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Global Action Plan
GAP is Movember’s Global Action Plan. Launched in 2010, it was set up to address critical challenges in prostate cancer research through global collaboration. Take a look at our clip below for a brief overview of the concept.
As a result of working with prostate cancer partners around the world, Movember identified an opportunity to accelerate research outcomes by providing researchers from around the world the opportunity to work together on specific projects.
By bringing together the best researchers from around the world, GAP facilitates a new and unprecedented level of global research collaboration, not previously seen within the prostate cancer community. Over time, researchers coming together sharing data, what worked, what didn’t will avoid duplication of research effort and deliver greater return on the funds that Movember and other organizations invest in prostate cancer research.
Today, more than 100 of the world's top prostate cancer researchers have joined Movember’s GAP, all of them committed to working together on research and sharing their knowledge in the area.
HOW GAP WORKS
Each year, a small percentage of the funds raised in each country are allocated to a global fund. The global fund is then assigned to one priority project each year that is determined by an independent Global Scientific Committee (GSC). The portion of funds raised in Canada is then allocated to GAP researchers working to initiate this project here in Canada. The GSC is comprised of internationally renowned prostate cancer experts from around the world, and chaired by prostate cancer expert, Dr Colleen Nelson. Each year, Movember’s Global Scientific Committee (GSC) comes together to determine a key research area that would best benefit from global collaboration. Once the priority area is endorsed by Movember’s Board, the best prostate cancer researchers in the world from both Movember and non-Movember countries focused on the agreed research area are brought together and funded to collaborate and answer a pre-determined issue or question.
Once the researchers are recruited they collaborate through a number of mediums, including Movember’s online collaboration platform called Promoveo which provides a secure wiki based forum, conference calls, and an annual meeting.
Head of Programs at Movember, Paul Villanti:
“Our vision is to have an everlasting impact on the state of men’s health and it’s to this end that we established our GAP. We believe that getting the best researchers from around the world to work together on key challenges will accelerate breakthroughs that will ultimately benefit men with prostate cancer. Further, we believe that team-based research, performed across borders with a strong collaborative mindset, can deliver innovation and knowledge sharing that leads to an acceleration of results that benefit men diagnosed and living with prostate cancer today.”
Currently, Movember's GAP has two programs on the go:
GAP 1 – THE GLOBAL PROSTATE CANCER BIOMARKER INITIATIVE
Overall Goal: To better predict aggressive prostate cancer, characterize metastatic disease and treatment resistance by identifying clinical biomarkers that ultimately enhance treatment decisions
The initiative aims to answer critical, but as yet unanswered, clinical questions which will allow clinicians to better predict aggressive prostate cancer and characterize metastatic disease and treatment resistance by identifying clinical biomarkers that ultimately enhance patient treatment decisions.
The key results that we seek to achieve from this project are:
• Stronger international collaboration in the global prostate cancer research arena leading to improved knowledge sharing and greater efficiencies in the research effort
• Development of promising new blood, urine and tissue based tests (biomarkers) that can more accurately predict low risk versus aggressive prostate cancer and optimise a patient's treatment decisions
Movember appointed Dr Mark Buzza as the Program Manager to implement GAP. If you would like more information on the GAP Program or the GAP 1 biomarker project, contact Mark on mark@movember.com.
GAP 2 – COLLABORATIVE GLOBAL IMAGING PROJECT
Overall Goal: Push the limits of prostate cancer imaging breakthroughs
Imaging is a truly “front-line” investigative tool in diagnosing cancer. Current technology can only see down to around 1mm in size and as cancer spreads at a cellular level (typically around 1000 x smaller than this), there is real benefit in making improvements in this area. There is a real need to improve the ability to detect disease progression at a much earlier stage so as to improve outcomes for men with prostate cancer.
The key results that we seek to achieve from this project are:
• Detect the spread of Prostate Cancer much sooner
• Make better decisions on which treatments will lead to the most effective outcomes for patients
• Realise synergies from and continue to leverage the investment and collaborative networks established in GAP 1
Movember has appointed Sam Gledhill as the Project Manager to implement the GAP 2 project. If you would like more information on GAP 2, contact Sam on sam@movember.com.
PROMOVEO
One of the primary ways the GAP researchers spread across the world collaborate is through Movember’s online collaboration platform, called Promoveo. Promoveo is a Latin phrase which means to push forward, move ahead, advance and that is exactly the aim of the online platform which Movember has custom built for the prostate cancer research community.
Collaboration is at the heart of Movember’s GAP and in order for this to happen in a practical sense; a key deliverable of GAP is the creation of a fit-for-purpose online communication platform to help GAP researchers work together more easily. Promoveo connects the global GAP community across the world and helps them work together across clinical and scientific disciplines and multiple time zones.
At a very simple level, it’s a bit like Linkedin with discussion and collaboration forums exclusively for the prostate cancer community. In short it:
• Connects the global Prostate Cancer community
• Showcases the program and its participants
• Allows researchers to collaborate by sharing knowledge
• Searches for and shares resources
• Provides a project tracking and management tool
• Is a communication channel
This page will be kept regularly updated with progress on all of the GAP programs and details of new initiatives funded by GAP. Please check back to see how Movember funds are truly making a difference at a global level, thanks to the on-going support of the Movember community.
If you would like more information on Promoveo, contact Dr Mark Buzza on mark@movember.com.
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