News
ACADI Newsletter – September 2026
Welcome back to the ACADI Newsletter! We hope you feel rested and ready for the final quarter of the year. September was full of activity, and we have a few updates for you.
Publications
Dr Sophie Pilleron co-authored a study describing the global cancer burden by sex and age, based on GLOBOCAN 2022 data. The article, entitled “Age and sex differences in the global cancer burden”, was recently published in Cancer Causes & Control. You can read it here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42570134/
Dr India Pinker wrote a commentary in collaboration with Dr Kristen Haase, Dr Sophie Pilleron and Dr Kelly McConnell on the need to move beyond assessment alone in psychosocial care in geriatric oncology, so that the field can better deliver on its holistic care aims. You can read the piece, published in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology, here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879406826015419?via%3Dihub
Conferences
From the 9th to the 11th of September 2026 in London, United Kingdom, Dr Sophie Pilleron and Dr Pauline Duquenne attended the Social Medicine & Population Health Annual Conference 2026 and the European Congress of Epidemiology (EuroEpi) 2026. Both conferences covered the latest developments and methodological best practice in advancing scientific knowledge in public health and social medicine.
From the 14th to the 20th of September in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dr India Pinker helped deliver the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) on behalf of the International Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH).
Dr Pinker was Chair of the Scientific Committee, leading a team of experts to review submissions and build the conference’s scientific programme. She also played a wider role in delivering the conference, presenting on philosophical debates around the impact of AI on research into human experiences such as health communication, and sharing reflections on career progression as an early career researcher.
Grant Proposal Submission
ACADI has submitted a proposal to the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under a call focused on improving functional recovery and quality of life among older adults with cancer. This collaborative project, entitled Geriatric Oncology FUNctional recovery package for qualitY of life (GO-FUNKY), brings together colleagues from nine countries. GO-FUNKY aims to strengthen shared surgical decision-making for older adults with colorectal cancer through the development, implementation, evaluation, and scale-up of a comprehensive functional recovery package. This package would include a risk prediction tool to estimate the likelihood of functional recovery after surgery, a communication skills training module to support healthcare professionals in shared decision-making, and a prehabilitation programme designed to support patients before treatment. Overall, the package seeks to reduce decisional regret around surgery and, ultimately, to improve the quality of life of older adults living with cancer. We expect to hear the outcome in early 2027.
Project Launch: ProMulti
The team, represented by Dr Sophie Pilleron, is a partner in the nationally funded CORE project “Parents, Educators and Healthcare Professionals promoting Multilingualism (ProMulti)”. The project was officially launched on the 22nd of September in Belval, Esch-sur-Alzette. The launch brought together multidisciplinary experts who showcased their work in education, healthcare and research settings, highlighting how different disciplines can come together to address multilingualism and setting the tone for this exciting project in Luxembourg.
ProMulti will investigate the language beliefs, practices, and management strategies of multilingual families, educators, and healthcare professionals. By exploring how these perspectives align, differ, and interact, the project aims to identify effective approaches for supporting multilingual development. The findings are intended to strengthen understanding of the factors that promote or hinder language development and to provide practical insights to support children and families in multilingual environments.
Milestones
Lisa Zangarini, a visiting researcher in our team, has submitted her thesis as part of her specialist training in General Practice at the University of Luxembourg. Her research investigated GPs’ perceptions of smartwatch use in healthcare in Luxembourg. She will defend her thesis on the 15th of October, marking the end of her studies.
Marie Haubrich, who completed her Master’s internship with ACADI, has graduated from her Master’s in Biomedical Sciences at Maastricht University and is now working as a research assistant in our team.
We are so proud of you both!
Training
On the 15th of September, Dr Clémence Bafei and Dr Sophie Pilleron delivered a training session entitled “Designing Observational Studies in Epidemiology: Principles and Best Practices”. The session highlighted common methodological weaknesses identified in published epidemiological research and provided practical guidance on how to address these challenges when designing and conducting observational studies.
Healthcare Week
Lisa and Marie represented ACADI at the LIH stand at Healthcare Week Luxembourg on the 30th of September, held at LuxExpo in Luxembourg City. Lisa presented findings from her recently submitted thesis research on smartwatch use in general practice, and Marie introduced the ongoing study “Understanding the Communication of Cancer Treatment Decision-Making in Luxembourg (COMM-TDM)”. COMM-TDM is currently looking for oncology professionals and patients who would like to share their experiences of the cancer treatment decision-making process in an interview. If you, or anyone you know, would be interested, please email the study team at: redicoqual@lih.lu.
Until next time, keep well.
ACADI Team