UICC awards six YY study grants for international cancer research

UICC is delighted to announce that it has awarded six new Yamagiwa–Yoshida (YY) Study Grant from the 2025 call for applications. These grants support established researchers in undertaking three-month international collaborative visits to leading cancer research centres. 

Since 1972, the Yamagiwa-Yoshida Memorial International Cancer (YY) Study Grants made possible through the longstanding support of UICC‑Japan, have offered valuable learning opportunities to cancer researchers worldwide. Open to qualified researchers with at least two years of post‑PhD experience, the grants consist of three‑month visits that support international collaboration, skill development, and progress in cancer research.

The six recipients of a YY Study Grant will visit France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Spain and United States for their three-month research projects. The research topics cover cancer survival trends, biomarker discovery, personalised radiopharmaceutical therapy, spatial immune dynamics, HPV antibody responses, and epigenomic mechanisms across several major cancer types. They highlight how advances in the understanding of cancer biology can lead to targeted, personalised approaches to cancer detection and treatment.

YY Study Grant awardees

“This fellowship will enable me to bring advanced personalised radionuclide dosimetry into routine clinical practice in my home institution and region, transforming prostate cancer care from empirical treatment to precision therapy. I aim to strengthen sustainable cancer control capacity and improve outcomes for patients who currently have limited access to state-of-the-art targeted therapies.”
– Iftikhar Ahmad, Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM), Pakistan. He will visit IRCCS Istituto Romagnolo per lo Studio dei Tumori Dino Amadori, Italy.

“By integrating advanced analytical methods into routine cancer registry practice, this YY Study Grant visit will contribute to evidence-based cancer control strategies and improved survival outcomes in my institution and region.”
– Jagatnath Krishna, Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, India. He will visit International Agency for Research on Cancer/WHO, France to study international trends and patterns in colorectal cancer survival.

“I am excited to use this YY Study Grant to strengthen cancer control efforts at my institution in Congo, and across the region. I hope to be able to implement human papilloma virus DNA PCR detection workflows to enable reliable local HPV detection and apply critical clinical trial methods to evaluate and improve vaccine uptake. In this way I hope to increase vaccine coverage, improve screening rates, and ultimately contribute to a meaningful reduction in the incidence of cervical and other HPV-related cancers.”
– Juval Avala Ntsigouaye from National Laboratory of Public Health, Republic of the Congo. He will visit Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), Spain.

“Exposure to advanced techniques in cancer genomics, bioinformatics, precision oncology, and multidisciplinary care models will enable me to improve laboratory standardization, and promote evidence-based screening, early detection, and targeted therapy strategies, particularly for aggressive cancers such as triple-negative breast cancer that disproportionately affect our population.”
– Temidayo Adigun, Abdulrasaq Abubakar Toyin University, Nigeria. He will visit Loma Linda University Health, USA for their project on Epigenomic Analysis of AR–DNA Repair Crosstalk in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

"The skills I acquire during this fellowship will enable me to establish standardised hypoxia culture and transcriptomic analysis platforms at my home institution, thereby enhancing our ability to investigate hypoxia-induced treatment resistance in lung cancer at the molecular level. This will contribute meaningfully to local capacity in biomarker discovery and support the gradual advancement of precision oncology within our institution and region."
– Hasan Nisar, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Pakistan. He will visit the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center, Germany for their project on hypoxia-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition signature in non-small cell lung carcinoma.

"The expertise gained from this YY Study Grant will be transferred to my institution to build local capacity in advanced molecular analysis, supporting sustainable precision oncology research and improving cancer management in Malaysia".
– Sau Yee Kok, Cancer Research Malaysia will visit Singapore General Hospital, Singapore for their project on Exploring Spatial Immune Dynamics in Recurrent and Metastatic Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.