CONTRA — Computational ONcology TRaining Alliance

Results in brief

Computational ONcology TRaining Alliance

Cancer is a major cause of death and suffering, rendering it a huge concern to the general public. Consequently, it has been targeted by application of the molecular techniques developed during the last 20-25 years, thereby improving diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, although current biomarker and treatment concepts often are successful initially, they subsequently frequently fail to achieve durable drug response and long-term survival for cancer patients. We study somatic evolution in cancer, which is a very promising approach to rectify this situation. Fortunately, single-cell genomic sequencing has recently begun to provide an opportunity to unprecedented detailed insights into tumour evolution, and new techniques are emerging for assaying the spatial distribution of tumour heterogeneity. Analysing and developing methods for these emerging data sets have been under-researched areas that lie at the intersection of medical, evolutionary biology, and computational research. In CONTRA, European researchers with complementary expertise have joined forces in order to collectively facilitate training of future European computational cancer researchers. We have applied modern recruitment and selection methods in combination and also offered excellent training and employment conditions, including social security, which have facilitated recruitment of 15 excellent ESRs, across genders and geographical areas. We have trained these 15 ESRs so that they now possess the mathematical, computational, and applied skills required to tackle the complex analysis problems posed by somatic evolution in cancer. We also teached them entrepreneurship and the requirements of pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Our substantial academic cancer expertise has been complemented with industrial expertise in software development, especially for biotech and pharmaceutical industry, which in particular has allowed us to organise a successful training event on software development. The result of the successful ESRs’ doctoral training was clearly visible at the CONTRA International Conference; this final training event was largely organized and managed by the ESRs, and they also gave scientific presentations and showed their knowledge during discussions and by asking interesting questions.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Cancer is a major cause of death and suffering, rendering it a huge concern to the general public. Consequently, it has been targeted by application of the molecular techniques developed during the last 20-25 years, thereby improving diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, although current biomarker and treatment concepts often are successful initially, they subsequently frequently fail to achieve durable drug response and long-term survival for cancer patients. The study of somatic evolution in cancer is a very promising approach to rectify this situation. Fortunately, single cell genomic sequencing has recently begun to provide opportunity to unprecedented detailed insights into tumour evolution and new techniques are emerging for assaying the spatial distribution of tumour heterogeneity. Analysing and developing methods for these emerging data sets are under-researched areas that lie at the intersection of medical, evolutionary biology, and computational research. In CONTRA, European researchers with complementary expertise have joined forces in order to collectively facilitate training of future European computational cancer researchers. We will by applying modern recruitment and selection methods in combination with offering excellent training and employments conditions, including social security, facilitate recruitment of 15 excellent ESRs, across genders and geographical areas. We will train these 15 ESRs in the mathematical, computational, and applied skills required to tackle the complex analysis problems posed by somatic evolution in cancer. We will also teach them entrepreneurship and the requirements of pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Using a novel scheme, this substantial academic cancer expertise will be complemented with industrial expertise in software development, especially for biotech and pharmaceutical industry, which will unleash key components of the innovative force of the European commercial sector in the struggle against cancer.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN · StockholmCoordinatorSweden
Ardigen SA · KrakówPoland
British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch · VancouverCanada
EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH · ZuerichSwitzerland
FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA (IRB BARCELONA) · BarcelonaSpain
FUNDACION CENTRO TECNOLOXICO DE TELECOMUNICACIONS DE GALICIA · VIGOSpain
INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH: THE ROYAL CANCER HOSPITAL LBG · LondonUnited Kingdom
KING'S COLLEGE LONDON · LondonUnited Kingdom
MERCK KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT AUF AKTIEN · DarmstadtGermany
SEVEN BRIDGES GENOMICS UK LTD · LondonUnited Kingdom
Spatial Transcriptomics AB · SolnaSweden
THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · CAMBRIDGEUnited Kingdom
TORUS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS S.L. · A CORUNASpain
UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO · VIGO PONTEVEDRASpain
UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI · WarszawaPoland

CONTRA · Computational ONcology TRaining Alliance

Results in brief

Computational ONcology TRaining Alliance

Project objective

Participants

Links