IARC and the National Cancer Center of China launch a regional Learning Centre

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the National Cancer Center of China (NCC China) are setting up an IARC-NCC China Learning Centre to train researchers and practitioners and to foster collaborative cancer prevention research and activities across China and the region.

The related Memorandum of Understanding was signed between IARC and NCC China on 10 May 2023 in Lyon, France, alongside the IARC Governing Council meeting. The agreement was signed by IARC Director Dr Elisabete Weiderpass and NCC China Director Professor Jie He, as well as the responsible officers, Ms Anouk Berger, Head of the Learning and Capacity-Building Branch at IARC, and Professor Yawei Zhang, Chair of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control at NCC China.

Capacity-building is a core part of IARC’s mission, including through education and training of cancer researchers worldwide. Self-learning resources have been increasingly produced, and IARC learning events have expanded internationally. However, the limited number of places available in the currently offered learning events cannot adequately meet the demand, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which are facing the greatest increases in cancer burden. Therefore, IARC is considering ways to further expand some of its learning activities worldwide through international partnerships.

The first activity of the new regional Learning Centre will be to organize an IARC-NCC China Summer School in China, focusing on cancer epidemiology and aimed at researchers and health professionals from China and countries in South-East Asia. Other activities will include the joint development of new learning modules and the organization of train-the-trainers courses in the areas of cancer surveillance, cancer screening, and other initiatives focusing on primary prevention. The IARC-NCC China Learning Centre will leverage the impact of IARC learning activities, contributing to increased capacity in cancer research in the region.

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Visit the IARC Learning website 

Read more about the IARC Summer School 

Visit the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development (GICR) website 

Visit the Cancer Screening in Five Continents (CanScreen5) website

Visit the World Code Against Cancer Framework website