2019_06_13_FAR_romanos_andrea

"The experience has been very enriching. It has helped me to improve my understanding of cancer prevention, has allowed me to interact with other clinicians and scientists, and has given me new possibilities, from ideas to incorporate into my research to future collaborations." This is how Andrea Romanos summarizes her participation in the John Milner Nutrition and Cancer Prevention Research course Practicum.

Andrea graduated in Human Nutrition and Dietetics in 2016, is Master's Degree European in Food, Nutrition and Metabolism (E-MENU) and, currently, she is doing the doctorate at the department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University. Last March, he attended in Maryland (USA) this course on research in nutrition and cancer prevention, organized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) of the United States. About 40 predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers, physicians, university professors, dieticians and nurses participated. Except for another Italian researcher and Andrea, all the selected attendees were from the United States.

The course included a series of master sessions on diverse topics such as the design of programs of study nutrition, clinical prevention trials, the relationship between sarcopenia (degenerative loss of muscle mass and strength as we age or lead a sedentary life) and cancer, the role of calcium, vitamin D, soy or the molecular instructions of cruciferous vegetables in cancer prevention. "It was a great opportunity to meet and even exchange a few words with such brilliant and world-renowned researchers," he acknowledges. research And in that sense, he recalls the session with Dr. Nigel Brockton, vice president of the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) who, together with a committee of experts, are in charge of elaborating the nutritional recommendations for cancer prevention (Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer: a Global Perspective - The WCRF/AICR Continuous Update Project) based on scientific evidence available.

In addition, he recalls that they attended the annual Stars in Nutrition and Cancer lecture . "Speakers are selected for their work and outstanding contributions in the field of cancer and nutrition," he explains. This year's choice to deliver the lecture was Dr. Stephen D. Hursting, professor at the University of North Carolina with his topic Breaking the link of Obesity-Cancer: New Targets and Strategies. "The session explored the mechanisms and biological factors that mediate the link obesity-cancer. Dr. Hursting described approaches to improve translational progress in obesity, energy balance, and cancer research by better integrating preclinical and human research to decrease the burden of cancer-associated obesity in humans," he says.

They were also given a session on the so-called "insulin hypothesis" by Dr. Kevin Hall(National Diabetes Institute), who recently published in the journal Cell Metabolism the first randomized clinical essay demonstrating that ultra-processed foods cause increased calorie intake and weight.

In addition to the sessions and visits to hospitals and research centers, Andrea worked within a team multidisciplinary on design of a research study that was to encompass and apply the knowledge they were learning throughout the week. On the final day, they defended those research projects in front of an expert NIH panel. "This experience emphasized the importance of partnership and communication in medical research ," he concludes.