Workshop at partner site in Romania

After the successful implementation of two TANDEM training workshops in Indonesia and Peru, it was decided that a third workshop should be held at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova (UMFC), the Romanian partner site of TANDEM.

The training took place on 2 and 3 December 2013 and featured a variety of sessions covering different aspects of the TANDEM project and general FP7-related topics. The Eurice team came together with Reinout van Crevel, the scientific coordinator of TANDEM as well as Romanian site PI Mihai Ioana and his team. After discussing team management and organizational issues, addressing information and communication management as well as contract management and financial aspects of the 7th Framework Programme, specific topics were tabled, such as the handling and labelling of patient samples and the workflow of patient recruitment at the individual hospitals.

The training in Cariova was attended by a large number of participants, which brought together scientists, clinicians, nurses, laboratory personnel, data managers, and financial and legal administrators alike. The second day of the seminar included a site visit to Tudor Vladimirescu Hospital for Lung Diseases, one of the collaborating hospitals, which provided the opportunity for further discussions among the scientists of UMFCV and the hospital staff in Runcu, Gorj. In addition, a meeting with the vice president of the local province could be arranged, which helped with raising awareness of the TANDEM project and the UMFC activities in particular.

The hospital visit and ensuing discussions have had a positive impact on the organization of workflows on the ground. Many important aspects of implementing the clinical study were discussed, and related decisions were taken or prepared. The overall feedback was very good, and the prospects in regard to further project implementation at UMFCV in Romania are extremely promising.