After two years behind the screen, we want the life experience to take place and see, hear and feel with whom we are living and working in Inspire2Live. Our patient advocates and scholar activists meet each other to learn, inspire, enforce and work together for their common cause.

After two years of Teams, Zooms, mails and apps we were finally able to fly in from around the globe to meet each other in person in Amsterdam. I’m not sure if the COVID-19 measures would approve of all the hugs and kisses that were exchanged, but it was definitely a boost for our mental health!

In addition to the Meet & Greets, the agenda was all about updating each other on the magnificent projects everybody is working on and exploring where we can support each other to break down barriers and create better results faster.

On Day 1 we had a lecture and interview with Rob ten Brinck about pain management and cancer. Pain management can’t be separated from cancer. You really have to have the holistic view to provide benefit for the patient. If an existing medicine, e.g. lidocaine is (cost) effective and save to use, why do we need more big trials to prove it? Or worse yet, how is it possible that we are still using opiates when there are alternative drugs which are more effective, affordable and provide a much better quality of life for the patient? There must be a way to push this research forward.

On Day 2 Mao Mao gave a lecture about early detection. One vial of blood is all it takes to sequence your DNA and detect any potential cancer. Thousands of citizens have already taken part and, by storing the data and letting algorithms do their job, cancer can be detected in the early stages. This approach represents a paradigm shift compared to the way we are currently diagnosing cancer and it has huge potential, not only for diagnosis but also in terms of monitoring recurrence and treatment response. Mao Mao clearly believes that this type of diagnostics should be available to all, as an easy to use and affordable option, in both high- and low-income countries.

Overall we had a great meeting with lots of inspiration to fuel our minds and projects.