PacRim Breast and Prostate Cancer Meeting Series
The international Pacific Rim (PacRim) meetings focus on contemporary issues in breast and prostate cancer research with a view to improving disease outcomes and developing strategies for prevention and improved quality of life.
The goal of PacRim meetings is to identify and address critical issues in breast and prostate cancer to progress the field and stimulate cutting-edge research into these two common diseases. Introductory talks are short and designed to set the stage for robust, in-depth discussions rather than reporting data in the traditional sense. The relatively small size (100 – 150 participants) and unique think-tank format of PacRim meetings ensures a lively interaction and extensive discussion between participants comprising scientists, clinicians and both industry and research foundation representatives of international standing. A key objective is to foster innovative collaborative research networks that will lead to new insight, better treatments and ultimately improved patient outcomes.
The foundation PacRim meeting organising institutions are the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories (DRMCRL) at the University of Adelaide, Australia; Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA; Garvan Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia; Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver, Canada; Hanson Institute, Adelaide; University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA.
PacRim meetings were inspired by the Hormones and Cancer 2000 Meeting held in Port Douglas, Australia after the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and take place every two to three years. There have been seven PacRim meetings, which have facilitated the establishment of international networks across Australia, Canada, the Americas and the broader Asia-Pacific. The 8th PacRim Breast and Prostate Cancer Meeting will be held in 2024. This meeting will celebrate the 21st anniversary of the PacRim meeting series and has been confirmed for August. More details to follow.
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Previous PacRim meetings
The inaugural PacRim Meeting was held in 2003 in Victor Harbor, South Australia. A second meeting was hosted by the University of Southern California, Department of Preventive Medicine and Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Palm Springs in 2005.
Continued success and interest led to a third meeting on Fraser Island Australia in 2006, which saw the introduction of the Ron Ross Award and produced many fruitful exchanges and collaborations. In 2009, a fourth meeting was held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the fifth meeting returned to Australia in 2011 to ‘Mantra on Salt Beach’ in Kingscliff, New South Wales.
The sixth meeting held at Skamania Lodge, Washington, USA, and the seventh meeting in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, consolidated the PacRim meeting as one of the leading breast and prostate cancer meetings internationally. The aim of future meetings is to bring leading researchers together to meet in areas of the world that are under-represented in breast and prostate cancer research. This is particularly relevant to the Southern Hemisphere and to East Asia, where we plan to hold future meetings.
- 2019 PacRim Meeting in the Barossa Valley, SA, Australia
- 2015 PacRim Meeting in Stevenson, WA, USA
- 2011 PacRim Meeting in Kingscliff, NSW, Australia
- 2008 PacRim Meeting in Whistler, BC, Canada
- 2006 PacRim Meeting in Fraser Island, QLD, Australia
- 2005 PacRim Meeting in Palm Springs, CA, USA
- 2003 PacRim Meeting in Victor Harbor, SA, Australia