STEPUPIORS MSc thesis - Management in the healthcare system

On Sept 22, 2025, STEPUPIORS coordinator Milena Čavić defended her MSc Thesis “Health economic evaluation of liquid biopsy in treatment decision management of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer in Serbia” at the School of Medicine & Faculty of Organizational Studies, University of Belgrade, Serbia, within Master of Science academic studies, Management in the healthcare system.
The thesis formed a crucial part of the project by assessing the technical, human and organizational capacities, as well as the first needs in the field of colorectal cancer. The obtained results showed that there is a strong network of interested parties with satisfactory human, infrastructure and organizational capacities for liquid biopsy analyses in Serbia. Using 8 patient-models derived from a real-world STEPUPIORS cohort, the application of liquid biopsy in this setting might prove to be cost-effective after careful patient sub-selection. A future complete health-economic evaluation of the addition of ctDNA analysis in treatment management of patients with rectal cancer might serve as a basis for updating national

treatment guidelines for this cancer type.

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Save the date: STEPUPIORS WEBINAR ON PRECISION MEDICINE

Date: September 18th 2025, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM (CET)

STEPUPIORS is delighted to invite you to its Webinar on Precision Medicine

AGENDA
10:00 – 10:45 Methods for ssDNA library prep for the study of ultra-short cfDNA fragments – Dr Miljana Tanić, IORS
10:45 – 11:00 Discussion
11:00 – 11:45 AI in precision medicine – advantages of ensemble deep learning approaches – Dr Marko Radulović, IORS
11:45 – 12:00 Discussion

Dr Miljana Tanić is a molecular biologist with a PhD in human cancer genetics from the Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain. She gained international scientific experience at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, Columbia University, Aarhus Hospital and the UCL Cancer Institute, where she performed her postdoc studies. Dr Tanić’s research investigates the molecular mechanisms of resistance to therapy and the evolution of the epigenetic landscape in various cancer types, through the application of high-throughput genomics, genetic epidemiology, and bioinformatics methods and development of machine learning-based classifiers as medical support tools in oncology.

Dr Marko Radulović received his PhD degree from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade. He worked in cancer research at the Immunology Research Centre in Belgrade, the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, Germany, University College London and Imperial College London. He is currently a Research Professor at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology in Belgrade, Serbia. Dr Radulović’s research focuses on the investigation of molecular and morphological prognostic and predictive markers in cancer. He has published over 90 scientific articles.

JOIN US ON 18 September at 10:00 AM (CET)

Topic: STEPUPIORS_PRECISION MEDICINE WEBINAR
Time: Sep 18, 2025 10:00 AM Belgrade, Bratislava, Ljubljana
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81092465197?pwd=qJWihKlRAYz0ZiQfU1oktL2AvJbgSJ.1

Meeting ID: 810 9246 5197
Passcode: 129174

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STEPUPIORS Final project meeting

The STEPUPIORS Final project meeting was held in Belgrade and online, in the period of Aug 29-30, 2025. The meeting was attended by participants from all partner institutions. The agenda included discussions on the scientific and management aspects of the project.

During the first day of the meeting, expert visits of partner institutions to IORS were held, exploring the new biobanking and research management capacities developed at IORS through the project framework, with the help of expert institutions. NKI AVL, FRCB-IDIBAPS and BRFAA clinicians and scientists visited the Dept. of experimental oncology, Clinic for oncological surgery and Clinic for radiation oncology, with visits to the IORS director and management. After the expert visit, presentations of project achievements, deliverables and milestones were held for all work packages by WP leaders, highlighting main achievements. It was concluded that all project aims were fully achieved, with no major deviations. The project consortium functioned as a team throughout 3 project years, with joint wishes for long term consortium sustainability.

On the second day of the meeting, a scientific symposium was held during which main research directions, results and future joint plans were discussed. The meeting continued with a Workshop on grant applications, reviewing strategic proposal planning and specific future calls of interest focused on the STEPUPIORS consortium. It was agreed to apply for future funding to explore the open avenues of research which have evolved within the consortium.

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Expert visit of partner institutions to IORS

Biobanking and research staff from FRCB-IDIBAPS performed an expert visit to IORS on August 29, 2025, during the Final project meeting period. During the visit, Dr Teresa Botta and Judith Sabath from FRCB-IDIBAPS Biobank got acquainted with the challenges and achievements of the first Rectal Cancer Biobank at IORS, established within STEPUPIORS. Also, the IORS staff introduced colleagues from FRCB-IDIBAPS to facilities and human resources at the Department of Experimental Oncology. They got familiar with the organization of research work within the following laboratories: Laboratory for Molecular Genetics, Laboratory for Experimental Pharmacology, Laboratory for Immunology, Laboratory for Radiobiology and Experimental Oncology, and Department of Genetic Counselling for Hereditary Cancers, which represent smaller organizational units of the Department of Experimental Oncology. During the visit, PhD student Xavi Dominguez was introduced to in vitro and ex vivo studies at IORS.
Research and clinical staff from NKI-AVL performed an expert visit to IORS on August 29, 2025, during the Final project meeting period. During the visit, STEPUPIORS PI dr Remond Fijneman and dr Niels Kok from NKI-AVL visited the Clinic for radiological oncology and the Clinic for oncological surgery and got acquainted with the structure and organization of IORS as a national cancer healthcare centre.  Also, the IORS staff introduced PhD students Denise van Steijn and Renske de Wit from NKI-AVL to facilities and human resources at the Department of Experimental Oncology. They got familiar with the organization of research work within the following laboratories: Laboratory for Molecular Genetics, Laboratory for Experimental Pharmacology, Laboratory for Immunology, Laboratory for Radiobiology and Experimental Oncology, and Department of Genetic Counselling for Hereditary Cancers, which represent smaller organizational units of the Department of Experimental Oncology. During the visit, Denise van Steijn and Renske de Wit were introduced to in vitro and ex vivo studies at IORS.

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