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Scientist Exchanges and Training Programs
At the heart of NCI's efforts to address the global challenge of cancer are the training and career development
programs offered at the Institute and at other biomedical research institutions around the United States. These
programs allow students and professionals at all stages of their careers to develop the skills necessary to conduct
basic, clinical, and cancer control research, as well as research in the behavioral and population sciences. It takes
a superbly trained, highly effective workforce to make groundbreaking discoveries, to translate them into new
interventions, and to put that knowledge to work to help people.
NCI's commitment to train foreign cancer researchers is manifestly evident in the cadre of international visitors
working in the Institute's laboratories. Most of these visitors are supported by NCI's visiting scientist programs,
which are described
below. Another program that attracts hundreds of international investigators every
summer is NCI's Cancer Prevention and Control Summer Academic Course, which is described below.
Additional examples of NCI programs that allow researchers from other countries to train under the mentorship of
NCI staff and grantees, as well as opportunities for U.S. researchers to go abroad, are highlighted here.
NCI's Office of Nursing Affairs (ONA) in the Institute's Center for Cancer Research
(CCR) has hosted nurses from the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium for
training in the roles and responsibilities of clinical research nursing. In addition, ONA
staff members have visited the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) in Amman, Jordan
to help develop its clinical research programs. ONA staff presented a course on "The
Fundamentals of Clinical Research" to both nurses and doctors at the KHCC. NCI is
currently hosting Jordanian nurses at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center.
These nurses are being mentored in core oncology nursing training, cancer genetics, and
clinical trials.
Since 2001, NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis has supported the ACRIN
Fellowship Program with the goal of training a new cadre of radiologist researchers that
is better able to develop and lead rigorous, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional clinical
trials. NCI has awarded ACRIN funds to recruit and train three new fellows a year, for
an initial period of 3 years. The NCI-funded fellows may have an interest in any subspecialty
of radiology. The program is intended to lead ultimately to the development of
independent clinical trialists. Of 13 ACRIN fellowships awarded since 2001, eight have
gone to international investigators, including one from Germany who has assumed the
role of principal investigator for the ACRIN protocol "Semi-Automated Calculation of
Volumes of Enhancing Tumor and Tumor Plus Edema from Routine Magnetic Resonance
Images in Patients with Malignant Gliomas."
NCI's longest-lasting international bilateral relationship is the 41-year-old U.S.-Japan
Cooperative Cancer Research Program, which is a joint effort of NCI and the Japan Society
for the Promotion of Science. Under this program, the United States and Japan have sponsored
more than 250 seminars and participated in more than 500 researcher exchanges.
The researcher exchange program offers junior scientists from both countries mentoring,
training, and new research experiences while conducting research projects of mutual
interest to the host laboratories. Research workshops have also been held on numerous
topics, including "Cancer Immunosurveillance" and "Cancer Vaccine Clinical Trials."
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Persuasive evidence of NCI's commitment to train foreign cancer researchers can be found in the cadre of international
visitors working in NCI laboratories. In fiscal year 2005, over 1,000 of these visitors, representing 74 countries,
contributed to intramural projects being conducted at NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) while preparing
themselves for their own careers as cancer researchers. The major contribution these training activities make
toward the worldwide effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer is evidenced by the fact that many of
the current leaders in cancer research around the globe spent time at NCI earlier in their careers. Most of these
international visitors to NCI's laboratories have been supported by the NIH Visiting Program.
In addition to these training activities at NCI facilities, NCI's Office of International Affairs (OIA) partially supports
the training of scientists from developing countries in non-NCI laboratories across the United States as well as in
laboratories located in other countries. In fiscal year 2005, OIA supported scientists from Argentina, Cameroon, China,
Egypt, Poland, and Venezuela who were trained at cancer institutes, hospitals, and universities located in the United
States. Also that year, OIA sponsored trainees from Afghanistan, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Iran, Jordan, Ukraine, and
the West Bank who were trained in laboratories located in France, Israel, India, and the United Kingdom.
More information about the NIH Visiting Program can be found at
http://dis.ors.od.nih.gov/aboutnihvp.htm.
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In 1997, NCI convened the first scientific symposium focused on AIDS-associated
malignancies. The scientific community soon identified the need for greater cooperation
and collaboration to address the problem of AIDS-associated cancer and this annual
symposium became an international event. As of 2005, NCI has sponsored nine of
these symposia.
The symposium serves as a forum for the presentation of basic, epidemiologic, and clinical
aspects of research on malignancies in human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)-infected
and other immunosuppressed individuals.
Participants include clinical and laboratory investigators, postdoctoral fellows, and students.
The symposium also draws physicians and health care workers who are interested
in, or participating in, malignancy research in AIDS, other immunodeficiencies, and
tumor virology from the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The
symposium represents the only meeting of its kind to describe the current state-of-the-science,
identify challenges and opportunities, and stimulate research cooperation across the
globe in the field of AIDS-associated malignancies.
In 1999, a historic memorandum of understanding was signed that established the
Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium. The primary goal of this consortium
is to enhance the infrastructure for cancer research and cancer care across all of Ireland.
In addition to facilitating interactions among the three research communities represented,
the Consortium has developed a number of joint programs to address the entire continuum
of cancer (see related article in
Building the Capacity and Infrastructure for Cancer Research and Care). One of these programs supports scholar
exchanges that have, to date, involved three Irish scholars who were given 3-year fellowships
in epidemiology. One year of these fellowships was spent working with NCI's
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program in Bethesda, Maryland.
NCI has also hosted more than a dozen Irish nurses, who trained in oncology nursing
and clinical trials for 3 months at the National Institutes of Health's Clinical Center in
Bethesda, Maryland (see above).
Additional evidence of this training commitment is demonstrated by the fact that over
80 researchers and health care providers from Ireland have participated in NCI's summer
academic course on the principles and practice of cancer prevention and control (see
related article below).
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Each summer, visitors from a number of foreign countries participate in the Principles and Practice of Cancer
Prevention and Control Course offered by NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP). In 2005, course participants
included scientists and health professionals from China, Ghana, India, Lithuania, Russia, and Turkey.
The course focuses on concepts, methods, issues, and applications related to the field of cancer prevention and
control. Participants have an opportunity to gain a broad-based perspective of these subjects, including resources,
data, methods, and theories. Instilled lifetime learning skills include critical appraisal of the literature and bibliographic
search concepts and techniques.
Given the large number of international participants, most of whom are accomplished scientists, one day is set
aside to provide an opportunity for these participants to share their expertise with other course attendees through
presentations on issues related to cancer prevention in their home countries.
The Principles and Practice of Cancer Prevention and Control Course is part of DCP's NCI Summer Curriculum in
Cancer Prevention, which also includes a Molecular Cancer Prevention Course and an Annual Advances in Cancer
Prevention Lecture.
More information about DCP's NCI Summer Curriculum in Cancer Prevention and the Principles and Practice of
Cancer Prevention and Control Course can be found at http://www3.cancer.gov/prevention/pob/courses/index.html.
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