For both the Oncode General Support Team as well as the Valorization Team we have attracted uniquely talented individuals who are committed to making Oncode Institute a reality and a success. The same is true for the 19 new Oncode Investigators we welcomed this year, who have added specific expertise in the field of tumor immunology and medicinal chemistry. We have also launched close to a dozen programmes.

We are forging the pathways towards the clinic. In 2018 the first patients were enrolled in clinical studies funded by Oncode and in 2019 we want to test multiple promising projects in a clinical setting. Which approach to tackling cancer can really make a difference for people living with cancer? To help answer that question, we will also establish a drug repurposing platform.

Other major goals for 2019 include:

• Implementation of our Open Science policies. We feel it is our duty to share our publications, insights and data with the broader oncology research community. Our training programmes, workshops and events will be open for everybody.
  
  
• Launching our industry engagement initiative whereby we will actively reach out to all oncology related companies in the Netherlands and key biopharma companies in Europe to identify opportunities to create research relationships.
  
  
• The establishment of Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund as a dedicated investment fund has received sufficient budget to develop ideas or prototypes to the stage where they are eligible for seed funding. This early high-risk type of funding is essential to accelerate the application of scientific results in clinical settings.

We achieved a lot last year, but we still feel a huge urgency to outsmart cancer and impact lives.