On October20-24, many PRIME-ROSE partners gathered in Madrid for the ESMO 2023 congress. The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has more than 34 000 members across 170 countries, and the annual conference is an excellent arena to learn more about news and developments within cancer care, from prevention and diagnosis to new drugs and treatment options as well as palliative care and patient follow-up. ESMO is also an important arena to connect with the industry and meet their global representatives, and it is a great opportunity to present own research either at poster sessions or if given the chance, to give an oral presentation.

At the ESMO2023 congress, PRIME-ROSE co-coordinator Hans Gelderblom and Soemeya Haj Mohammad, both from Leiden University Medical Center, presented the poster “The DRUP-like clinical trials family: a distributed European trial network for equitable access to precision medicine”. In addition, several other posters from e.g. DRUP, DETERMINE, FINPROVE and IMPRESS-Norway presented their work within precision cancer medicine, and an overview of these presentations were highlighted in a press release before the congress started.

Since many PRIME-ROSE partners gathered in Madrid due to the ESMO 2023 congress, this was an excellent possibility to also meet in person, discuss the project, interact with a broader network and get to know each other better. On October 21, PRIME-ROSE was invited to a Swedish networking event hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in Spain. Vision Zero Cancer, Business Sweden and the Embassy of Sweden in Spain organized a special event focusing on precision cancer medicine and innovation that brought together both the Swedish and global cancer communities present in Madrid due to the ESMO congress.

Furthermore, on October 21, the first PRIME-ROSE get-together was launched in a cosy restaurant in the heart of Madrid. This hang-out and networking event gathered more than 50 participants and sparked lively discussion in a nice atmosphere. PRIME-ROSE will continue to organize similar events at the ESMO and ASCO congresses going forward.

Image gallery:

ESMO 2023 presentations: Soemeya H. Mohamad presenting the PRIME-ROSE poster, Hans Gelderblom presenting the DRUP poster, Tanja Juslin and Kjetil Taskén visiting the FINPROVE poster, Sahar van Walwijk van Doorn-Khosrovani presenting a poster on MTBs and a healthcare policy in the Netherlands as well as Hege Russnes, Åslaug Helland and Live Fagereng representing IMPRESS-Norway.

Networking event at the Embassy of Sweden in Spain: Among the presenters at the event were Ebba Hallersjö Hult, Head Vision Zero Cancer, and Edvard Abel, PI of the Swedish DRUP-like trial FOCU-SE.

PRIME-ROSE get-together: Coordinator Kjetil Taskén welcoming everyone to mingling in the heart of Madrid.

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