At the turn of May and June, two important visits took place as part of building cooperation with foreign and domestic partners. The first of these was to the Comprehensive Cancer Center* in Oslo (Oslo University Hospital – Comprehensive Cancer Centre/The Radium Hospital) at the end of May, when a delegation from the Masaryk Cancer Institute, led by its director, Prof. Marek Svoboda, went there. He was accompanied by the Deputy for Science, Research and Education, Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Kazda, and the Executive Director of BBMRI. CZ Assoc. Prof. Roman Hrstka.

Our and the Norwegian institution are connected not only by similar dates of establishment in the 1930s, but as it turned out during the visit, they have also undergone similar development. In addition to the clinical part, both have their own research base, and both are accredited members of the Organization of European Oncology Institutes OECI. The Radium Hospital is a larger institution compared to the MOU, carrying out excellent clinical and translational research to a greater extent. Like the MOU, it is currently undergoing significant development of its infrastructure.

The purpose of the visit was to introduce each other’s institutions and possibly find topics for the development of bilateral cooperation, which was also successful. A tour of the new hospital and research center was also held. Both parties agreed on the possibilities of cooperation, especially in the areas of precision medicine, cancer prevention, radiobiology, geronto-oncology, care for cancer survivors and biobanking. A representative of the Norwegian side will speak at this year’s Brno Cancer Days.

The second important meeting was the visit of representatives of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic** (IOCB) to the Masaryk Institute of Oncology at the beginning of June. Their subsidiary for supporting the transfer of research results into practice, the bioinnovation center i&i Prague, also participated in the meeting. IOCB is a research institution of world importance, which has produced a number of important drugs, such as oxytocin, desmopressin, azacitidine, or a whole group of antivirals used in the treatment of HIV. The meeting focused primarily on supporting translational research within the National Institute for Cancer Research (NÚVR), of which both institutions are members, and on the possibilities of mutual assistance in clinical trials of new substances that IOCB is developing.

More information about partners:

OUH – Institute for Cancer Research
Oslo Cancer Cluster
Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry AS CR

* On behalf of OUH-CCC, the meeting was attended in Norway by Prof. Sigbjørn Smeland, Director of the Clinical Division of OUH-CCC, Prof. Kjetil Tasken, Director of the Research Division (Institute of Cancer Research), and their colleagues Prof. Åslaug Helland, Dr Mari Nygård, Moya Edith Thompson Berli, Mag. art. Per Magnus Mæhle and Ketil Widerberg, MBA.

** The visit of Prof. Jan Konvalinka, Director of the Institute of Clinical Investigation, Dr. Zuzana Kečkéšová, Head of the Research Group of the Institute of Clinical Investigation and Dr. Jiří Moose, CEO of i&i Prague, was preceded by a meeting of Prof. Marek Svoboda, Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Kazda and Assoc. Prof. Radka Lordick Obermannová, Head of the Phase I Unit of the Institute of Clinical Investigation, at the Institute of Clinical Investigation in Prague at the beginning of April. They were joined at the Institute of Clinical Investigation by Assoc. Prof. Roman Hrstka, Assoc. Prof. Regina Demlová, Director of the CZECRIN Infrastructure, Head of the Clinical Studies Department at the Institute of Clinical Investigation, Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Brázdil, FI MU, Dr. Bořivoj Vojtěšek, Scientific Director of RECAMO and individual heads of RECAMO research groups.