Asian Partnerships Office

in Japanese

• The ATLAS International Symposium was held in Bangkok, Thailand, where the Asian Partnerships Office (APO) is located, and face-to-face networking with local Key Opinion Leaders was achieved.
• The first ATLAS International Symposium was held under the leadership of the APO.

Overview

In April 2022, the National Cancer Center Hospital (President: Hitoshi Nakagama, Chuo-ku, Tokyo) has established the Asian Partnerships Office (APO) in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the Asian Clinical Trials Network for Cancers project (ALTAS project).

 

The ATLAS project was launched in September 2020. In order to ensure the continued operation of this project, close collaboration with participating Asian countries is essential.

Therefore, NCCH has established the Asian Partnerships Office (APO) in Bangkok, Thailand.
At the same time, the ATLAS international symposium was held as the opening of the APO to present the significance of the ATLAS project and the APO in Asia.

Background

The ATLAS project is an international collaborative trial network established to lead the world's early drug development in Asia. In addition to the countries in Asia where we have already conducted many international collaborative trials, we will work with Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, which are actively pursuing clinical trials, to develop early-stage drug development for cancer. (Learn more about ATLAS project)

In order to implement these activities, it is essential to build face-to-face relationships among participating countries. For this reason, from September 2020, the National Cancer Center Hospital started to establish APO in Bangkok, Thailand.

APO opened the tentative office in Phrom Phong, Bangkok in October 2021.

After the first office manager, Dr. Mitsumi Terada (NCCH), was assigned, we have been building a network with various medical institutions and related organizations in Bangkok based on this temporary office.

In particular, APO played a variety of roles in organizing this year's ATLAS International Symposium, including setting up the venue, processing participant registration, and managing the event. We are proud that these efforts have resulted in the holding of this symposium, which we believe to be a fitting event to mark the beginning of the network building process.

The office will move to its main office in Ratchathewi in April 2022, at the same time as the symposium, and the network will be further expanded in many areas in the future.

 

The role of APO

The main responsibilities are to expand the functions of the Academic Research Organization (ARO), to build networks with institutions around the world, and to publicize the activities of the National Cancer Center and the ATLAS project, and to hire human resources.

We can also create a list of KOLs and researchers in each field, as well as feasibility reports on the clinical trial implementation systems at participating sites, to build a network that can efficiently initiate new trials.

Furthermore, we will conduct public relations activities to gain more collaborators. Through holding and participating in local seminars and symposiums, we will make NCC and ATLAS activities widely known to promising young researchers, regulatory authorities, companies, etc., and link them to future joint projects.

APO acts as a bridge between various stakeholders.

Future Prospects

The ATLAS project is a collaboration of Asian countries working together to solve global cancer care issues.
We are committed to maintaining and developing this network, and to ensuring that the achievement of the project reaches people in Japan and abroad.