Goa to host cancer research meeting towards accelerated cure path

This symposium envisions a unifying effort to bring all stakeholders to the table to make a concerted effort to advance sciences from the bench to the bedside

Cancer AIG-2018 is scheduled at Goa University under the auspices of many organisations including BITS-Pilani. This two-day international symposium planned on ‘Academic-Industry-Government Partnerships to Accelerate Radiation Research and Clinical Translation’ will be held from October 8-9, 2018.

In the quest for progress in health care, the industry, academia and government have traditionally enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. This has

benefited from frequent collaborative initiatives, retreats, joint symposia, funding initiatives and memoranda of understanding. Notwithstanding this fluid and frequent cross-talk, there is room for harmonisation and synchronisation of individual and joint efforts in an iterative and deliberate fashion.

While scientific innovation and information are drivers of progress among stakeholders in industry, academia and government, differences in approach, mission, priorities and timelines can pose challenges to free flow of ideas, individuals and initiatives. In turn, these impediments can stymie clinical translation of promising preclinical concepts. This symposium envisions a unifying effort to bring all stakeholders to the table to make a concerted effort to advance sciences from the bench to the bedside. The intent is to forge research partnerships, open-access data and resource sharing agreements, personnel sharing frameworks, joint educational initiatives.

The participants include national and international experts from the fields of radiation oncology, radiobiology, biomedical engineering, hospital management, small business & large industry management, industry-based innovation centers, and government policy makers. Some of the experts joining are Dr Charles Limoli (USA), Dr Chandhan Guha (USA), Dr Marc Mendonca (USA), Dr Rao Papineni (USA), Dr Nagraj Huilgol (India), Dr Ramesh Billimaga (India), Dr Sapna Nangia (India) and Dr. Madhu Bala (India).

Dr Nagraj Huilgol, Chief Radiation Oncologist, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr Balabhai Nanavati Hospital, one of the invited speakers said, “We have reached a plateau in technology. It is time to go back to bench research to find newer avenues to augment the outcomes following radiation therapy. It requires inspired research both basic and translational. The conference will promote this multidisciplinary crosstalk.”

Similarly, when asked Dr Sunil Krishnan, a Radiation Oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA, noted that there were times when a single investigator in a single laboratory or clinical trials in a single institution changed the face of medicine as it was known until then.

These days larger conglomerates, larger coalitions like the TCGA, ICGC, SU2C dream teams, etc. are places where the big science is happening. Creating a watering hole for such interactions across traditional barriers and silos is the first step to fostering bold new initiatives.