Building a strong interconnected research community is at the heart of everything Oncode does. Nothing brings people together better than the chance to learn, share knowledge and exchange experiences, and interact face to face. In 2019 we organized a mix of Clinical Workshops and Technical Masterclasses, and we hosted the Oncode - Cancer Genomics Centre (CGC) Annual Conference and the Oncode - CGC Annual Scientific Meeting.

In May 2019, we launched our ongoing series of Clinical Workshops, designed to enhance the link between basic research and unmet needs in the clinic, and stimulate new collaborations. The first workshop, in May, focused on Colorectal Cancer, while the second, in October, focused on Glioblastoma.

Our Masterclasses focused on gene editing and its applications and macromolecular structures in cancer research. In addition, we organized our first Masterclass Day, during which we introduced the Compound Library and the Oncode Drug Repurposing Programme, both of which contribute to our Affordable Healthcare Programme.

United by a desire to bring new cell therapies to patients, Oncode Institute and HollandBIO brought academia, life-science companies, clinicians and other relevant stakeholders together at Biotech Wednesday. This event clearly highlighted the Netherlands’ life-science capabilities and the country’s potential to become a world leader in cancer research.

The two flagship events last year were our 2-day Annual Conference, which took place at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, and the Annual Scientific Meeting at the Compagnie Theater, Amsterdam. The Annual Conference, in which the topic was ‘Fundamental Cancer Biology’, brought together world-class speakers from across the globe and featured presentations and new insights in cancer research. At the Annual Scientific Meeting, in addition to the scientific content, we offered the attendees other engaging ways to interact, including a science booth marketplace and parallel sessions on topics such as research funding and personal development. Sharing information about each other’s research and getting to know the community was one of the key objectives of this scientific meeting.

The interest and participation in these events, and the positive feedback we received after each of them. are both gratifying and motivating. They are clear evidence that Oncode is answering the need for learning and connecting people, and that outsmarting cancer is not only our mission but a shared ambition in the scientific community. 

Public Private Partnerships 101: Oncode aims to enable the efficient translation of Oncode research findings into better treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients. To do so, it promotes interdisciplinary collaboration with industrial partners, continuously investing in building long-lasting relationships and identifying opportunities for collaboration with industry. To facilitate public private collaborations, Oncode has built an extensive (inter)national network of industry partners through its Industry Engagement programme. This network can be readily accessed by Oncode business developers when opportunities for collaboration arise. Oncode’s expertise in arranging legal and financial frameworks for Public Private Partnerships (PPP) helps to accelerate the set-up and execution of these collaborations. 
 
Oncode is currently in contact with 92% of the oncology-related SMEs in The Netherlands. Over 70% of OIs are now collaborating or in discussion with industry. In 2020, Oncode business developers brokered 117 agreements with industry ranging from confidentiality disclosure agreements (CDAs) and contract research agreements to license agreements.  
  
Wouter de Laat – GenDx (3-year project, total budget of €267K): Prof. Wouter de Laat is well-known for the development of novel methods for improved genetic DNA diagnostics. One of these methods is known as the Targeted Locus Cloning (TLC) method, which uses bacteria for the selective amplification of disease genes of interest. Through discussions with Prof. de Laat and Oncode business developer Emil Pot, GenDx recognized the possibilities of modifying the TLC method for certain applications. Oncode facilitated the contract negotiations, arranged CDA’s and ensured a sound IP position for both parties. Furthermore, the collaboration resulted in a PPP-allowance application which was awarded by Health Holland. 

Wouter de Laat (Hubrecht): “Oncode greatly accelerates valorization. […] Oncode helped to raise interest from biotech company GenDx for our unpublished method for targeted gene sequencing, which resulted in securing a Health Holland TKI research grant with GenDx”. 

Roland Kanaar – Philips: Personalized medicine for cancer treatment requires accurate identification of individual tumour characteristics. Prof. Roland Kanaar aims to develop a novel microfluidics platform that will allow direct functional assessment of tumour sensitivity, thereby improving therapy choice and avoiding ineffective treatments. Prof. Kanaar’s group has demonstrated that this so-called Cancer-on-Chip (CoC) platform can accurately predict chemotherapy treatment response in breast and prostate tumour models. An essential step towards making this technology widely applicable is the development of a CoC platform compatible with optical microscopy. To achieve it, Prof. Kanaar is collaborating with Philips Research to develop a microfluidic chip insert and adjust the system to Philips’ membrane material. Oncode business developers facilitated contact with Philips Research B.V., and a Technology Development Fund grant was awarded to facilitate the work of the Kanaar group within the collaboration.

Linde Meyaard – NGM Biopharmaceuticals (352K, 2-year project): Prof. Linde Meyaard has a long-standing research line on inhibitory immune receptors. Using Oncode base funding, Prof. Meyaard studies receptor-ligand interactions. NGM Biopharmaceuticals, an international clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is actively studying inhibitory receptors as a potential therapeutic target. In a collaboration facilitated by Oncode, Prof. Meyaard and NGM Biopharmaceuticals are now further investigating the biology of a novel receptor-ligand interaction. The collaboration optimally combines the knowledge and tools available in the two teams, resulting in a better basic understanding of the receptor-ligand interaction and greater insight into the potential of therapeutically targeting these molecules.

Linde Meyaard (UMC Utrecht): “The accessibility and background knowledge of Emil Pot, my business developer, makes it possible to act fast when occasions occur. To then proceed towards an actual outcome, Oncode business developers allow for rapid legal assessment of documents and coordination with UMC Utrecht legal. This has resulted in a signed collaborative research agreement with NGM.”

Outsmarting cancer, impacting lives. Our core mission has an important goal - reducing the impact of cancer for patients. We know that the perspective of patients can enrich and improve Oncode research by identifying challenges, stimulating discussion, and generating novel ideas. In any medical research, patients are the ultimate stakeholders.

In recognition of this, we continuously strive to reduce the distance between the world of the scientist and the world of the patient. We want them to discover, investigate and understand each other's worlds. It is why we include patients in our Clinical Advisory Board and Supervisory Board, and why we have developed our Patient Perspective Programme.

Patient Perspective Programme
In 2019, we kicked-off the Patient Engagement Programme with a plenary session on patient engagement during our Annual Scientific Meeting, creating awareness and enthusiasm within the Oncode community. Via the programme that was subsequently implemented, patients have a chance to see for themselves face-to-face how Oncode researchers are searching for answers. At the same time, our researchers can benefit from a different perspective on their work and find a new source of inspiration.

Two pilot studies were initiated, in which five research groups from two different institutes participated. Our strategy on patient engagement has focused on a small group of highly motivated researchers who value the approach and act as patient engagement ambassadors, creating steppingstones towards the broader Oncode community.

“With help of Oncode, I now have two patients advocates engaged with my lab. They regularly visit my lab for research updates and input, and one of them has participated in our lab retreat. Both the patient advocates and lab members get inspired by these interactions.”

Jacco van Rheenen, NKI

With collaboration being one of the three pillars of Oncode, we constantly look for ways to stimulate collaboration between our research groups. It is to their credit that the members of our community are already open-minded, which means that many forms of collaboration start naturally and organically. Nevertheless, we know that we can take collaboration further, increasing the number of researchers involved and expanding our incentives and mechanisms for collaboration.

For example, our Infrastructure & Technologies Programme supports researchers by offering them access to state-of-the-art facilities, making infrastructures and equipment that could not be funded by any one research group available throughout the Oncode community and beyond. Oncode Investigators were asked to collaboratively submit proposals to purchase technologies, with the requirement that the proposal included at least four Investigators from three different institutes. Funding under our Clinical Proof-of-Concept Programme also has a clear collaboration requirement. Oncode Investigators can only submit a request for funding under this programme for (pre)clinical projects if they work together with a clinician. 

By making collaboration a prerequisite in our tailored funding schemes, we incentivize collaboration at all levels. This approach has been successful and has already led to collaborations that are currently being executed both within the Oncode community and with external partners. 

Community building during a pandemic 101: Social interactions play a vital role within the scientific community, allowing constructive discussion, the exchange of ideas and opinions, the forging of new collaborations, and the strengthening of existing relationships. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing regulations largely prevented physical interaction within the Oncode community in 2020. Oncode was therefore forced into a paradigm shift in how to share research, learn, and engage with its network. Operating as a ‘virtual institute’ since its inception, Oncode was able to swiftly turn challenges into new opportunities, quickly adapting to bring about interactions between researchers, clinicians, patients, and industry representatives in new ways. 
 
During 2020, Oncode shifted its focus from live meetings to the organization of both hybrid and fully digital events, organizing 11 meetings with a total of 1060 participants. 

Bas van Steensel (NKI): “Oncode events, in particular the scientific meetings, PI dinners and Zoom breakout sessions, have brought me into contact with new colleagues with whom I am now discussing and planning a new research line focused on non-coding mutations in cancer.”

Training and mentoring in the online arena: Oncode believes in the importance of educating and training future generations of researchers. In previous years, Oncode successfully offered its community a wide range of face-t0-face workshops, masterclasses, and mentoring sessions. Adapting to social distancing regulations, Oncode transferred its training and mentoring activities to the online arena. It organized 4 online scientific and non-scientific-driven masterclasses in co-creation with OIs and researchers, covering topics such as “AI & machine learning in oncology research” and “Get funding: Convey the impact of your scientific vision”. Oncode also invested in the creation of online educational material. Four educational primers were produced covering essential valorization topics, such as “Confidentiality in academic research” and “Intellectual property”. Additionally, an online video series was created in which OEDES team members take researchers on an informative journey through the landscape of Clinical Proof-of-Concept.

Finally, the mentoring sessions created specifically for junior OIs were also scheduled online and proved very useful for young group leaders to discuss amongst their peers how to manage a research group during the pandemic.

Ruben van Boxtel (PMC): “I benefitted from the leadership course provided by Oncode for junior Oncode investigators. I have implemented several subjects we discussed during the course in the daily supervision of my group, such as how to remotely manage your team as best as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it also allows me to regularly meet up with my peers at Oncode and discuss novel collaborative projects.”

Elzo de Wit (NKI): “For a starting PI, the Oncode mentoring program has helped me to learn valuable lessons about managing a group. This has also provided me with an instant peer group that I can use as a sounding board.”

Biotech Wednesday - Spotlight on Cancer Treatments for the 21st Century: In 2020, Oncode continued the success of the “Biotech Wednesday” meetings organized in collaboration with HollandBio. The goal of this year’s Biotech Wednesday meeting was to bring together researchers, clinicians, and industry representatives to discuss the development and utilization of next-generation diagnostics for precision medicine – from early stage development to the market. The event hosted a line-up of top speakers from both academia and industry, and participants joined the event from 14 countries spread across 3 continents. The event also provided participants with the opportunity to meet and network. Through more than 130 one-on-one conversations and 55 separate meetings, the event was successful at bringing researchers, clinicians, and industry together to connect and discuss challenges and opportunities in the field.

Patient engagement: Patients and researchers are inherently linked but rarely meet. In different ways, both patients and researchers have their lives deeply affected by cancer. Having researchers and patients come together is a chance to access first-hand knowledge and improve research through novel ideas, perspectives, and discussions.

In 2019, Oncode initiated a pilot study incorporating a patient-researcher buddy system that functioned as a steppingstone to further recognition of the patient perspective in the Oncode community. The pilot study was initiated in NKI in early 2020, and throughout the year research groups from 2 other institutes also showed interest. In total, 10 patients were coupled to Oncode labs, and researchers and patients met informally on a regular basis. Because of the ongoing pandemic, face-to-face meetings became increasingly difficult. However, researchers and patients quickly adapted to the new situation and moved their interaction online. While it remains challenging to replicate the face-to-face experience in an online setting, there are also opportunities. Virtual meetings can be more efficient (shorter and more often) and less tiring for (ex-)patients. Oncode’s Annual Scientific Meeting included a dedicated patient engagement session, during which a patient and researcher were interviewed to raise awareness of the importance and value of the programme.

Oncode Investigator retreat: Oncode organized an online OI retreat on June 30 / July 1 with 53 OIs participating. The goals of the retreat were: 1) to facilitate informal interaction between OIs; 2) to update the community on ongoing activities and future plans; 3) to discuss ideas for the scientific strategy for phase II. The phase II strategy discussion took the form of the Oncode Accelerator Projects (OAPs), which aim to define feasible, collaborative projects with clear goals related to unmet clinical needs and/or scientific challenges that the unique capabilities of Oncode could contribute to. OIs were invited to send in ideas for these OAPs. The ideas were distributed and the OIs were placed in break-out rooms where 3-4 OAP ideas were discussed. The feedback on this set-up was very positive. Many OIs liked discussing new ideas in brainstorm-style sessions and requested that these are organized more frequently. The meeting was therefore followed up with another half-day meeting in December.