ATTRACT · Advanced Teaching and TRaining for Adoptive Cell Therapy

Considerable resources are devoted to fighting cancer throughout Europe, yet these efforts are not producing the results that health practitioners and citizens might expect. This is partly due to the fragmentation and duplication of research efforts within Member states and the lack of co-ordination at European level. However it can also be attributed to the need to retain and most importantly develop researchers within the EU who have the research skills required to make a real contribution to cancer treatment. The need for quality researchers is particularly acute within the emerging interdisciplinary field of Adoptive Cell Therapy. This promising advance in cancer treatment is based on the exploitation of tumour immunology and genetic technology and built on the specific ideas and techniques originally proposed by the European and Israeli scientists who are members of the ATTRACT network. To facilitate further development within the field of adoptive cell therapy, it is crucial that a co-ordinated and intersectoral approach (combining both the research community and industry) is taken, an approach that broadens the portfolio of skills currently retained within the EU research community. Through the integration Europe’s undisputed leaders in the field of adoptive cell therapy established in the 2005 FP6 ATTACK project, the ATTRACT network aims to foster the development of a pool of ESR’s and ER’s by equipping them with the multidisciplinary and complementary skills needed to not only initiate further advances in the field but to become future leaders within the field of adoptive cell therapy for cancer treatment. Such skills are global in demand making each researcher a highly desirable candidate for employment and very mobile across the different career domains.