Subject of the visit: The WP2 of CLLassify.
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This Research visit in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus was mainly related with the work package 2 of CLLassify. In particular, it was related with the investigation of different methodologies regarding the management of CLL patients’ data and prediction. It was held during the last week of October, 2016 (October 24, 2016 – October 30, 2016). The research work has been performed in collaboration with Prof. Kostantinos Fokianosfrom the University of Cyprus. This was also an excellent opportunity to meet, interact and collaborate with many Professors and post-doc researchers from the University of Cyprus.
This visit resulted in preliminary decisions. Thank you all for the warm hospitality. Hope to see you soon.

Title: “Immunoglobulin Gene Analysis in CLL: from prognosis and prediction to follow-up.”
To begin with, this was a first class opportunity to return to Uppsala (thank you all for the warm welcoming). The Workshop was really interesting, organized at Uppsala, Sweden by Rudbecklaboratoriet (Uppsala University), on September 22 – 23, 2016.
 
The scientific program included five main sessions:
i) IG Sequence Analysis.
ii) Practical Exercises.
iii) IG genes for clinician decision-making.
iv) Immunogenetics in the NGS era.
v) Immunogenetics and disease follow-up: tracking MRD.
This was a high-level educational experience, and even more, a great opportunity for fruitful discussions regarding further steps. Hopefully, the fruitful discussions held during the coffee breaks of the Workshop regarding data recording in a combined multi-scheme would lead to further action, setting the cornerstone for personalized prediction applications.

Title: “Hematology Experience Exchange.“

This was an educational scientific event, organised by the Institute of Applied Biosciences/The Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas (INAB/CERTH) at Thessaloniki, Greece. The venue was INAB and the event took place on September 17, 2016.
 
The scientific program included three main sessions:
a) A holistic approach of CLL.
b) The patient’s perspective, communcation with the phycisian.
c) Workshop – Role Plays.
Overall, this was a highly interactive experience, in particular regarding chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with a vivid opportunity and encouragementfor the audience to interact with the speakers.

Title: Poster presentation in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, ESOF satellite event ‘Research and society’.
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The EuroScience Open Forum Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions satellite event was held in the University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. The event took place on July 28, 2016 – July 29, 2016.
 
This was an amazing event, which provided the opportunity both for scientific dissemination (poster sessions) and networking. A poster was presented within the framework of CLLassify. The title of the poster presented was “Redefining prognostication in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. A novel multidisciplinary approach integrating disease heterogeneity” and it was related to the WP1 research output of CLLassify. The poster sessions were overall very interesting and well-organised.
 
The Programme included, among else, some very interesting sessions:
a) Researcher and society: we’re all in the same boat!
b) Science and democracy: Get into the debate!
c) Ethics, transparency, research integrity, misconduct: Where do I stand?
d) Open science : the tools for your research success.
e) Bringing gender in research.
The sessions were followed by a discussion panel, which gave the audience the opportunity to enjoy and or participate to a general discussion, where experts were analyzing their point of view. Overall, this felt personally as an amazing opportunity to broaden my horizons in many aspects and I strongly recommend to every MSCA fellow to participate in similar events in the future.

Title: Cancer Genomics Course.
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This was a highly-educational scientific event. The Venue was the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton (Cambridge), United Kingdom. It took place on June 27, 2016 – July 1, 2016.
 
The focus of this course was the analysis of data from genomic studies of Cancer.  The lectures were oriented towards giving an insight into the bioinformatic concepts required to analyze such data. Some practical sessions provided the participants with the opportunity to apply statistical methods to the analysis of cancer genomics data under the guidance of the lecturers and teaching assistants.
 
The Programme included sessions, among else, on:
a) Introduction to high-throughput sequencing and its application in cancer,
b) SNV analysis,
c) SV analysis,
d) CNV analysis using NGS data,
e) Methylation analysis in cancer,
f) RNA-seq analysis in cancer,
g) From genomes to networks.

Title: “Biomarkers integration in CLL patients’ management.“
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This was a highly-educational scientific event, organised by the Institute of Applied Biosciences/The Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas (INAB/CERTH) at Thessaloniki, Greece. The venue was INAB and the event took place on June 4, 2016.
The scientific program was built around the integration of biomarkers when managing patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In particular the focus was on gene TP53. The coordination of the event was towards not solely the direction of presenting results, but sharing knowledge in an interactive fashion as well. More specifically, the event included two interactive sessions where the audience had the opportunity to actively participate in the discussion. Even more, interaction among the participants was successfully encouraged throughout the event leading to a fruitful, educational and training experience.

Subject of the visit: The WP1 of CLLassify – Refine classification for CLL early stage patients and develop risk profiles.

This Research visit in the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden was mainly related with the work package 1 of CLLassify. In particular, it was related with the investigation of different methodologies regarding the classification of CLL early stage patients in risk groups, based on their characteristics. It was held during the last week of May, 2016 (May 23, 2016 – May 30, 2016). Most of the research work has been performed in collaboration with Dr. Panos Baliakas from the Uppsala University. However, I had an excellent opportunity to meet, interact and collaborate with many researchers from the Uppsala University.
Overall, this visit resulted in interesting research output and set the cornerstone for fruitful future collaborations. Thank you all for the warm hospitality. Hope to see you soon.

​Title: “Tradition and innovation in the treatment of low-grade B-cell lymphomas: where to from now?”

​​This was an interesting scientific event, organised in Athens (Hotel Divani Caravel), Greece on
Saturday, April 23, 2016.
The scientific program included three main sessions:
a) Follicular lymphoma: biological revelations and therapeutic advances.
b) CLL: understanding the biology for improving outcomes.
c) Making strides against CLL: harnessing biological knowledge for treating the disease.
 
Overall, this was a high-level educational experience, in particular regarding chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), with an interesting opportunity for the audience to interact with the speakers via a question & answer tool.