International Agency for Research on Cancer fellowships programmeover 30 years of experience
R. Montesano1 and
E.El Akroud
International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 cours Albert-Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
 |
Abstract
|
---|
In 1966 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a fellowship programme designed for young postdoctoral scientists from any country in the world who wish to receive training in another country in an area relevant to the aetiology and pathogenesis of cancer. Various disciplines are covered such as cellular and molecular biology, pathology, genetics and biochemistry, and particular attention is given to training in cancer epidemiology. A total of 471 fellowships have been awarded during the last 32 years, averaging 15 fellowships per year, and representing approximately one in four of the applications evaluated every year. Thirty-six percent of the total number of fellowships awarded have come from developing countries and eastern Europe. North America and western Europe are the regions preferentially selected by 98% of the fellows for training, with the USA (48%) and the UK (19%) remaining the most frequently selected countries for a host laboratory. Approximately 8285% of fellows returned to their home countries and around 82% remain active in cancer research. A total of 101 fellowships have been awarded in epidemiology or biostatistics with the majority of IARC fellows in epidemiology originating from developing countries or developed countries in which the teaching of chronic diseases epidemiology is deficient. In addition, the IARC has received considerable input into its activities through its fellowship programme. The IARC fellowship programme is an effective tool in the provision of training in cancer research to young scientists worldwide, selected on the basis of scientific excellence and has made a substantial contribution to the development of cancer research in many countries.
 |
Introduction
|
---|
Various national and international fellowship programmes are specifically geared to providing training in cancer research ranging from basic science to clinical work, including cancer nursing. Other fellowship programmes (e.g. European Molecular Biology Organization, Human Frontier Science Program, etc.), although not having cancer as priority, have contributed to the training of postdoctoral fellows who later become involved in cancer research. Practically all these fellowship programmes operate within industrialised countries and very few consider cancer epidemiology.
In 1966 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a fellowship programme, designed for young postdoctoral scientists with no previous postdoctoral experience, from any country in the world who wish to receive training in another country. The areas of training cover various disciplines, such as cellular and molecular biology, pathology, genetics and biochemistry, relevant to the aetiology and pathogenesis of cancer and particular attention is given to training in cancer epidemiology. In developing countries, cancer is becoming an important cause of mortality and morbidity in the adult population (1). The training of personnel in cancer research including epidemiology is essential in coping with this public health problem.
To date, some 471 fellowships have been awarded and, at this stage, it is of interest to analyse and evaluate the impact of the IARC fellowships programme.
 |
Selection procedure
|
---|
In recent years ~100120 applications have been received annually from all over the world; ~4050 of these are excluded in a preliminary screening, due mainly to substandard quality or ineligibility. Thus, out of the total received, 5060 applications are reviewed and evaluated by an ad hoc selection committee, composed at present of nine scientists from outside the Agency and two IARC scientists. About 15 fellowships are awarded each year for a duration of 1 year.
Upon termination of the fellowship, each fellow is requested to provide a brief report of his experience and achievements during the fellowship; the fellow's supervisor is also requested to provide an evaluation of the fellow and his work. The follow-up procedure that was established at the inception of the programme permits us to make a valuable evaluation of the accomplishments of this programme, suggest possible improvements for the future and assess complementarity with other cancer fellowship programmes.
 |
Analysis of IARC fellowships awarded during 19661998
|
---|
A total of 471 fellowships have been awarded during the last 32 years, averaging 15 fellowships per year, and representing approximately one in four of the applications evaluated every year. The majority of the fellows (365 out of 471, 77%) have been men, but the ratio of females to males has increased progressively from 0.14 (19661976), through 0.32 (19771986) to 0.50 (19871998). The median age of the fellows over the last 32 years was 31.4. A complete list of the IARC fellows can be found on: http://www.iarc.fr.
Table I
lists the countries of origin of the fellows. Thirty-six percent of the total number of fellowships awarded were to applicants from developing countries and eastern Europe, and the others to applicants from western Europe (38%), North America (7%) and other countries (18%: Japan, Israel, Australia and New Zealand) (Figure 1
). It should be noted that, up to 1990, the IARC fellowships programme was one of the few programmes that permitted young scientists from eastern Europe to visit other countries and maintain a scientific link with the international scientific community. In more recent years the number of applicants for IARC fellowships from these countries has declined, partly due to the possibility of obtaining other fellowships but also to the present difficulty for young scientists, especially in Russia, to pursue a scientific career. Applications from the People's Republic of China began to increase upon the termination of the cultural revolution in the late 1970s, and continue to be significant.
As is to be expected, North America and western Europe are the regions preferentially selected by 98% of the fellows for training, and the USA (48%) remains by far the most frequently selected country for a host laboratory, followed by the UK (19%), France (7%), and Sweden, Germany and Canada (Table I
). This is not surprising in the light of the size of these countries and the level of their `scientific wealth' (2). It is also of interest to make a comparison among the host countries, not only on the basis of absolute numbers, but in terms of the number of visiting fellows relative to the numbers of research/development scientists and engineers of the host countries (for the numbers of scientists in these countries, see ref. 3). A rather interesting picture emerges (Figure 2
): Sweden having 122 fellows/105 Swedish scientists, followed by the UK (70), France (27.3), Switzerland (26), USA (22.7) and The Netherlands and Belgium (19). It is noticeable that some countries, namely Spain, Italy and Japan, have unexpectedly low numbers of visiting fellows (3, 1.3 and 0.65, respectively). A similar picture emerges from the analysis of the UICC-American Cancer Society fellowships programme (data from the UICC). Data from the EMBO fellowships also show low numbers of fellows in molecular biology who visited countries of southern Europe, in particular Italy, Spain and Greece (4). This could be attributed to a combination of factors such as high cost of living, cultural difference and the organization and level of scientific research of the host country as compared with other countries. It is of interest to note that comparisons of the investment in basic research compared with the relative output of scientific research papers in various countries shows the UK and Sweden to be at the top and Italy and Japan at the bottom (5). This indicates that investment in research and development including training is not very efficient if not accompanied by drastic changes in the organization of research structures in a given country.

View larger version (20K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
|
Fig. 2. Distribution of IARC fellows (total 471) among various host countries, expressed as number of fellows/105 scientists of the host country. [The number of scientists in each country was obtained from the UNESCO World Science Report, 1993 (3).]
|
|
The follow-up of the fellows enables us to know the number of fellows who returned to their home country upon termination of their fellowship or after an extension funded from sources other than IARC. A survey covering the period 19661984 (6) and a more recent one covering the last decade (IARC internal technical document) show that 8285% of fellows returned to their home countries (Figure 3
). Out of the 138 fellows awarded during the years 19851995, 18 failed to return to their home country; this group includes nine fellows originating from developed countries who went to countries of the same geographical area and one who went to a developing country, two from China and three from Russia who stayed in the host country and three from China who went to another developed country. Four of these fellows were in the field of epidemiology.
 |
Disciplines
|
---|
The IARC fellowships programme covers a broad spectrum of biological disciplines and these are well represented among the 471 fellowships awarded (Figure 4
). It is noteworthy that 101 fellowships (21% of the total) have been awarded in cancer epidemiology and biostatistics. At present, IARC fellowships are one of the few international fellowships to provide training in this discipline, and in most regions of the world, including various countries in western Europe, there is a virtual absence of graduate training programmes in chronic disease epidemiology. For these reasons and in the light of the fact that epidemiology, a major component of IARC's activities, is a major tool in cancer aetiology and cancer control, particularly in developing countries, considerable emphasis is given to this discipline in the IARC fellowship programme. In addition, recent progress in understanding the processes of carcinogenesis at the cellular and molecular level and in molecular biology permit effective integration of more basic research disciplines with epidemiology.
Since 1966 a total of 101 fellowships have been awarded in epidemiology or biostatistics, equally distributed between formal training (following a university course) and research training (carrying out a research project). These are listed in Table II
according the countries of origin. The proportion of fellowships awarded in epidemiology compared with other disciplines was higher over the last two decades.
The majority of IARC fellows in epidemiology originate from developing countries or developed countries in which the teaching of chronic disease epidemiology at university level is deficient or absent. Ninety-two percent of fellows in epidemiology went to the UK, the USA or the IARC and all of them returned home to hold a key position in their home institution, with the exception of a total of 10 cases. The expertise these fellows acquired through their training was instrumental in the establishment of various cancer registries and in the development of analytical and descriptive epidemiological studies in countries like Italy and France as well as various developing countries.
 |
Conclusions
|
---|
Analysis, based on 130 fellows selected by random sampling over the period 19661994, shows that an overall mean of 2.5 papers were published per year (Figure 5
). This indicates that upon termination of the fellowship, IARC fellows went on to pursue a research career.
Another satisfying outcome is that a substantial proportion of the fellows originate from developing countries or countries where certain disciplines in cancer research are under-represented (Figure 1
), and that, with a few exceptions, they all returned to their home country and contributed significantly to the development of cancer research and cancer control. From India, six fellows received training in cancer epidemiology and they are now the leading persons in the maintenance of cancer registries in this country. A similar impact of the IARC fellowship programme is the noticeable development of cancer epidemiology in countries like Italy, France and Japan, and in eastern Europe.
The IARC has received considerable input into its activities through its fellowship programme. A total of 58 fellows worked at the Agency and their number has increased in the last decade; in addition, 22 former fellows have occupied or at present hold a senior position at the Agency.
The conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is that the IARC fellowship programme is an effective tool in the development and implementation of IARC activities as well as in the provision of training in cancer research to young scientists world-wide, selected on the basis of scientific excellence. The selection criteria for IARC fellowships clearly do not impede access to these fellowships to applicants from developing countries, as indicated by their high success rate in basic science and in cancer epidemiology.
Non-communicable diseases are the major cause of death in the adult population of developing countries and cancers of the liver in man and of the cervix are among the 10 most frequent causes of deaths (7). In the future, the number of cancer cases in developing countries is certain to rise due to increased exposure to major risk factors like tobacco smoke, lack of effective intervention programmes for HBV vaccination and appropriate screening programmes, as well as an increase in the population age. Thus, the provision of trained scientists is one important means for reacting to this situation, together with development in the home countries of the appropriate health care structure and the political will to confront the problem.
 |
Acknowledgments
|
---|
The IARC gratefully acknowledges the contribution it has received from the Italian Association for Research on Cancer which has partially supported this fellowship programme since 1987.
 |
Notes
|
---|
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed Email: montesano{at}iarc.fr 
 |
References
|
---|
-
Parkin,D.M., Pisani,P. and Ferlay,J. (1999) Estimates of the worldwide incidence of 25 major cancers in 1990. Int J Cancer, 80, 827841.[ISI][Medline]
-
May,R.M. (1997) The scientific wealth of nations. Science, 275, 793796.[Free Full Text]
-
World Science Report 1993 (1993) UNESCO Publishing, Paris, France.
-
Anderson,A. (1992) Molecular biology. U.S. juggernaut overwhelms divided European elite [news]. Science, 256, 460464.[ISI][Medline]
-
May,R.M. (1998) The scientific investments of nations. Science, 281, 4951.[Free Full Text]
-
Sohier,R., Cole,P. and Montesano,R. (1986) Report on the IARC research training fellowships programme (19661984). IARC Internal Technical Report No. 86/002.
-
Murray,C.J. and Lopez,A.D. (1994) Global and regional cause-of-death patterns in 1990. Bull. World Health Organ., 72, 447480.[ISI][Medline]
Received May 19, 1999;
revised June 29, 1999;
accepted July 9, 1999.