A worldwide effort to eliminate cancer
BY MD Anderson
May 08, 2014
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by an MD Anderson Cancer Center medical professional on May 08, 2014
Collaborations are crucial to making significant advancements toward ending cancer. Creating a worldwide network of basic, translational, clinical and population-based research, prevention and education is the goal of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Global Academic Program (GAP).
GAP facilitates and administers the institution’s Sister Institution Network, a global academic network of cancer centers, hospitals and universities collaborating on cancer research and education. There are 29 sister institutions in 22 countries.
Each year, that spirit of collaboration is celebrated at the GAP conference, which was May 1-3 in Seoul, Korea. The conference featured speakers from Sister Institutions in China, Brazil, Korea, France, Norway, South Africa, Germany, Mexico, Sweden and many other countries, as well as MD Anderson Cancer Network®å partner Banner MD Anderson in Arizona and a number of MD Anderson faculty members.
Keynote speakers included Ron DePinho, M.D., president of MD Anderson (“Making Cancer History, Together”); Sung Hoon Noh, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of Yonsei Cancer Center ((“Transformation of Clinical Excellence to Patients’ Benefit: from Clinical Resources to knowledge to Clinical Implementation (through Translational Research) in Gastric Cancer”)); and Isaiah Fidler, Ph.D., professor in Cancer Biology at MD Anderson (“Tumor regression and Long-term Survival of Experimental Glioblastoma by Macitentan, a Dual Endothelin Receptor Antagonist in Combination with Temozolomide”).
Waun Ki Hong, M.D., head of Cancer Medicine at MD Anderson, gave the Award Lecture entitled “Impact of Innovative Cancer Research: Breaking the Barriers.”
Session topics ranged from Early Detection and Screening and Biomarkers and Personalized Targeted Therapy to Immunotherapy, Cancer Genomics and Experimental Therapeutics, among many others.
The agreement among sister institutions includes cooperation in physician education and training, research collaborations, faculty exchange visits, scientific endeavors, nursing and technical support staff training and more.