Photo: Certificate Award Ceremony at the GYNOCARE Training School, with Prof Gligor Tofoski, President of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of North Macedonia (far left), and Prof Jean Calleja Agius, GYNOCARE Action Chair (middle)
Prof Jean Calleja Agius from the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medine and Surgery at the University of Malta and Action Chair of the GYNOCARE COST Action (CA18117) organised the first hybrid GYNOCARE Training School at the Medical Faculty in Skopje, North Macedonia between 18,- 20 September 2022. This was held in collaboration with the Association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of North Macedonia (MAGO).
The theme of the Training School was ‘Update on Rare Gynaecological Cancer: Focus on Pathological Aspects and Beyond’. This was accompanied by a Satellite Symposium on Telemedicine in Oncology in collaboration with the Università di Bologna, Italy, together with a GYNOCARE Management Committee meeting.
GYNOCARE is a European network for Gynaecological Rare Cancer research: from Concept to Cure. GYNOCARE is supported by COST (European Co-operation in Science and Technology). COST is a funding agency for research and innovation networks.
For this GYNOCARE Training School, there were over 130 participants from more than 30 countries, including most European countries, near neighbouring countries and beyond. The expertise of the eminent speakers reflected the interdisciplinarity of the GYNOCARE COST Action, with specialities ranging from pathology, clinical oncology, gynaecology, public health, molecular biology, multi-omics, biobanking, pharmaceutics and even space biology.This Training School coincided with the World Gynaeoncology Day (World GO Day) and was covered extensively in the local and international media.
The aim of fruitful networking was achieved, with plans for more research collaborations, short-term scientific missions, conferences and meetings. In fact, the next GYNOCARE Conference is planned at the Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" in Naples, Italy on the 17-18 February 2023. The title of this conference is ‘Bridging the gap between Research and Cure in Rare Gynaecological Cancers: Where do we stand?’ More information about the GYNOCARE COST Action Conference can be found on the official website.
