The Oncology and Medical Sciences Graduate Program (PPGOCM) is part of the Center of Oncology Research (NPO) of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). It is the only center of reference in research and training of human resources stricto sensu in the area of oncology in the North region of Brazil. The other centers are concentrated in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The objective of the Program is to carry out quality research in oncology and train human resources at the different levels of knowledge (Master’s and Doctorate), capable of responding to the demands of society, especially in the Amazon.
Its creation was in 2011 and is due to a history of collaboration between the University Hospital João de Barros Barreto (HUJBB) and the Institute of Biological Sciences (ICB) of UFPA, which since 2005 have carried out interdisciplinary collaborations in research on oncology, resulting in several scientific works, dissertations and theses.
With the support of the Genetics and Molecular Biology Graduate Program at UFPA (PPGBM), which develops research related to the subject, as of 2008, a group of researchers working with human genetics decided to direct their efforts to understand the mechanisms involved in the genetics of oncological diseases and betting on the formation of human resources to perform in this area.
In 2009, in cooperation with the PPGBM and the HUJBB, a special Master’s and Doctoral group was established for medical preceptors of the Medical Residency Programs of the UFPA framework, meeting the qualification objectives of the UFPA development plan within the Program Institution of Qualification to Teaching (PIQD) and CAPES, contributing to the formation and encouraging the research. In this first group,19 masters and 5 doctors were graduated. These special groups, along with other academic movements, were some of the conditions that allowed the creation of the Oncology and Medical Sciences Graduate Program.
Currently, the Program has 21 professors in its tenured staff, four invited and one visiting. There are two Concentration Areas. The first is in Medical Sciences, in which three research lines are developed: Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Neurodegenerative Diseases and Translational Research in Human Health. The second one is in Oncology, also developing three research lines: Genomic, Transcriptomic and Proteomic; Identification and Development of Biomarkers and Pathology, Clinical and Oncologic Therapy.