IACR conference was held in Belfast this year and we were delighted to attend interesting and insightful events over the course of four days. Having the chance to listen and learn from this country’s leading Cancer researchers was a privilege. It was great to hear the outlook from different individuals such as cancer survivors, caretakers and doctors, while delving into the science behind providing novel cancer therapies and strategies for improving the quality of life of all those affected with cancer.

Short poster presentations outlined the current topics that are being investigated by postdocs and PhD students, which will allow us to better navigate our future prospects if we are interested in laboratory research or pursuing a PhD. The longer talks from established researchers showed us the complexity of experiments and the time and patience required to get from a hypothesis to promising results. Personally, my highlight was meeting the IACR sponsors, likes of representatives from Thermo Fischer and Miltenyi Biotec as well as charities such as Irish Cancer Society and Breakthrough Cancer Research. It was great to learn more of what they do and how they support the Irish cancer research community, both scientists and the public.

Overall, we were all delighted to have attended and gained invaluable insight into current frontiers in Irish cancer research.