Society for Translational Oncology Fellows' Forum (STOFF)

Society for Translational Oncology Fellows' Forum (STOFF) is organized by Society for Translational Oncology (STO) and will be held from Aug 18 - 20, 2022 at Lansdowne Resort and Spa, Leesburg, Virginia, United States of America.

Description:
The Society for Translational Oncology Fellows Forum (STOFF), a 3-day intensive workshop, brings together 25 fellows from the top medical, surgical, and radiation oncology groups and subspecialty Fellowships within five years to discuss and educate these rising stars about barriers and opportunities to translational cancer research.

Internationally acclaimed for its practical, focused, and personal approach, this forum is a hub of expertise. This forum provides guidance for junior faculty and fellows in oncology regarding how to use translational research findings from tumour biology to improve patient outcomes. This broad-based curriculum includes a variety of topics that relate to drug development.

A faculty-to-student ratio is 1:1.5, which gives trainees unique opportunities to network with other scientists and clinicians for translational research efforts that are multidisciplinary and interprofessional.

The faculty includes eminent academics, medical professionals, moral philosophers, business leaders, and financiers in biotech who act as mentors. These distinguished leaders in cancer drug development lecture and lead discussions on topics such as:
• Preclinical and clinical evaluation
• Validation of targets and biomarkers
• Substantiation of the mechanism of action and resistance in clinical trials
• Racial and age-related disparities in clinical trials
• Mechanics of grant-writing
• Guidelines for good basic research

According to Bruce A. Chabner (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School), who created the course more than 20 years ago, "educating young oncologists in the field of clinical and translational research is an investment in the future and is likely to impact the quality of cancer patient care for years to come." Since then, several of the 540+ alumni have achieved great success in their careers and in the field of drug discovery.

Upon successful completion of this didactic training, participants should be better able to:
• Identify the importance of translational research and define its value in clinical medicine.
• Explain how oncology drugs are developed.
• Apply the mechanics of grant writing and guidelines for sound research practices.
• Establish a network of peer oncologists focused on translational research.