Validation of actionable genomic aberrations in a paediatric oncology network for doctorate students
Pre-clinical drug development for paediatric cancers is very complex, resource intensive and requiring multi-disciplinary expertise and innovative approaches. The VAGABOND ITN, consisting of 12 academic and 6 non-academic partners from 8 European countries, aims to create a multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral program to validate new therapeutic interventions in paediatric cancer. This network will be sustainable embedded in the ITCC (Innovative Treatments for Children with Cancer) Consortium. The VAGABOND ITN will focus on 15 cutting-edge research projects studying molecular, epigenetic and immunological targets. All projects will (partly) include target identification, in vitro and in vivo validation, compound testing and preparation for clinical implementation. This consortium will highly stimulate international education and multi-disciplinary exchange of expertise in the different steps of pre-clinical drug development. This setting provides an opportunity for a unique European training network in which early stage researchers are equipped with a broad knowledge in pre-clinical drug development. Through this network students will gain access to other leading academic research groups, specialized multi-sectoral companies and the most innovative techniques and insights in the complexity of translational medicine to prepare them for future challenges in their career pathway. In this collaboration we will increase the commune expertise on tumour types and technical expertise for target validation. This will improve the implementation of interventions across paediatric cancer and strongly reduce the timeline from bench to the bedside.