Medical graduates training in any cancer discipline in Ireland are now invited to apply for the highly prestigious Breakthrough Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship Programme in association with Cancer Research @UCC. These Fellowships are 2-year training opportunities, that will be offered biennially and fully funded by one of Ireland’s leading cancer research charities, Breakthrough Cancer Research.
The new Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship Programme has been created for medical graduates dedicated to a career in the field of oncology, haematology or a related discipline. The programme will facilitate patient focused research in UCC and its affiliated hospitals to help develop and improve cancer treatments for Irish patients.
The high-level research training programme aims to allow the Fellows to bring concepts from inception to completion, experiencing the full spectrum of clinical/translational research, and will see successful applicants work closely with clinician scientists and their associated research teams, taking care of cancer patients in the Cork region and beyond. The structured programme will offer research experience, career development and clinical training that will be supervised and supported by clinical investigators in UCC and affiliated hospitals.
The opportunity was initiated by Professor Roisin Connolly, the recently appointed Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Clinical Chair in Cancer Research, to build on existing fellowships such as the ICAT Fellowships and the National Doctors Training and Planning (NDTP) Aspire Fellowship and aims to provide a high-quality training experience in advance of, or as an alternative to, international training opportunities.
The fellowship will also facilitate a certifiable educational experience such as an MD in Clinical Medicine, if not already obtained by the successful applicant.
Announcing the Fellowship, Professor Connolly said, “Cancer research is one of five focus research areas for UCC’s College of Health and Medicine and over the last decade, UCC has seen a major expansion in clinical and translational medical research. As the recently appointed Professor Gerald O’Sullivan Clinical Chair in Cancer Research at UCC, my aim is to further develop the clinical and translational research infrastructure in the region to ensure high quality patient-focused cancer research at UCC and its affiliated hospitals. This Fellowship will enable the successful applicant to bring concepts from inception to completion and improve outcomes for cancer patients in Ireland.”
Funding body Breakthrough Cancer Research is one of Ireland’s leading medical cancer research charity. Its aim is to inspire and enable financial support for exceptional research into cancer in Ireland, to develop more effective treatments for patients and to improve cancer care and patient survival in Ireland and internationally. The organisation works closely with researchers and clinicians in practice all over Ireland so that research is targeted at finding new treatment options for poor prognosis and currently incurable cancers.
Over the past 20 years, Breakthrough has helped bring 8 novel treatments to clinical trial and the organisation has a further 5 in the pipeline.
Commenting on the charity’s support for the research Fellowship, Orla Dolan, CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research said, “Cancer takes one life every hour of every day in Ireland. We are all aware of the power and need for research. It is the only thing that will lead to breakthroughs and give patients the futures they deserve. This highly prestigious, fully funded training opportunity is an investment in the next generation of cancer researchers. It will provide the successful candidates with a structured certifiable educational experience that is supported by clinical and translational research mentors in the UCC Cancer Trials Cluster. We are therefore thrilled to fund this research Fellowship Programme to help advance cancer research and make breakthroughs which could assist patients both nationally and internationally.”
Suitably qualified candidates interested in applying for the Breakthrough Clinical Cancer Research Fellowship should submit an up to date CV and one page statement of interest by email to maelisantos@rcpi.ie .
Applications close at 5 pm on November 15th, 2021 and interviews will be held on Friday 3rd December pending finalisation.
For more see breakthroughcancerresearch.ie
