The GLIORESOLVE Virtual Symposium ‘Translational Research in Glioblastoma: from Bench to Bedside’ will take place on Microsoft Teams on the 30th Sept and 1st October 2024.

The programme, featuring 13 invited experts (8 GLIORESOLVE PIs and 5 external guests) covers diverse aspects of translational research with a focus on glioblastoma. On the 30th Sept, morning talks include those focussed on biobanking, tissue analysis, and innovative preclinical research (in vivo, ex vivo and organ-on-a-chip models). In the afternoon, the presentations focus on the development of medical devices, technology transfer/IP and the development process of small molecule drugs in an SME. We finish with a case study reviewing the translational development of oncolytic viral therapy.

On Day 2 (1st October) the focus moves to early phase clinical trials. The first speaker will review Glioma trials in Ireland, and this is followed by two early phase GBM trial case studies (one US and one EU trial). The event will finish with a discussion focusing on the differences in regulatory aspects of clinical trials between the US and the EU.

The event is free to attend and you should register your interest here. A link to join the event (Microsoft Teams) will be emailed to you one week in advance.

The second GLIORESOLVE training event focussing on communication and dissemination took place in early February at Erasmus MC, Rotterdam. The event was hosted by Dr Martine Lamfers.  

On day 1, Fred Balvert (Science information officer, Head of the Congress Office of the Erasmus MC and Director of Science Gallery Rotterdam) led the sessions, which focussed on communication with various non-scientific audiences, for example with the press and media. It also gave the students the opportunity to consider all of the various stakeholders with whom it is important to connect during the project.

The second day of the course, led by Drs Jasper Rip (Postdoctoral researcher, department of Immunology, Erasmus MC Rotterdam) and Stefan Neys (Postdoctoral researcher, department of Pulmonary Medicine, Erasmus MC Rotterdam), focussed on presentation to a scientific audience through posters and through 3 minute ‘elevator pitches’.

Posters are a very common way by which research is shared at conferences, and it is important that posters are informative, easy to follow and eye-catching whilst clearly explaining the research. An elevator pitch is a brief and catchy verbal overview of your research that you should be able to deliver in the time it takes to ride a lift a few floors with a key investor or collaborator! Practising these key communication skills will benefit our students during their PhDs and beyond.  

In the afternoon there was a Rotterdam Harbour Cruise networking event which was followed by a network dinner at the historical Hotel New York, which is located in the former headquarters of the Holland America Line on the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam, where thousands of emigrants used to leave for North America.

The final day of the course was focussed on communication with patients, and the importance of patients being involved in research. We were delighted to welcome Kathy Oliver (Chair and a Founding Co-Director of the International Brain Tumour Alliance [IBTA]) and Klaske Hofstee (Chairman of the Board, STOPhersentumoren (STOP Brain Tumours), The Netherlands). Talks focussed on the journeys of brain tumour patients and their families as well as on funding mechanisms and collaborative projects that involve brain tumour patients. Finally, the students had the opportunity to give their 3-minute elevator pitches with constructive feedback being given from their peers and from the trainers.

We would like to thank all those involved in the course; Martine Lamfers, Sieger Leenstra, Fred Balvert, Jasper Rip, Stefan Neys, Kathy Oliver, Klaske Hofstee and Noa Faaij.

You can find links to the International Brain Tumour Alliance and to STOPhersentumoren Foundation in the Links page of the website.

GLIORESOLVE coordinator Prof Annette Byrne (Head of the RCSI Precision Cancer Medicine [PCM] Group), in collaboration with Irish charity Brain Tumour Ireland (BTI), hosted a research update event on 1st November 2023 for Brain Tumour Awareness Week.

The event, which takes place annually, was entitled ‘An evening to review and discuss ongoing advancements in brain tumour studies in Ireland’, and showcased the ongoing work of a number of researchers. The video from the event can be viewed below:

GLIORESOLVE coordinator Prof Annette Byrne (Head of the RCSI Precision Cancer Medicine [PCM] Group), in collaboration with Irish charity Brain Tumour Ireland (BTI), are hosting a research update event on 1st November 2023 for Brain Tumour Awareness Week.

The event, which takes place annually, will be held at RCSI, Dublin and is entitled ‘An evening to review and discuss ongoing advancements in brain tumour studies in Ireland’. The video from the 2022 event can be viewed here:

Prof Byrne comments: ‘This year we are delighted to welcome two external speakers, from Trinity College Dublin, Prof Clair Gardiner and Dr Kate Connor. Prof Gardiner (Head of the NK cell research group in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology) will talk about her ongoing projects looking into improving immunotherapy options for brain tumour patients. Dr Connor (Trinity College Dublin Research Fellow, RCSI Honorary Lecturer and PCM Group Radiomics Collaborator) will discuss her project seeking to find new approaches to treat brain tumour related epilepsy”.

Also talking at the event is Dr Kieron White who is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the RCSI PCM Group. Kieron will talk about his research into finding new ways to treat glioblastoma, the most common adult brain tumour. Finally, Mr Kieron Sweeney, Consultant Neurosurgeon at the National Neurosurgery Centre, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin will explain his project which seeks to improve drug delivery to brain tumours using an intercranial system.

At the end of the evening Ms Fiona Keegan, CEO of Brain Tumour Ireland, will present the Ronnie Fehily Medal. BTI was established in 2012 by the Fehily family following the death of their mother Ronnie six months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. This will be the inaugural award, and BTI will be awarding the Ronnie Fehily Medal on an annual basis.

We encourage brain tumour patients, friends and families, and members of the wider public to attend this free event. To register, please visit the following link: RCSI Research Event - Ongoing advancements in Brain Tumour studies Tickets, Wed 1 Nov 2023 at 18:30 | Eventbrite .

On 25 September 2023, GLIORESOLVE Coordinator Prof Annette Byrne was awarded the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland medal for best Oncology paper 2023.

Prof.  James Jones (Professor of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University College Dublin) presented the RAMI medal to Dr Kieron White, who accepted on behalf of Prof Annette Byrne, for the winning paper in the Oncology category, “Identification, validation and biological characterisation of novel glioblastoma tumour microenvironment subtypes: implications for precision immunotherapy”. Dr White, along with Dr Kate Connor are joint first authors on the publication.

The winning paper detailed the research that was undertaken by Prof Byrne, Drs White and Connor, and the wider team as part of the GLIOTRAIN project (funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN initiative, Grant Agreement 766069). Briefly, the team identified that glioblastoma tumours can be categorised into three subtypes based on the different kinds of non-cancer cells that can be found within the brain tumour. These so-called ‘tumour microenvironment’ cells can include immune cells and blood vessel cells. Currently, the majority of patients with glioblastoma are treated in the same way. Further investigation of these newly identified subtypes will mean that different patients could receive treatment specific to the cells in their own tumour. This type of targeted treatment is known as 'precision medicine'.

Precision medicine approaches could include the use of immune-targeting therapies (immunotherapies) in patients that have the tumour subtype defined by high levels of immune cells within their tumour microenvironment. An assessment of glioblastoma clinical trial datasets, detailed in this publication, provides support for this idea. The analysis showed that patients with this subtype of tumour may have an improved outcome when treated with immunotherapies compared to other subtypes.

Overall, this publication is of particular interest to the GLIORESOLVE consortium, as it was this work that underpins the GLIORESOLVE research proposal. Indeed, all of the projects within the current project are focussed on exploring the new tumour microenvironment subtypes at a deeper level, with the overall aim of generating enough data to underpin a post-project Phase 2 clinical trial.

GLIORESOLVE PhD candidate Marta De Lucas Sanz and Principle Investigator Dr Anna Golebiewska (Group leader of the NORLUX Neuro-Oncology laboratory at the Department of Oncology, Luxembourg Institute of Health [LIH]) took part in an outreach event on 17 September 2023. The event, organised by LIH, was held to give the public the opportunity to discover the world of clinical research.

The organisers noted that “Our passionate team of researchers and healthcare professionals will introduce you to topics such as clinical research, biobanking, Parkinson's disease or digital health. You will also learn how everyone, sick or healthy, young or old, can contribute to research. Visit one of our cancer research laboratories. Find answers to many questions you may have been asking yourself for a long time!”

Here are some photos of Marta and Anna enthusiastically explaining their work to attendees!

In June 2023, the 1st GLIORESOLVE plenary meeting and PhD candidate training event took place at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin. The event was held over 4 days.

The Plenary meeting took place on the first day, where all PIs and PhD students were welcomed to the project by Coordinator Prof Annette Byrne. All of the PhD candidates presented an overview of their research project. There were some interesting discussions regarding the sharing of preclinical models, aligning of methodologies and other important matters. The day rounded off with a network dinner at L’Gueuleton.

The remaining 3 days of the programme were focussed on training for the new PhD candidates. On day 1 there were three sessions, the first, ‘Science and Society’ focussed on research and scientific integrity and ethics. We were very pleased to welcome two experts from our Beneficiary Institutes to speak at this session.

Prof Suzanne van de Vathorst (Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Medical Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine at Erasmus MC) reviewed the importance of integrity with the GLIORESOLVE PhD students. There were discussions on falsification, fabrication and plagiarism, on the more nuanced questionable research practices, and finally on the incentives behind a loss of integrity.

Prof Ségolène Aymé (Emeritus Director of Research at INSERM and expert in residence for rare diseases at the Brain and Spine Institute) gave an extremely comprehensive talk on research ethics, covering topics such as use of human samples, use of data, artificial intelligence, and use of animal models. Her talk also covered conflict of interest, scientific communication, recourse to the generosity of the public, equal opportunities and eco-responsibility.

Day 2 saw the well-received workshops, focussing on time management and personal organisation, followed by project management. The training was delivered by Dr Margaret Collins from Training for Universities (https://trainingforuniversities.com/).

The final day of the training event was a workshop of patient and public interaction and engagement (PPIE). Sessions were led by Ms Fiona Keegan, GLIORESOLVE External Advisory Board (EAB) member and CEO of charity Brain Tumour Ireland, and Dr Michelle Flood, RCSI PPI Ignite Network Site Lead. Dr Flood gave two talks, the first was an Introduction to PPIE and the second was a workshop on how to explain scientific research to a lay audience. Ms Keegan gave an overview of Brain Tumour Ireland; how it was founded, the work that they do and the activities that they fund. The GLIORESOLVE students were then tasked to present a 5-minute talk on their research that was suitable for a lay audience. Feedback was provided by Ms Keegan and Dr Flood.

Overall, the first training event provided some key training for the GLIORESOLVE PhD students and also provided the first chance for networking between the students. We look forward to the next event, which will take place in Rotterdam! 

GLIORESOLVE PI Prof Ahmed Idbaih is leading faculty member for the upcoming 4EU+ Against Cancer: Summer School 2023, which takes place 2 - 5 July 2023 in Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic. The 4EU+ summer school is an initiative funded by the European University Alliance and the Erasmus+ Programme.

Students from 4EU+ universities will attend courses covering all aspect of oncology research, from preclinical to clinical approaches, presented by experts of the field. 

Sessions will focus on basic, translational and clinical research in oncology, the basics of cancer treatments, bioinformatics and computational biology and drug development.

For more information, please visit the website here: https://4euplus.eu/4EU-16.html?event=25631&lang=en For the programme, you can click here: https://tarantula.ruk.cuni.cz/UDALOSTI-25631-version1-programme_2022ss.pdf

Applications to take part in this summer school are being accepted until 15th May 2023. Don’t miss out!

Prof Annette Byrne (Head of the RCSI Precision Cancer Medicine [PCM] Group) is introducing a public event on Tuesday 1st November at RCSI entitled ‘Research, clinical practice and rehabilitation: an evening to review and discuss ongoing advancements in brain tumour studies in Ireland’.

The event is being organised in conjunction with Brain Tumour Ireland and is a free event for brain tumour patients, friends and families and to the wider public. Prof Byrne will introduce the event and Dr Kate Connor (PCM GBM sub-group leader) will give a talk outlining ongoing GBM studies at RCSI. Prof Frances Horgan from the Dept. of Physiotherapy (RCSI) will explore the rehabilitation needs of people with brain tumours in Ireland. The evening will be rounded off by consultant neuro-surgeon Mr Kieron Sweeny who will review current practice and recent advancements in brain tumour treatment. If you would like to register for this free event, please visit the following link: Dublin, Ireland 440465252427 Events | Eventbrite

A virtual initiation meeting for GLIORESOLVE was held on 4th October 2022. All beneficiary organisations were represented. We reviewed important management and reporting activities as well as the outstanding PhD training programme that is planned for the project. A key discussion topic was recruitment and we will shortly be advertising our 10 PhD positions on EURAXESS.