rapid manner in order to successfully diagnose cancer according to the latest research and treat it while maintaining a high quality of life. Patients are research partners on an equal footing. Against this background, the transfer of the PEAK from the Sarcoma Foundation to the NCT marks an important step towards anchoring patient participation even more firmly in clinical cancer research at the NCT. Thanks to the courses on offer, patients can actively shape research based on their own experiences.

The PEAK courses are open to all interested parties who want to actively participate in patient involvement in clinical cancer research. PEAK invites you to a virtual information event to introduce the new structure and upcoming content. Interested patients, relatives and experts from clinical research are cordially invited:

PEAK online information event:
February 20, 2025, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

The event offers insights into the PEAK concept, introduces the PEAK learning world and gives an outlook on the upcoming educational offers. 
The new basic course “Patients as research partners in clinical trials” starts on 12.03.25. The exact dates can be found on the website nct.dkfz.de/peak.

Here you can obtain the image in printable resolution (Caption: Ulrike Schmollinger (left) heads the Patient Expert Academy (PEAK). She is supported by her assistant Nicole Laskowski. Copyright: DFKZ/NCT/Marius Stark). It is available free of charge for editorial use in connection with the Patient Expert Academy: News - National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)

Press contact NCT:
Janna von Greiffenstern
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Foundation under public law
NCT Communication
Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
69120 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 6221 42-2255
janna.vongreiffenstern(at)dkfz.de 
www.nct.dkfz.de

The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)
The NCT is a long-term cooperation between the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), excellent partners in university medicine and other outstanding research partners at various locations in Germany: Berlin, Dresden, Heidelberg, SouthWest (Tübingen-Stuttgart/Ulm), WERA (Würzburg with the partners Erlangen, Regensburg and Augsburg) and West (Essen/Cologne). The expansion of the NCT from the original two sites in Heidelberg and Dresden to six sites in 2023 was driven by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the National Decade Against Cancer and supported by the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony. The aim of the NCT is to translate innovations in cancer research in Germany into studies in a targeted and rapid manner in order to successfully diagnose cancer according to the latest state of research and treat it while maintaining a high quality of life. Patients are research partners at eye level.