Australia & Asia Pacific Clinical Oncology Research Development (ACORD) Workshop
Announcing the 2010 ACORD Workshop, September 12 - 18, Sunshine Coast Queensland. Applications will open in 2009.
Since 2004, the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA) has led the Asia Pacific in educating health professionals in clinical trial design. Collaborating with international organisations including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA), MOGA has developed a six day educational program targeting all disciplines of cancer research to improve and advance clinical trial design in the Australia and Asia Pacific region. Workshop participants are selected through a merit based application process whereby each individual applicant must present a clinical trial protocol to develop throughout the Workshop and subsequently conduct in a clinical setting.
The underpinning goals of ACORD consist of imparting principles of good clinical trial design which yield clear results to apply in the clinic and future research and exposing participants to the full spectrum of challenges in clinical research, from conventional antineoplastic agents and multidisciplinary treatment regimens to biological therapy. A variety of educational components aid Workshop participants in successful protocol design, including development sessions where participants present and discuss their clinical trial proposal in detail. Session topics are extensive and include areas such as global cancer research, principles of clinical trials design, phase I-III trials, basic biostatistics, epidemiology, meta-analysis and systematic review.
This unique regional Workshop maintains a substantial position in oncology education due to its international focus and provision of hands-on collaboration and guidance by a world renowned Faculty. The ACORD Faculty includes some of the leading world experts in clinical trials design and oncology. ACORD Committee Chair and Faculty team leader, Associate Professor Bogda Koczwara is delighted that in 2008 ESMO supported two members of the Workshop Faculty, Professor Marc Buyse from the Institute for Drug Development SC, Brussels, Belgium and Professor Patrick Therasse from Cancer Immunotherapeutics at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium. Additional international Faculty members at the 2008 Workshop included Professor Jun Ren from Peking University as a China Liaison Representative to assist Chinese participants in breaching the language barriers when attending the Workshop, Dr Christina Ng from University Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the first ACORD alumna to join the Faculty and Professor Jeff A. Sloan, Professor of Oncology and Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic, USA. Domestically, Associate Professor Andrew Spencer was selected to be the official reperesentative of the Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ) on the Faculty. The ratio of Faculty to participants is maintained at three to one to facilitate individual project focus and learning.
Up to sixty participants, many fully sponsored, from all areas of the globe, come together to bridge cultural gaps in the name of science. Past Workshop participants have come from India, Nepal, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Iran, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan, United States of America, Korea Australia and New Zealand.
Associate Professor Koczwara articulates the success of this Workshop in saying, “ACORD is an intense and rigorous training exercise. Both participants and Faculty emerge from the experience with a greater understanding and capacity to build and develop clinical trials in a practical environment. Greater numbers of well designed and conducted trials will contribute to cancer management not only in our region but worldwide.”
The third ACORD Workshop in effective clinical trials design was held on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia from 31 August - 6 September 2008. Applications for the 2010 ACORD Workshop will open online in 2009.
For more information please visit the ACORD Website: www.acordworkshop.org.au
