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Collaborating Worldwide to Advance Cancer Science

With members in 139 countries and territories, the AACR collaborates on a global scale to promote scientific excellence and benefit everyone by reducing cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality. Through collaborations with more than 20 national and international organizations and institutions in 2023, the AACR developed cutting-edge programs and educational opportunities to advance lifesaving cancer research around the world.

Joint Conference and Workshops

The AACR worked with cancer research organizations around the world to produce the following joint conferences, educational workshops, and symposia in 2023:

  • EACR-AACR-SIC CONFERENCE ON IMMUNE RESPONSES AND DNA REPAIR
     March 15–17; Florence, Italy
    The AACR worked with the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and the Società Italiana di Cancerologia (SIC) to launch this new joint conference that addressed the molecular mechanisms found at the convergence of immunology and DNA damage and how those mechanisms can be exploited to treat cancer. The conference convened basic and translational cancer scientists as well as clinicians interested in developing novel approaches to cancer treatment.
  • SECOND JCA-AACR PRECISION CANCER MEDICINE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
     June 28–30; Kyoto, Japan
    Chaired by Hiroyoshi Nishikawa, MD, PhD, and Charles Swanton, MD, PhD, FAACR, this joint collaboration with the Japanese Cancer Association (JCA) showcased the latest developments in precision cancer medicine. Launched in 2022 and reprised in 2023, the conference will be held in Japan every two to three years going forward.
  • AACR-AHNS HEAD AND NECK CANCER CONFERENCE
     July 7–8; Montreal, Québec, Canada
    The AACR partnered with the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) to organize the third edition of this joint conference, which was chaired by Joseph A. Califano, MD, Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, Sana D. Karam, MD, PhD, and Jose P. Zevallos MD, MPH. The conference highlighted the latest updates in head and neck cancer biology, detection, imaging, prevention, and therapy.
  • CRI-ENCI-AACR SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY CONFERENCE: TRANSLATING SCIENCE INTO SURVIVAL
     September 20–23; Milan, Italy
    The seventh edition of this collaboration between the AACR, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), and the European Network for Cancer Immunotherapy (ENCI) was chaired by Pier Francesco Ferrucci, MD, Christopher Huber, MD, Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, and Arlene H. Sharpe, MD, PhD, and presented cutting-edge cancer immunology and immunotherapy research.
  • AACR-KCA JOINT CONFERENCE ON PRECISION MEDICINE IN CANCER
     November 15–17; Seoul, Korea
    Chaired by Tae Min Kim, MD, PhD, and Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR, this joint conference organized by the AACR and the Korean Cancer Association (KCA) featured the Waun Ki Hong Memorial Lecture. William C. Hahn, MD, PhD, discussed “The cancer dependency map and beyond” in a lecture that honored the memory of AACR Past President Waun Ki Hong, MD, FAACR.
Organizers and faculty of the AACR on Campus even tin Mumbai, India.
  • SECOND JCA-AACR PRECISION CANCER MEDICINE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
     June 28–30; Kyoto, Japan
    Chaired by Hiroyoshi Nishikawa, MD, PhD, and Charles Swanton, MD, PhD, FAACR, this joint collaboration with the Japanese Cancer Association (JCA) showcased the latest developments in precision cancer medicine. Launched in 2022 and reprised in 2023, the conference will be held in Japan every two to three years going forward.
  • AACR-AHNS HEAD AND NECK CANCER CONFERENCE
     July 7–8; Montreal, Québec, Canada
    The AACR partnered with the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS) to organize the third edition of this joint conference, which was chaired by Joseph A. Califano, MD, Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, Sana D. Karam, MD, PhD, and Jose P. Zevallos MD, MPH. The conference highlighted the latest updates in head and neck cancer biology, detection, imaging, prevention, and therapy.
  • CRI-ENCI-AACR SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY CONFERENCE: TRANSLATING SCIENCE INTO SURVIVAL
     September 20–23; Milan, Italy
    The seventh edition of this collaboration between the AACR, the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), and the European Network for Cancer Immunotherapy (ENCI) was chaired by Pier Francesco Ferrucci, MD, Christopher Huber, MD, Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD, and Arlene H. Sharpe, MD, PhD, and presented cutting-edge cancer immunology and immunotherapy research.
  • AACR-KCA JOINT CONFERENCE ON PRECISION MEDICINE IN CANCER
     November 15–17; Seoul, Korea
    Chaired by Tae Min Kim, MD, PhD, and Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR, this joint conference organized by the AACR and the Korean Cancer Association (KCA) featured the Waun Ki Hong Memorial Lecture. William C. Hahn, MD, PhD, discussed “The cancer dependency map and beyond” in a lecture that honored the memory of AACR Past President Waun Ki Hong, MD, FAACR.

AACR ON CAMPUS

AACR on Campus is an overseas outreach program offered to young investigators at research institutions in low-resource settings. The program advances international collaboration by providing education and training in cancer research innovations, scientific publishing, science communication, research integrity, and career development. In collaboration with a local host organization, the AACR tailors the program to serve the interests and needs of local cancer research and clinical practice communities.

  • AACR ON CAMPUS IN INDIA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ADVANCED CENTRE FOR TREATMENT, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN CANCER (ACTREC)
     October 31–November 1; Mumbai, India
    Scientific leaders from the AACR and ACTREC worked together to offer a training session on Collaboration, Scientific Communication, and Grant Writing for early-career scientists as well as three scientific sessions focused on lung, gastrointestinal, and breast cancers—three of the most common cancers in India. The program also provided early-career scientists with an opportunity to share their work in poster sessions and short talks and receive feedback from the distinguished faculty.
Organizers and faculty of the AACR on Campus even tin Mumbai, India.

Other International Collaborations

  • 11TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ON GLOBAL CANCER RESEARCH
     April 4–6; Virtual
    The AACR organized this symposium—which was a virtual satellite meeting to the 14th annual conference of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)—in collaboration with the US National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health, American Society of Clinical Oncology, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Partners in Hope Malawi, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Fundación Instituto Leloir-CONICET, and the Republic of Zambia Ministry of Health.

    The theme of the symposium was “Closing the Research-to-Implementation Gap” and the objectives were to: provide a venue for the global oncology research community to exchange information and identify potential areas for collaboration; develop strategic priorities for advancing the field of global oncology; share initiatives that are reducing the burden of cancer in low resource settings; and create opportunities for researchers and program implementers from low resource settings to present their work. The symposium abstracts were published along with a commentary on the meeting in a special online-only supplement to the AACR journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

  • EACR CONGRESS
     June 12–15; Torino, Italy
    The AACR organized a Joint Session with the EACR on the topic of “Computational Biology and AI in Research and Cancer Care.” The session was chaired by Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR, and Carlos Caldas, MD.
  • 17TH INTERNATIONAL CONFRENCE ON MALIGNANT LYMPHOMA
     June 13–17; Lugano, Switzerland
    AACR CEO Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), and ICML organizing committee chairman Francesco Bertoni, MD, chaired an AACR-ICML Joint Session on "Technology That Will Change Lymphoma Understanding and Care."
  • 14TH AORTIC INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CANCER IN AFRICA
     November 2–6; Dakar, Senegal
    AACR Senior Director of Global Affairs Frédéric Biemar, PhD, presented the AACR's vision for the future of cancer research in a session on "Profiling Opportunities for Research," jointly organized with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the African Academy of Science.
  • SBOC 2023 CONGRESS
     November 16–18; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
    The AACR collaborated with SBOC to organize two joint sessions on “Disparities in Cancer Care” during the congress. Presenters included Joaquina Celebre Baranda, MD, Amin Nassar, MD, Scarlett Lin Gomez, MPH, PhD, and Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD.
  • FRONTIERS IN CANCER SCIENCE
     November 6–8; Singapore
    The AACR worked with the Singapore-based organizers of Frontiers in Cancer Science (FCS) to offer three joint Education Sessions:
  • “Anticancer Drugs, from Small Molecules to Antibody and Gene Therapy,” presented by Mien-Chie Hung, PhD.
  • “Genome Instability and Cancer Genome Evolution,” presented by Ashok Venkitaraman, MD, PhD.
  • "Introduction to Ferroptosis," presented by Scott Dixon, PhD.
  • ESMO ASIA CONGRESS 2023
     December 1–3; Singapore
    The AACR and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) partnered to present two Collaborative Sessions at the Congress in Singapore:
  • “Early Detection of Cancer,” chaired by Elizabeth Smyth, MD, and Yu Shyr, PhD, FAACR.
  • “Targeting the Kinome,” chaired by Ruth Plummer, MD, and Channing Der, PhD.
  • THIRD CHINA-US ANTI-CANCER SUMMIT
     December 20; Virtual
    AACR President (2023–2024) Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR, participated in a panel of experts to discuss progress against cancer. Panelists included Daiming Fan, MD, PhD, President, China Anti-Cancer Association (CACA); Ying Wang, PhD, Vice President, CACA; Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, President, American Society of Clinical Oncology; and William L. Dahut, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, American Cancer Society. The event was moderated by Ruihua Xu, MD, PhD, Vice President, CACA, and President, Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology; and Li Yan, MD, PhD, Managing Director, USCACA.

TRAVEL AWARDS AND GRANTS

  • AACR GLOBAL SCHOLAR-IN-TRAINING AWARD (GSITA). The AACR GSITA program supports attendance at the AACR Annual Meeting of meritorious early-career scientists from countries that are building cancer research capacities. The 2023 scholars, who were selected through a rigorous peer-review process, represented Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Jordan, Malawi, Nigeria, Peru, and Thailand.
  • FRONTIERS IN CANCER SCIENCE (FCS) POSTER PRIZES. During the FCS conference held in Singapore, the AACR presented travel awards of up to US$2,500 to two meritorious international poster presenters so that these investigators could attend the AACR Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego, California, to present their work.
  • BEGINNING INVESTIGATOR GRANTS FOR CATALYTIC RESEARCH (BIG Cat). BIG Cat is an initiative launched by the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) in collaboration with the AACR and the U.S. NCI Center for Global Health (NCI/CGH) to build capacity for cancer research in Africa and address the continent’s rising burden of cancer. The program is jointly administered by the AACR and AORTIC and issues awards of up to US$55,000 for two-year cancer research projects conducted in Africa by African investigators. Four grants were awarded in 2023 to recipients in South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, and Mali. To date, projects have also been funded in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.
  • MAXIMIZING OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW ADVANCEMENTS IN RESEARCH IN CANCER (MONARCA) GRANTS. Launched in 2022, the AACR MONARCA Grants are part of an AACR initiative to alleviate the public health burden of cancer in Latin America by developing a pipeline of talented investigators in the region. The grants provide US$55,000 over two years to early-career cancer scientists who are citizens of and are residing in Latin American countries and support research relevant to the cancer burden in Latin America. A total of three grants were awarded in 2023 to recipients in Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
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