VULSK Specialists Immerse in Clinical Trials Training at St. Anna CCRI under TREL Project
(Vienna, 17.11.2023) The EU-funded project TREL seeks to bridge gaps in research indicators and treatment outcomes by fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development. This week, the St. Anna Childrens Cancer Research Institute warmly welcomed three specialists from Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos (VULSK) for a secondment to not only strengthens their ties in the field but also to take a crucial step towards improving clinical outcomes for childhood cancer.
Within the framework of the project “Twinning in Research and Education to improve survival in Childhood Solid Tumours in Lithuania” (TREL), pediatric oncologist Dr. Elizabeta-Goda Vaitkevičienė, biostatistician, and bioinformatician Ramunė Vaišnorė, along with senior specialist for clinical trials Danielė Ramonaitė, participated in a comprehensive training program. During the program, they delved into the organizational structure of the Clinical Trials Unit at St. Anna CCRI, where the warm welcome extended across various departments, including S²IRP and its statistical unit, the Tumor Biology Group, the Bioinformatics unit, and the Research Management Office.
“The program covered a wide variety of aspects from sharing the experience of paperwork necessary for initiation of Clinical Trials and the organization of the team to the visiting of the research labs and attending the seminar with post-doc students’ presentations on on-going studies,” elaborates Dr. Elizabeta-Goda Vaitkevičienė. “It provided a valuable opportunity to witness studies not currently conducted in Lithuania,” adds Danielė Ramonaitė. The specialists are now eager to apply their newfound insights to further develop the clinical trials structure in their center in Lithuania.
This networking initiative, coordinated by Jelena Racon (VULSK) with Prof. Ruth Ladenstein and Sabine Taschner-Mandel as responsible principal Investigators at St. Anna CCRI, facilitated a mutual exchange of experiences, fostering collaboration between departments and contributing to the reciprocal enhancement of the TREL project’s impact on both sides. “It was a great pleasure to visit St. Anna CCRI,” concludes Dr. Elizabeta-Goda Vaitkevičienė.
