We presented the results of what we did in a two year program of the Early Career Investigators, the ECI as we call them. It’s a program that started in 2017 with the first session. We had five sessions where we had more than thirty young high potentials from different disease oriented groups and transversal groups within the EORTC being identified to follow this program where we introduced them into the structure of the EORTC, the mission of the EORTC, how the landscape of clinical trial research and cancer patient care is changing across Europe, what are the threats, what are we dealing with and also help in developing people with leadership and communication skills.
What is the main strategy behind the program?
The main strategy behind the program is that the EORTC is a high-class network of people invested in these different types of areas of cancer, clinical trial research in cancer care, but we have to cultivate this. We have to identify the potential leaders of tomorrow and really train them to be able to have the correct tools to fill out the leadership and build the EORTC for the next 10-20 years and also tackle some of the challenges the organisation is facing.
How will this program change the landscape for clinical cancer research?
The program has shown tremendous potential in the fact that already these people will now move on into some of the key positions within the organisation. But more than that, they have connected on a level and there’s a cross-pollination between groups and between specialties now existing. So these alumni will still continue working very much with the same goals and missions for the future of the EORTC in different areas. It helps the EORTC to have a fresh view of its own organisation because you have young people that hadn’t had this experience with the EORTC in the past ten, twenty, thirty years, but have a fresh outlook on the world and on how the EORTC is structured. So we can help restructure it to be more sustainable for the next 10-20 years.
What have the main highlights been so far?
The main highlights have been that we had a number of key figures from different stakeholders coming to talk to us. So we had people from HGA, from EMA, from pharma, come in and explain their views on clinical trial research and patient care and also how they see the EORTC in this and the relationship with EORTC in this. That is an eye-opener to see from different perspectives what the view is of EORTC.
One of the main things that was noticed is that we have a tremendous track record, well recognised, for high quality and independent cancer research. So we should really stress this benefit to people but at the same time we need to deal with a few of the challenges.
How important is this program for the young investigators?
It’s not only just that this program helps EORTC to look at its own organisation and reshape its future but also the takeaway is that for the individuals that you help develop your career. So by doing this it was a good exercise to build a network of colleagues that have the same goals and missions and the same talents as you do and also bring that back to your own institute and your own department and your own daily practice in terms of leadership skills and communication skills. So also in advancing your own career it has been a tremendous benefit to the ECI.
