The Middleton Scholarship – enabling career progression in cancer control

As part of his learning and scholarship programme, Rhys will spend one week (18-22 November 2019) with the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) in Geneva, Switzerland to gain further insights into global issues and current priority areas around cancer control. He will also have a chance to visit UICC partner organisations such as the World Health Organization, City Cancer Challenge, and the NCD Alliance.

Rhys, a Site Manager at Icon Group, was selected as the 2019 Scholar due to his in-depth knowledge on partnerships in health care and his previous engagement with UICC and World Cancer Day.

‘My time as the Middleton scholarship recipient has been rich in learning.  I look forward to bringing more knowledge back to the Icon team as we  continue to provide the best care possible, to as many people as possible, as close to home as possible’.
– Rhys Fitzgerald, Site Manager at Icon Group and current Middleton Scholar.

Launched on World Cancer Day (4 February) 2018, the Middleton Scholarship is an annual prize awarded to a staff member of UICC’s Vanguard Partner, Icon Group,

The professional development prize is personally funded by Icon Group CEO, Mark Middleton and his family, and enables the recipient to be part of the global cancer care conversation. The Scholarship provides a unique programme of activities to help the recipient develop their skills and excel their career progression.

‘Having Rhys join the UICC team in Geneva and interacting with him throughout the week provides great value to our partnership with Icon and allows us to further increase our knowledge sharing in cancer care.’
– Lorenzo Boffi, Senior Partnership Manager, UICC.

Prior to his visit to Geneva, Rhys has already represented Icon Group at The Economist’s War on Cancer Asia Summit in Singapore alongside Mark Middleton. As part of the summit, Rhys took part in UICC’s CEO Programme and in one Public-Private Dialogue session, which focused on how the private and public sector can work together with patients. Read more about his first chapter in his Middleton Scholarship Journey here.

 ‘I’m honoured to have the support of UICC in continuing to build upon the Middleton Scholarship and create meaningful opportunities for Icon staff. It is rewarding to see our partnership with UICC grow as we work together to help reduce the global cancer burden,”
– Mr Mark Middleton, CEO of Icon Group.

In 2018, Courtney Oar (née King) was the inaugural scholarship recipient. During her 12 month programme, she attended the 2018 World Cancer Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and undertook the UICC sponsored Master Course where she expanded her understanding of cross-sector partnership and how this form of collaboration can address the challenges of the growing cancer burden. Find out more about Courtney’s journey here.

Early in 2017, Icon Group, Australia’s largest dedicated provider of cancer care, became vanguard partners with the Union for International Cancer Control and have recently renewed their partnership agreement with UICC for an additional 12 months. Icon work with UICC to improve support for the cancer community and drive action on a global scale.