Medical Oncology Fellowship in Clinical Breast Cancer Research
From October 2010 to September 2012

The Breast European Adjuvant Studies Team (Br.E.A.S.T) is located at the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, Belgium, right in the heart of Europe.

Br.E.A.S.T is a clinical trials unit involved in the coordination and data management of large international phase III trials in the field of adjuvant breast cancer therapy. The team consists of about 43 physicians, data-managers, computer scientists, clinical monitors, data entry staff, quality assurance, and administrative assistants. Since being established in the mid-1990s, Br.E.A.S.T. has hosted many fellows from numerous continents and countries around the world, including Europe, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, India, and Peru. A fellowship at Br.E.A.S.T provides a unique experience for medical oncologists to become familiar with all aspects of the development and conduct of large cancer clinical trials. Contributing to the uniqueness of the experience is the fact that Br.E.A.S.T. studies are run under the umbrella of the Breast International Group (BIG).

The Breast International Group (BIG) (www.breastinternationalgroup.org) is an international non-profit organization for academic breast cancer research groups from around the world, also headquartered at the Jules Bordet Institute. By encouraging interaction and cooperation between its members and other academic networks, and by collaborating with, but working independently from, the pharmaceutical industry, BIG’s mission is to facilitate the conduct of large and difficult breast cancer clinical trials and to reduce the wasteful duplication of efforts. Created in 1996 by European opinion leaders, BIG now constitutes a network of 44 collaborative groups, research partnerships and trial units with links to over 3,000 specialized hospitals and research centers in Europe, Canada, Latin America, Australia / New Zealand and Asia. BIG also collaborates closely with North American collaborative groups and coordinates the TRANSBIG network for translational research.

The Jules Bordet Institute (www.bordet.be), a university teaching hospital of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, is the only comprehensive cancer center in Belgium dedicated exclusively to cancer. Its services range from cancer screening to multidisciplinary cancer treatment and state-of-the art clinical and laboratory research, for which the Institute is renowned on both the national and international levels.

Main Supervisor:

MARTINE PICCART-GEBHART, MD, PhD

• Director of the Medicine Department, Jules Bordet Institute
• Chair, Breast International Group (B.I.G)
• President, European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)

Fellowship activities include:

• Acting as medical advisor for large, international phase III trials in the field of adjuvant breast cancer; in addition to being responsible for all medical aspects of a particular trial, a medical advisor participates in conference calls, investigator and other meetings related to the study, often held at major cancer conferences;
• Writing, discussing, and developing new study protocols in breast cancer (phase I to III studies);
• Writing review and research articles, book chapters, and abstracts under the guidance of a senior oncologist with expertise in a particular field of oncology;
• Depending on interests and qualifications, possibly developing
  A. lab research activities in the Functional Genomics & Translational Research Unit of the Jules Bordet Institute headed by Christos Sotiriou, MD, PhD; or
  B. phase I clinical trials investigating new agents with a clinical potential for breast cancer under the supervision of Ahmad Awada, MD, PhD, Head of the Medical Oncology Clinic at the Jules Bordet Institute;
• Enrollment in the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) program.

To be eligible, candidates must:

• Hold a degree in medicine and have recently completed, or are soon to complete, their specialization in Medical Oncology;
• Be no older than 35 years;
• Preferably have some clinical research background;
• Be fluent in spoken and written English (French and/or Dutch are an asset);
• Be able to work in an international environment;
• Possess excellent communication skills and team spirit;

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