The Patrick Johnston Award for Excellence in Cancer Research is being held in Belfast on Wed 5 March and the public are being invited to help decide who takes home the prize. The award session will take place on the first day of the Irish Association for Cancer Research (IACR) conference and recognises early career researchers who can communicate their research most clearly to the public.

The prize for best talk is given to the finalist who communicates their work most clearly after developing it at a workshop alongside mentors with lived experience of cancer. Additionally, for the first time, attendees to this year’s free event will have the chance to also engage with researchers presenting plain-language posters of their research.

The award is given on the first day of the IACR Conference which will run over three days at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. The IACR is an all-Ireland non-profit organisation for cancer researchers across all disciplines.

“The conference covers research developments across the patient journey,” explained IACR Junior Council Chair Dr Emma Allott, “from prevention to earlier diagnosis and better treatments.”

Dr Allott told us: “I have led the IACR Junior Council as Chair for the past three years. We are a group of eight individuals from different universities across Ireland. The IACR Junior Council are tasked with organising the first day of IACR annual conference which comprises educational seminars and workshops aimed at early career researchers, culminating in the Patrick Johnston Award for Excellence in Cancer Research Outreach session.”

The Junior Council’s workshop series on patient and public involvement in cancer research is now in its third year. They will also be hosting a session on research bridging academia and industry.

“Following the Junior Council day, we have a busy programme of expert biomedical cancer researchers from around the world delivering invited talks, across topics including artificial intelligence in cancer research, nutrition and obesity, and advances in drug delivery,” explained Dr Allott. “We also have several cancer epidemiology and prevention sessions which run in parallel to the biomedical sessions.”

Patient and public involvement (PPI) is an important focus of the IACR Conference. There are 13 PPI attendees involved with this year’s meeting.

Members of the public interested in helping to select the 2025 Patrick Johnston awardee are encouraged to book a free space for the opening day of the conference between 17:00 – 19:30 where they can meet researchers, discuss their poster presentations over refreshments and vote on the most accessible talk.