ITCC Training Fellowship Program 2025

ITCC Training Fellowship Program 2025-2026

Contact:

ITCC Office:
itcc.network@gmail.com Karsten Nysom:
karsten.nysom@regionh.dk

Deadline for application: 01 March 2025

Introduction

Innovative Therapies for Children and Adolescents with Cancer (ITCC) is an academic consortium delivering early phase clinical trials for children and adolescents in Europe. The consortium comprises 68 treatment centres and 25 laboratories located in major cancer centres and universities. ITCC has become the principal European organization for research and development of new therapeutics for children with cancer.

In January 2011, ITCC was established as a European Category 1 Network for Paediatric Research at the European Medicines Agency (EnprEMA).

Aim of the Fellowship Program

ITCC wishes to support the training of its future lead investigators by offering clinical fellowships, aiming to support learning and clinical skills of clinicians wishing to specialize in early phase clinical trials and drug development in children with cancer. This will be achieved by giving the opportunity to work in one of the ITCC early phase centres with significant exposure to children undergoing participation in early phase trials with new drugs (i.e. clinical trials phase 1 and 2).

Alongside this clinical exposure, there is a requirement for all training centres to provide an educational package that covers aspects of drug discovery, preclinical testing, genomics and personalized medicine, biomarkers, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics/pharmacogenetic concepts, trial designs, protocol development, as well as regulatory and ethical aspects of drug development.

The anticipated duration of the clinical training will be 12 months full-time. The fellow will be encouraged to participate in the “EOSTC/ESMO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Research” workshop and expected to join the next “ITCC Introductory Courses to Paediatric Drug Development”, organized by ITCC every two years (i.e. around November 2026).

As a possible supplementary training to the ITCC clinical fellowship, the ongoing ALADDIN educational program offers the possibility of temporary training appointments in the pharmaceutical industry and/or at the European Medicines Agency. Please note that these additional training possibilities are not part of the ITCC clinical fellowship and should be sought independently by each candidate.

Accredited ITCC Training Centres

ITCC includes 21 “early phase centres” able to deliver first-in-child studies and phase I activities with novel agents. These centres tend to have a larger throughput of patients and are best suited to provide the training fellowships. They were asked to submit details of their training plans to match the curriculum requirements via an application form, to be selected as a potential ITCC Training Centre.

These applications have been reviewed by the ITCC Education and Training Committee (ETC), and 13 ITCC Centres have been successfully accredited with a good geographical spread throughout the network:

Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen – DENMARK
IHOPe Léon Bérard Centre, Lyon – FRANCE
Institut Curie, Paris – FRANCE
Gustave Roussy, Villejuif – FRANCE
Hopp Children’s Cancer Center, Heidelberg – GERMANY
University Children’s Hospital, Muenster – GERMANY
Ospedale Infantile Regina Margherita di Torino – ITALY
Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia – SPAIN
Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesus, Madrid – SPAIN
Princess Máxima Centre, Utrecht – THE NETHERLANDS
Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham – UNITED KINGDOM
Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle University, Newcastle – UNITED KINGDOM
The Royal Marsden Hospital, London – UNITED KINGDOM

Training will be expected to deliver experience in solid, central nervous system (CNS), and haematological malignancies. The training centres will be responsible for all contractual and employment arrangements with the fellow.

ITCC will “match” prospective candidates to relevant training centres and will provide an educational grant to support the fellowship but will hold no legal responsibility for the employment of the fellows.

Application Process and Selection Criteria

When evaluating your application, the ITCC Education & Training Committee will value that you:

Are in the path to become a future lead investigator in ITCC trials and at ITCC centres.
Present a clear future career plan.
Are well into paediatric haematology & oncology training, but no more than a few years beyond subspecialisation.
Apply for training in a centre other than your current one, preferably in another country.
Have achieved the most clinically (and preferably also scientifically), proportional to time since you obtained your medical degree.
Are able to fulfil the language requirements to work at the centres of your choice.

Timeline

Deadline for application: 01 March 2025 at midnight CET.
Top-rated applicants will be selected by the ETC and invited for a personal interview by 15 March.
Online interviews with individual top-rated candidates will take place on 24 March, 15:00-19:00 CET (please make sure you can attend this time slot).
Final selection will be made before 05 April 2025.
Expected start in the ITCC training centre within 7 months after selection.

Funding

The total funding available for the Fellowship is:

Salary and institutional employment costs – up to a total of 76,000€
Travel grant for attending meetings/conferences: up to 4,000€
Registration at MCCR: 3,500€
ITCC administrative costs: 1,500€

Total for a fellow: 85,000€ for 12 months

Application Form

Submit Application