AccessCR announces the awarding of CCReW Support Scholarships to support the travel of 4 consumers to the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM). in Adelaide, 8 November 2022. The recipients hail from the ACT, NSW, Qld and regional VIC, and have a range of therapeutic interests and experiences of research participation and involvement.
In the latest round of CCReW Conference/Event Scholarships, we received requests for travel support totalling around $7500, and we were able to award $3600. This was an increase from our original budget of $2500, but seemed necessary given the demand and diversity of experiences and interests of the consumers applying.
We recognise however that we were unable to cover the full costs requested by each of the recipients, nor for everyone that requested assistance. This scholarship round demonstrates that there is an increasing desire of consumers to attend scientific conferences, to learn more and network with the researchers aiming to benefit their communities, but also the significant financial cost of doing so that is typically unfunded and a burden to the patients and carers wanting to get involved in research.
I would like to also congratulate the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance who has stepped up to both provide 10 free Consumer registrations to their conference, and assist with the travel costs of consumers not awarded the CCReW scholarships. This demonstrates leadership and a true commitment to consumer inclusion and involvement in both their conference and the clinical trials sector.
I would like to thank the CCReW Supporters without whom the provision of these scholarships would not be possible: Rare Cancers Australia for their financial, governance and operational support to the Scholarship Program, and Medicines Australia, TrialDocs, Lucid Health Consulting for their financial support on top of the financial and operational support we provide at AccessCR. We welcome organisations that would like to become CCReW Supporters and help make our support and capacity building activities for consumers taking part in and involved in research possible.
Here's a few words from a couple of our grateful scholarship recipients...
But
for the financial assistance, I would not have attended the conference and have
the opportunity of meeting and discussing with researchers and other consumers
the priorities in consumer involvement in health research.
Receiving
this scholarship will enable me to travel to Adelaide to attend the Australian
Clinical Trials Alliance Annual Scientific Meeting as a consumer
representative.
I am very
excited to have the opportunity to attend this conference and further my
understanding about the clinical trial system in in Australia so I can help
support patients and their families.
Any
information I obtain during this conference has the potential to make a
difference in a person’s life by connecting them with new treatments.