Stronger together
Childhood cancer is a rare disease. Every year, about 600 children in the Netherlands are diagnosed with cancer. Because these numbers are low in each country, international cooperation is badly needed. By sharing knowledge and data, researchers can develop new treatments faster. Grasshopper, an initiative of the Princess Máxima Center made possible by the European Union, is helping to do this by bringing together researchers from 16 different countries.
Prof. Dr. Jan Molenaar, is research group leader at the Máxima and leads the Grasshopper program. He says: 'The success of pediatric cancer research depends on collaboration. We need to collect enough data to get reliable results. Only by equalizing knowledge, sharing methods, and fostering good cooperation can we make scientific progress.'
Learning from each other
Grasshopper ensures that researchers get to know each other's methods and ways of working better. This is important, because results can only be properly compared and collated if everyone works in the same way, which can speed up research. Think, for example, of analyzing DNA or researching the effect of a new treatment in a clinical trial. Cooperation with companies also gets a boost. As researchers from knowledge centers gain experience in industry, collaboration improves.
Molenaar gives some examples of possible Grasshopper projects: 'A clinical trial manager from Eastern Europe can learn at our Máxima Center how we set up innovative studies. This will make it easier for them to join new international studies in the future. Another participant can attend our tumor board, where pediatric oncologists and researchers meet to determine the best treatment for each child. But someone from the Máxima can also go to one of the other centers, to learn, for example, about a particular cell culture method used there.'
Launch of Grasshopper
Grasshopper kicked off on December 4 at a meeting with all participating organizations. Here, led by Molenaar and project managers Celina Szanto and Linda Schild, the activities and planning for the coming years were discussed. Participants will attend training sessions, tailored to their practical needs, in addition to the work experience. Registration for the program will open soon. Participants will be reimbursed for travel and accommodation expenses during the work experience and trainings.
More information about the program and how to apply as a researcher will be shared soon through Grasshopper program channels.
Participants
Organizations sending and hosting Grasshopper participants: SJD-Cerca (Spain), Rigshopitalet (Denmark), KiTZ-DKFZ (Germany), Institute Curie (France).
Organizations hosting Grasshopper participants: Indiana Bioscience Research Institute (United States), Sanofi (multiple sites), Roche (multiple sites), Children's Cancer Institute (Australia), UCL (England), SickKids (Canada).
Organizations sending Grasshopper participants: Children's University Hospital Latvia (Latvia), MS Curie (Romania), Western Ukrainian Specialized Children's Medical Centre (Ukraine), King Hussein Cancer Foundation/Center (Jordan), Childrens Hospital Agia Sofia (Greece), NUDCH (Slovakia).
Training partners: ITCC and Cancer Core Europe
This project was made possible thanks to Horizon Europe/Marie Sklodowska-Curie Staff Exhange project GRASSHOPPER number 101182922, the Princess Máxima Center and participating research groups.