News
Welcome back to the ACADI newsletter! Despite the cold coming in, we have been busy and have some updates to share with you.
We moved!
The ACADI team has moved! We are still based in the Edison Building of LIH but we have moved to bigger offices to accommodate our team expansion. We look forward to introducing you to our new members over the next few months.
EMPOWER Kick-off Meeting
From the 29th to the 31st of October, members of our team joined partners from across Europe, Benin, and Togo for a three-day consortium meeting of the European Union-funded EMPOWER project – EMpowering People living with NCDs and frOntline health Workers and levERaging digital health technology. The kick-off meeting brought together all the consortium partners to align on the next steps for this four-year project aiming to reduce treatment gaps for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Benin and Togo.
We are proud of Dr Clémence Bafei who presented our work package on Monitoring and Evaluation, showcasing the role of our team in the project. Her presentation started an active discussion and valuable exchanges across the consortium.
EMPOWER brings together an exciting partnership between: the Université de Limoges, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Université de Lomé, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Università di Catania, ASS Université Numerique Francophone Mondiale and our team at Luxembourg Institute of Health.
FNR’s Spotlight on Young Researchers
A few members of our team have been featured in FNR’s Spotlight on Young Researchers! This feature showcases some of the work we are doing as part of the REDICO project funded by Dr Sophie Pilleron’s ATTRACT grant. If you want to get to know our work a bit better, you can watch the video and read the article here!
RESCOM Lecture Series on Causal Inference
On Friday the 14th of November, we were delighted to host Dr Georgia Tomova as part of our FNR-funded RESCOM lecture series. Dr Tomova’s talk covered causal inference with compositional data and led to an engaging discussion in the room and online. An even bigger bonus was her travel companion, the Cohort Mem-bear who travelled all the way from UCL to meet our chameleon, in a long-anticipated mascot meeting. Thank you Georgia for an excellent talk, and we hope to cross paths again in the near future.
Up next in our lecture series, we will be hosting Professor Miguel Hernan from Harvard University on the 18th of December. Talking about AI and causal inference, you do not want to miss this one!
Ethics Approval and Ministerial Authorisation
We are pleased to share that three of our team’s studies have recently received favourable opinions from the national ethics committee, with two also securing authorisation from the Ministry of Health.
The first of these approved studies is a qualitative study, entitled COMM-TDM, led by Dr India Pinker, examining how treatment decisions are made for and with older adults with cancer. It explores how information is exchanged between patients and oncologists, and how these interactions shape decision-making. By gathering perspectives from both groups, the study aims to identify opportunities to enhance communication and develop supportive tools.
The second study, led by Dr Lisa Zangarini, will explore general practitioners’ views on the use of smartwatches in the management of health among older adults.
Recruitment for both studies is now underway. If you are a healthcare professional involved in cancer care, a general practitioner, or an individual aged 50 or older with experience of cancer, and you would like to learn more about these studies or participate in them, please get in touch!
The third study, currently awaiting final Ministerial authorisation, is TDM-Café, funded and supported by ThinkPink Luxembourg. Led by Dr India Pinker, this project focuses on co-creating research priorities with individuals directly affected by cancer – patients, family members, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. It aims to ensure that future research, as well as the implementation of existing evidence, reflects the lived realities and needs of those most involved.
SIOG 2025 Conference
The team are excited to be going to Ghent on the 20th of November for the 25th Annual SIOG conference! The team’s work will be featured across the conference with Dr Sophie Pilleron, Dr Clémence Bafei, and Gladys Langue presenting posters; and Dr India Pinker giving a talk on Qualitative methods. Dr Pilleron will also be co-chairing the NAHS session as well as both the NAHS and Methods Group poster walks, which will each feature 5 selected poster pitches.
A particular highlight of team’s contributions will be Dr Pauline Duquenne delivering a plenary presentation on mortality prediction models. We look forward to an engaging and thought provoking conference!
Get to know the team
As our team expands, we are very happy to introduce you to our latest joiner: Marie Haubrich!
I’m delighted to introduce myself as the newest addition to ACADI. My name is Marie, and I’m currently a Master’s student in Biomedical Sciences. I completed my Bachelor’s degree here in Luxembourg, where I also had the opportunity to broaden my horizons through two exchange semesters; one in Strasbourg, France and another in Perth, Australia.
For my Master’s, I decided to move to the Netherlands to study at Maastricht University. My program includes a nine-month internship, and although my studies were often wet-lab focused, I am excited to expand my skills in epidemiology and public health. This shift began this summer, when I participated in a Global Health summer school in Copenhagen. With participants from around the world, it felt like a “mini United Nations.” We explored the importance of strong data collection and clear data representation in improving healthcare and shaping effective policies; an experience that deeply inspired me.
This is why I am excited to begin my internship at ACADI. I am eager to learn from the team and to contribute to ongoing work in cancer epidemiology. My Master’s thesis will focus on the cancer burden among older adults in Europe, with particular interest in how screening programs cover different age groups and where gaps remain. I’m excited for the months ahead and grateful for the opportunity to grow in this new direction!” ~ Marie Haubrich
Until next time, keep well!
The ACADI Team