The inaugural virtual Alberta Cancer Research Conference was held October 25-28, 2021 with 615 registrants, mainly from Alberta. The ACRC 2021 arose from a discussion that Dr. Christine Friedenreich held with our leaders in Cancer Research and Analytics about the lack of opportunities for learning and networking across cancer research institutions in Alberta. The last provincial cancer research conference was held in 2013. Hence, over the past eight months, Christine and Pamela Round worked closely with Tycoon Events and 40 different people in five committees to plan this event. The conference included three plenaries, 20 concurrent oral sessions, two panel discussions, two poster sessions, two early morning plenaries, dozens of roundtables and an evening public event attended by nearly 250 people. Several members of our department presented their research and/or attended the event. The conference also included an inaugural Awards for Excellence program to recognize research excellence in Alberta in the categories of early/mid/lifetime contributions to cancer research and an award for being an accelerator of cancer research. Kudos to Dr. Darren Brenner for being awarded the Alberta Early Career Award in Oncology Research. In addition, prizes were awarded for the best oral and poster presentations in each pillar of cancer research. Congratulations to Dr Andria Morielli for the best oral presentation in the population health research category! Overall, the conference was a big success and once evaluations are received, the Executive Committee will decide how frequently this type of event will be held again and if it will be virtual or in-person.
Here is a link to the full list of ACRC award recipients: https://pheedloop.com/ACRC2021/site/home/