stepupiors

Exploring novel genetic and hematological predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer

Our first project year was filled with many important and inspiring events. Of particular importance was our work with young people and children on their education about healthy food and a healthy lifestyle. In addition to visiting elementary schools, we also visited children from two kindergartens in Belgrade, PU “Poletarac” from Palilula and PU “Lunja” from Vračar. Dr Ana Đurić, Dr Milena Cavic and Dr Marija Đorđić Crnogorac, in a good atmosphere through games and fun, encouraged children to think about healthy lifestyle habits that are extremely important for their future and proper psychophysical development. How the children accepted these topics and how willing they were to learn new knowledge is best described by their numerous drawings that we received as a gift.

* P-0466 The Road from Human Sample Collections to the First Rectal Cancer Biobank at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia (Ana Đurić et al.)

* P-0083 Correlation between genetic and proteomic expression of predictive biomarkers of response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer identified by data independent acquisition mass spectrometry (Aleksandra Stanojević et al.)

Participant feedback:
“The workshop on various omics techniques was highly enlightening, as it effectively demonstrated the potential of omics and its integration into clinical practice for the benefit of cancer patients.”
“I was particularly impressed by how the course showcased the practical applications of omics in understanding the underlying mechanisms of cancer and its personalized approach to diagnosis, treatment, and patient management.”

STEPUPIORS team invites you to join the exciting online training within WP2 entitled “Omics data generation and integration with clinical information”. The workshop will address the main principles of proteomics, transcriptomics, and genomics along with computational tools for integrating omics datasets and linking them to clinical data. Statistical and bioinformatics tools available for the analysis of omics and clinical data will also be presented during this two-day workshop.

During the period May 14-20, 2023, STEPUPIORS team members Aleksandra Stanojević, Ana Đurić and Milena Čavić participated as lecturers at the course “Biochemistry in service of health – modern approaches in biomedical research”, organized by the Biochemical Society of Serbia in Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia. Dr Čavić gave a lecture “Molecular genetics methods in modern diagnostics and scientific research” during which she promoted the STEPUPIORS project and invited interested students from 4 Universities in Serbia (University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad, University of Niš, University of Kragujevac) to join the efforts of profiling new predictive biomarkers for rectal cancer in their future studies. Ms Stanojević discussed her PhD work on rectal cancer within the project with students and answered questions regarding the specificities of working in a health research center. Dr Đurić discussed with students about using cell cultures for metabolomics approaches and functional validation of identified biomarkers for rectal cancer.

The students were very interested in all aspects of the presented work, and expressed wishes for a follow-up visit to the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia and further studies on the topic within their Masters and PhD thesis.