Patient advocates are often the greatest champions for cancer research. From participating in funding, ethics and policy committees, they put patient perspectives at the heart of our work - helping us to improve cancer care and treatment.
However, despite this invaluable work, technical terminology and research methods can be confusing and remote, and can put people without a scientific background at a disadvantage during discussions.
The solution was for numerous groups of cancer researchers throughout Ireland to design a training course that would empower patient advocates. Inspired by the success of the UK's VOICE programme (created by Independent Cancer Patients' Voice at Barts Cancer Institute (Queen Mary University of London), the week of workshops subsequently took place in August at various cancer institutes.
As part of the event, the All-Ireland Cancer Liquid Biopsies Consortium (CLuB) hosted patient advocates at Trinity College Dublin, where researchers and investigators demonstrated their work and how liquid biopsies (blood tests) can potentially be used for diagnosis of cancer.
This included presentations by Prof Lorraine O'Driscoll and Ms Faye Lewis PhD student, with a wrap-up by Prof John O’Leary. CLuB researchers gave practical demonstrations, showing patient advocates how to find, count and store cancer cells.
An enormous thank you to the All-Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI) and to everyone who made this event possible: Patient advocates Jacqueline Daly, Debbie Keatley, Aidan McCormick, Krista Costello and Roberta Horgan, Breakthrough Cancer Research, Irish Cancer Society, Precision Oncology Ireland, PPI Ignite Network, UCD, the Higher Education Authority, Research Ireland, and Independent Cancer Patients' Voice
Looking forward to next year’s programme in Belfast!