NICRAT to Kicks-Tart SINCCAR Project Phase 2, Partners ACENTDFB

The Director General of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, has revealed that the moment the institute secured the needed funding, it will kicks-tart the phase 2 of the Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Cancer Research and Implementation (SINCCAR) project.

He disclosed this when a team from Africa Centre of Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB) led by the Centre Leader, Prof. YKE Ibrahim, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.

The SINCCAR project is a strategic initiative developed by NICRAT to enhance Nigeria’s ability to conduct first-class cancer research and to also translate the evidence or the result into meaningful public health interventions.

The SINCCAR project is structured in three phases- first, is the assessment of institutional capacity, two; the capacity training phase and the third will be grant provision phase that will support research implementation.

Prof. Malami further expressed the readiness of the Institute to partner with ACENTDFB in the area of linkage between Schistosomiasis and Cancer, comorbidity of cancer and other non-communicable diseases, capacity building training for early and mid-career cancer researchers, joint grant applications and bio-banking.

He stressed that NICRAT will form a committee that will work with the ACENTDFB team to formulate a policy document that will help the government tackle the challenge of Schistosomiasis before it escalates to a bigger national problem.

he NICRAT DG commended the ACENTDFB for supporting the Institute in its effort to establish one of best and reliable bio-bank in Africa.

Earlier, the ACENTDFB Centre Leader, Prof. YKE Ibrahim, commended the NICRAT management for their effort in the fight against cancer which, according to him, has brought a dramatic change in the cancer narrative in Nigeria and Africa at large.

The main purpose of the visit, he said, was to seek for partnership with NICRAT in crucial areas, especially, in the areas of research and capacity building, that will boost the Institute’s fight against cancer in the country.

He disclosed that in the area of oncology, his Centre of Excellence focuses on breast cancer, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and prostate cancer, while in the area of Neglected Tropical and Parasitic Diseases, the Centre focuses on African Trypanosomiasis, Schistosomiasis and Lymphatic Filariasis.