Miriam Mutebi, Consultant Breast Surgical Oncologist, Immediate Past President of AORTIC- Africa, and UICC Board Member, shared a post on LinkedIn:
”From Addis to Abuja.
In July 2025, we gathered in Addis Ababa for the first in-person Best of ASCO Africa meeting. Just before it began, we launched the inaugural AORTIC-Africa/American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Research Scholars Programme, one of the first flagship initiatives arising from the AORTIC-ASCO partnership.
As the meeting unfolded, we kept returning to one question: How do we ensure that scientific discovery translates into better outcomes for patients across Africa?
The conversations that began in Addis did not end there.
They became the catalyst for action, leading to the establishment of the AORTIC Special Interest Group (SIG) on Access to Innovative Cancer Therapies and Technologies, and the AORTIC/Bio Usawa Innovation Microgrants, which support African-led implementation research seeking to address locally relevant barriers to equitable cancer care.
One year on, the inaugural cohort of 18 AORTIC-ASCO Research Scholars is completing its first year.
Five African-led implementation projects are underway across the continent. These initiatives reflect an important shift: from identifying challenges to investing in African researchers, African innovation, and African-led solutions.
This week, we continue that journey in Abuja.
Our theme, ‘From Global Discovery to Local Recovery: Driving Africa to the Cutting Edge of Cancer Care‘, is a reminder that discovery is only the beginning. Innovation changes lives only when it reaches patients.
Over the next two days, we will explore not only the latest advances in cancer care, but the policies, partnerships, financing, workforce, and health systems needed to ensure those advances become a reality for patients across the continent.
I am looking forward to the conversations ahead, and even more to what we will build together before we meet again next year.
Because the true measure of any conference is not what is said in the meeting room.
It is what changes when we return home.”
Other articles about Precision Oncology on OncoDaily.
