Brendan Corkery

"The Principles and Practice Course was a diverse overview of cancer and prevention, from the individual to the global level."

Brendan Corkery
PhD student and Research Registrar
National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology
Dublin City University, Dublin

I graduated in the class of Medicine 2003 from University College, Dublin. Following completion of my general professional training in Medicine, I began my PhD studies in the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, Dublin City University, under the supervision of Dr. Norma O’ Donovan and Prof. John Crown. My current research involves looking at targeted therapies in triple-negative (ER, PR, and HER-2 negative) breast cancer.

I was privileged to attend both the four-week Principles and Practice, and the one-week Molecular Prevention courses at the NCI this past summer. Coming from a medical background, and training in the field of medical oncology, the role of prevention in the management of cancer is clearly of great interest. In addition, in my current work as a researcher, it seemed that a broad-ranging overview of my methods of research in different areas of this subspecialty had a lot to offer. I felt participation in this course would be very beneficial.

All in all, these courses were outstanding. The NCI lined up a host of speakers over five weeks with many novel and authoritative points of view. Many of the speakers were not just national experts, but internationally recognized experts in a wide variety of fields of cancer prevention. In my opinion, the two courses offered different benefits. The Principles and Practice Course was a diverse overview of cancer and prevention, from the individual to the global level. The Molecular Prevention Course supplemented this with a view of cancer biology and molecular mechanisms potentially amenable to prevention.

The most profound aspect of the experience was the participation of people from so many different countries. This global perspective of cancer, including the different challenges being faced – many of them cultural or economic - from all over the world was illuminating and humbling. I would recommend this course strongly to anyone involved in cancer research with an interest, or potential interest in cancer prevention.