To: All members of the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute
As we are all confronted with the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, BHCRI needs to ensure the safety of our members and ensure that our programs and supports do not jeopardize anyone’s health and well being. You will already know that the external review of BHCRI that was scheduled for March 9, 10 has been postponed.
Even though our members are within various Atlantic institutions with different policies and responses to this pandemic, BHCRI has decided that we will suspend all curricular activities for our Cancer Research Training Program for the month of March. This means that for the immediate future there will be no Work-in-Progress or ILS sessions. Those individuals scheduled to present will be rescheduled once regular university activities are safe to resume. This will not affect a trainee’s attendance record. We will reassess BHCRI’s schedule in April.
The May workshop has been cancelled. We are currently working on ways to offer the keynote and breakout sessions using virtual connections.
Also scheduled for May was the Picchione lecture. This has also been cancelled.
Trainees who submitted expressions of interest for the spring CRTP competition will be contacted by BHCRI staff directly.
Essential BHCRI activities that can be conducted remotely (such as funding competitions, oversight committees) will carry on.
If your local situation regarding COVID-19 demands that you are absent from your research program, BHCRI support will continue. If you have any questions about how to deal with this pandemic from the perspective of your involvement with BHCRI, please get in touch (admin@bhcri.ca). In the meantime, everyone should pay attention to the updates that are a regular feature of your institution. And remember that frequent hand washing and distance from others is the most effective way to protect yourself and others with whom you interact (see: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/prevention-risks.html )
Gerald C. Johnston, PhD, FCAHS
Scientific Director, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute