The annual IACR conference took place in Galway from the 27^th-29^th of February 2020, showcasing the most up-to-date cancer research taking place across Ireland. ESRs 2, 4 and 5, Éilis, Niamh and Ewelina, presented at this conference.

This three-day conference is a brilliant combination of lay presentations, talks from leading experts and presentations from early stage researchers, ensuring that there is a chance for everyone to partake and benefit. The conference began with a fantastic session of PhD students presenting their research in layman’s terms, highlighting the importance of clear communication underpinning the ethos of the TRACT programme. This was followed by presentations from global leaders in cancer research with a wonderful balance of epidemiology, genomics, immunology, therapeutics and more. The focus on early stage researchers was a huge benefit to the ESRs in attendance, providing the opportunity to represent TRACT by presenting three years of research in poster or oral presentation format.

Ewelina presented her research in the poster session. Following three years of research on the TRACT programme, it was a great way to present her findings. This poster received fantastic feedback from the reviewers who were impressed at the breadth of work Ewelina had achieved.

Both Éilis and Niamh presented their research in the ‘proferred paper’ session, chosen based on quality of abstracts submitted. This session consisted of several talks on oesophageal adenocarcinoma, including Éilis and Niamh’s, highlighting the high standard of research focused on OOC taking place across Ireland.

Éilis gave a fantastic talk on the identification of novel molecular targets in immune activated oesophageal adenocarcinoma. This was extremely well received, with great feedback to take forward to the final 6 months of her research.

Niamh presented her most recent work on the identification of Src’s role in governing chemotherapy resistance in oesophageal adenocarcinoma through functional genomic and high-throughput drug screening approached. There was great interest in this dual screen approach, providing Niamh with a great boost to return to writing her thesis.

IACR offered TRACT ESRs the opportunity to meet leading experts, to present their latest findings and the chance to listen to and learn from cutting edge research, which combined to make a fantastic few days for Éilis, Niamh and Ewelina.