In January 2026, the African Cancer Immunology and Infection Initiative (TACII) held its first in-person meeting, bringing together founding members from across Africa, Europe, and the UK in Casablanca, Morocco. The meeting was hosted by Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C), marking the moment when TACII's founding vision moved from a shared idea among collaborators to a coordinated, working initiative.
Researchers travelled from Senegal, Benin, Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, the UK, and Germany to take part - a preview of the pan-African, internationally connected network TACII is building.
Around the table (and pictured left to right) were Prof Ghita Zaz and Prof Abdallah Badou of UH2C, Prof Clive Gray of Stellenbosch University, Prof Tomabu Adjobimey of the University of Abomey-Calavi, Prof Marielle B. Akotet and Prof Denise Mboumba of the Université des Sciences de la Santé in Libreville, Prof Sayeh Ezzikouri of the Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Prof Barbara Seliger of Halle University, and Prof Faith Osier of Imperial College London.
Over the course of the meeting, the group worked through the scientific rationale that would become TACII's founding commentary, then in preparation for submission to the Journal of Immunotherapy of Cancer. Discussions ranged across the initiative's three core research pillars: the role of infection and immunity in African cancers, the largely unexplored contribution of the microbiome, and the need for dedicated profiling of the tumour immune microenvironment (TIME) in African patients. And of course, how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be applied in this research.
This inaugural meeting set the stage for the initiative's next major milestone: TACII's founding scientific rationale published in the Journal of Immunotherapy of Cancer.