Thank you San Antonio!
Four days in San Antonio. And quite a lot to take home with us. 💛
If there was one thing that came through strongly at this year’s CCI Annual Conference, it was what can happen when lived experience, knowledge and advocacy come together.
We heard it in Nancy F. Goodman’s remarkable keynote, introduced by Congressman Michael McCaul, as she told the story of how children with cancer and their siblings helped change U.S. federal law — and, with it, the future of pediatric drug development. We heard it again from Don Coulter, Max Wise and Michelle Urzynicok, sharing very different examples of how advocacy can move research funding and turn personal experience into systemic change.
And lived experience wasn’t something added to the programme around the edges. It was at the heart of it. Survivors, parents and advocates spoke about what happens during treatment, what happens after it, and what support really looks like when viewed through the eyes of the people who need it. We talked about AYA survivorship, reintegration, communication, family leadership and the realities caregivers face — and welcomed the new leadership of CCI’s Survivorship Network, SurNet.
There were also moments when we rolled up our sleeves: an excellent practical workshop on nutrition in childhood cancer care led by Nikita Mahakal and Uma Seshadri from Cuddles Foundation, conversations with our regions, and the launch of Home Away From Home 3.0 with the Sanofi Foundation, continuing our work to make sure geography and access to accommodation do not stand between a child and treatment.
And the conference really began before the conference, with the ACT for Children side event, bringing us together around a question that runs through so much of CCI’s work: how do we move beyond individual projects and build systems that empower families and improve outcomes?
Our Annual Conference takes place alongside the SIOP Annual Congress, and we are incredibly grateful to our colleagues at SIOP for their continued partnership and support — and for helping create a space where the professional and patient, parent and survivor communities can come together.
But some of the best parts will never appear in a programme.
The conversations over coffee. Meeting someone you had previously only known through a screen. Seeing old friends from the other side of the world. The hugs. The laughter. The ideas that started in one session and carried on in the corridor afterwards.
For a few days, this very global community was in one place.
We learned. We connected. We advocated. And we had a lot of fun doing it.
Thank you to everyone who made San Antonio so special. 🤠💛
See you in Sydney in 2027. 🇦🇺
