YI01b.02 Expectations from a Young Investigator

Abstract

Over the last two decades, research has pushed lung cancer investigations from the shallows of cancer treatment to one of the most innovative positions in oncology. The improvements in molecular diagnostics, in targeted therapy and immunotherapy with the linked creeping decline of traditional chemotherapy act as a model for many other tumor entities. Joined by this paradigm shift is a demographic change to young investigators who start their career in the innovative fields of lung cancer research instead of thinking in the traditional chemotherapy-based fashion. Nevertheless, in order to detect the needs and expectations from young investigators, even the definition of “young” is hard to handle, and subjective expectations might be biased by the socioeconomic background of the investigator. We therefore set out to find a way to present more robust and reliable data on the topic. We created an online questionnaire covering age, experiences, interests, and of course needs and expectations of young investigators. The expectations focus on research topics, treatment options, mentorships and social networking. The questionnaire will be forwarded to 20 investigators in the EU, Asia, South America and the US with link to the emerging fields of lung cancer research, in order to forward it to participants who they consider young in both clinical and preclinical investigations. For subgroup analyses, we will include students with interest in this field, too. Results will be analyzed by the presenters. The poll will be open until one week of the WCLCs Young Investigator's Scientific Mentoring Session, and results of this interim analysis will be presented by this talk. Nevertheless, all participants of the WCLC 2016 are invited to answer the questionnaire during the Conference, and a final data cut will be made at December 10th, 2016. We are aware of the potential biases in online polls. A valid e-mail address and the source of the online link (i.e., who was the “supervisor”) are necessary. As an incentive to participate properly, we offer all participants to be part of the “WCLC young Investigator Expectations Network (WIEN)” which will coauthor the final manuscript. As we question the expectations of how lung cancer research will work in five years, it is intended to repeat the poll in a regular manner, maybe yearly. We expect a view on the expectations from young investigators worldwide and a feeling of their needs for the future. future, young investigators, lung cancer, expectations