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The eighth Network training event (NT-8) was hosted and organized by Teesside University (TU), United Kingdom with the support from Scriba and UCL as a workshop entitled “Workshop on Knowledge Translation in Cancer Study” from the 29th to 30th of July, 2020 and successfully concluded online. The workshop was aimed at bringing experts from academia and industry together to discuss state-of-the-art techniques in brain cancer diagnosis and treatment, enhancing public engagement and cross-sector collaborations and promoting transferable skills training in human disease study. Given this was an online event, it was attended by a wider audience from across the world including some leading experts in brain cancer research.
The first day of the workshop was opened with a welcome speech and introduction of the AiPBAND project by the project coordinator, Dr Xinzhong Li and Prof. Stephen Cummings from TU. Over the course of the workshop, a number of subject-specific talks were delivered by invited experts in the fields of brain cancer research, biosensors, artificial intelligence and healthcare and knowledge translation in cancer research. 17 external speakers were invited to give talks, and in total 105 individuals participated this two-day virtual conference including ESRs from MSCA-ITN Gliotrain and BBDiag.
The keynote speakers included:
Prof. Colin Watts (Professor of Neurosurgery and Chair Birmingham Brain Cancer Program, University of Birmingham, UK) who talked about learning from failure and developing adaptability in brain cancer research.
Prof. Fabio Biscarini (Full Professor of Chemistry, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), Italy) who presented on organic bioelectronics and uses in biosensors and neuromorphic devices.
Dr. Antony Rix (CEO, Granta Innovation Ltd., UK) who discussed applications of AI in healthcare and ethics and regulation for AI ad novel medical interventions.
Young researchers including two postdoc researchers, two external PhD students, and all the AiPBAND ESRs shared their ongoing research through short talks during the breakout sessions, with a Q&A session following each talk. Additional Q&A sessions were organized for the ESRs at the end of each day of the workshop to engage with the speakers and wider audience.
In particular, the whole workshop provided an exciting opportunity for the early stage researchers (ESRs) being trained under the AiPBAND project and others participating to interact and exchange ideas on current trends in brain cancer research. Moreover, to develop collaborations, share their findings as well as an opportunity to learn about research commercialization and furthering career beyond AiPBAND.
A video summary of the virtual event can be found in a previous post by ESR Aira Ong: