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AACI Announces PCLI Leadership Transition
Pictured, left to right: Drs. Lee G. Wilke and Paula M. Fracasso
Paula M. Fracasso, MD, PhD, has stepped down as chair of the AACI Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative (PCLI) Steering Committee following a change in her role at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. AACI is grateful to Dr. Fracasso for her leadership, enthusiasm, and many contributions to PCLI and its work.
Lee G. Wilke, MD, FACS, senior medical director of clinical cancer services at UW Health and the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, has assumed the role of PCLI chair and will complete Dr. Fracasso’s term through December 2027.
Dr. Wilke is a professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and holds the Hendricks Chair in Breast Cancer Surgery Research. A surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, she oversees clinical cancer services for UW Carbone Cancer Center and has held several cancer center and surgical leadership positions throughout her career. Her research focuses on improving access in health systems to clinical trials and novel approaches to breast cancer treatment. She serves as co-lead principal investigator for UW Carbone’s NCI National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site grant, is co-chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Best Practices Committee, and a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons Board of Directors.
Dr. Wilke has been an active member of PCLI and has contributed to several of the initiative’s key projects. She co-authored PCLI’s 2025 publication, Benchmarking the Current Landscape: Insights From an Association of American Cancer Institutes Survey on Academic Cancer Service Lines, and serves as a co-moderator of AACI’s Cancer Service Line Roundtable. She has also hosted a PCLI webinar and is contributing to the initiative’s ongoing work to assess molecular tumor board practices across AACI cancer centers.
AACI looks forward to Dr. Wilke’s leadership as PCLI continues to identify and address challenges facing physician leaders at academic cancer centers.