Period of stay: from 15.04.2023 until 29.04.2023

Report:

I am grateful that I received the mobility grant from the Vienna Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences (VDS PhaNuSpo), which allowed me to travel to the collaboration partner of my PhD project, the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

My stay took place over a period of two weeks in the Nutrition and Metabolism Branch (NME) under the supervision of Dr. Heinz Freisling. During my stay at the IARC, I was able to work and exchange with talented and knowledgeable professionals. My primary responsibility was to finalize my third project and last manuscript within my PhD program. In my final project we want to answer the question whether diets that include a high proportion of so called ultra-processed foods (“industrially prepared foods”) increase the risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases. Multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases was defined as the co-occurrence of at least two diseases among cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases in an individual.

Throughout my stay, I received guidance and support from my supervisor and colleagues. They provided me with regular feedback regarding my last project, which helped me to reflect on the work I have done and to draft my manuscript. Additionally, I had the opportunity to atend various professional development activities, including seminars and group meetings on topics related to my research subject or statistical methods, which expanded my knowledge. I was also allowed to present my latest results and received valuable feedback. An additional highlight was that I was able to see and experience the new building and location of IARC, which opened this February.

In conclusion, I would like to express my appreciation for the support and guidance that I received from my supervisor Dr. Heinz Freisling and colleagues during my stay at IARC.