The Elizabeth Blackwell Institute's Bristol Cancer Research Network is delighted to be hosting its fourth annual Early Career Researchers' (ECRs) symposium on 10 June 2025. 

The event will comprise oral and poster presentations from ECRs as well as keynote talks from invited speakers.    

Aims of the event 

The Cancer Research Network's Early Career Researchers' event is a fantastic opportunity for Early Career Researchers to write and submit an abstract and strengthen their presentation skills to an audience of their peers. This is the perfect platform to share your work, explore alternative methodologies, ask questions if you feel one aspect of your research would benefit from wider input, offer expertise and encourage wider collaborations. This is your chance to take part in discussions that could lead to greater inter- and multidisciplinary understanding of the research in question and its potential relevance to other areas. Early-stage proposals are welcomed.  

The event is open to all; if you are not presenting, please attend and support our ECRs from across faculties to gain a better understanding of the incredible breadth of research taking place across the wider Infection and Immunity community.  

This event aims to foster the creation of new research directions, new ways of working, new ways to support and enable our academic, clinical, industrial and public communities, and new learning experiences.  

ALL aspects of cancer are welcome, from policy, public engagement, primary care, therapeutics, palliative care, cellular mechanisms, prevention, behaviour, early detection, and everything beyond and in between.  

What is an Early Career Researcher (ECR)? 

We have no set definition for an ECR; we welcome submissions from undergraduates, postgraduates, postdocs, technicians, recently appointed lecturers who are starting their academic careers, clinicians embarking on a research career, and anyone else who feels they are starting a new phase in their career journey. 

Call for abstracts 

Abstract submission closed on 4 April 2025. To be considered for a poster ONLY please contact cancer-research@bristol.ac.uk; due to space constraints please be aware we may not be able to accommodate you. 

Registration is now OPEN!

• Spaces are limited, please register here to secure your place. 
• Attendance is FREE! and a buffet lunch will be served 
• Registration closes 28 May 2025

Keynotes:

• We are delighted to confirm that Peter Sasieni, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, Centre Co-Lead for the Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis and Director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Prevention Trials Unit at Queen Mary University of London will be one of our keynotes. He is interested in cancer screening: both evaluation of new technologies (such as liquid biopsies for multi-cancer early detection) and monitoring of existing screening programmes. Together with Professor David Weller (University of Edinburgh) Peter is leading a programme of research looking at how to improve bowel screening through stratification.

  Peter has conducted research on both testing for and vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) and its link to cervical cancer. Current interest are: self-sampling to improve cervical screening coverage; and approaches to cervical cancer elimination in both low and middle income countries as well as in the UK.

The full programme to be confirmed closer to the time.