The world’s oldest professional association for cancer research has taken to one of the newer social media channels as part of its engagement efforts.

The American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting began in Washington, DC on Saturday and as part of its social media activities the body is now on Snapchat.

Its efforts so far have seen it catalogue AACR attendees’ support for funding the National Institutes of Health (led by AACR president Nancy Davidson, pictured above) as well as clinical trial presentations in colorectal cancer and glioblastoma.

Dr Emil Lou, a medical oncologist at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center, said the AACR hoped its use of Snapchat would “expand [its] reach to new audiences, especially the next generation of cancer researchers”.

“Many undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers will be attending the meeting, not only learning about advances in cancer research but also presenting their own work,” he said.

“The AACR social media team will be there to document their involvement and interview winners of the Undergraduate Research Poster competition, along with many other cancer researchers, physicians, cancer survivors, and patient advocates of all ages.”

Meanwhile, on this side of the pond the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) also began exploring Snapchat earlier this year.

It joined the mobile-led social network in January, becoming the first public health body to sign up to the platform.

NICE’s first foray into the world of Snapchat was a short campaign to raise awareness among young people of antimicrobial resistance and the importance of hand-washing.

Head of media Rebecca Smith told PR Week the channel was “the perfect platform for this”, with its Snapchat story viewed more than 200 times and nearly 5,000 people reached with its geofilter graphic (which added a cartoon drip of snot to selfies).

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