News

AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) held elections in September for four new steering committee positions. The new chair is Tara Lin, MD, clinical trials office (CTO) medical director and associate professor of medicine, The University of Kansas Cancer Center. Dr. Lin has served as a steering committee member for the past two years.  

Joining the CRI Steering Committee are: Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, medical director, clinical trials office, The University of Arizona Cancer Center; Eneida Nemeceke, MD, MS, MBA, medical director for clinical research, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute; Susanna Sellman, MRT, BSc., CCRP, program director, CCRU, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; and Leslie P. Byatt, CCRC, ACRP-PM, clinical research operations manager, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center. Kate Shumate, MPA, CCRP, chief of staff and director of administration and planning and UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, ex officio, will represent the Cancer Center Administrators Forum (CCAF). The new members will formally assume their duties later this month during the 2021 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting.  

AACI thanks the following outgoing steering committee members for their time and commitment to CRI:

• Theresa L. Werner, MD, medical director, clinical trials office at Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
• ​Melissa Nashawati, MPA, director of quality assurance research administration at Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson
• Collette M. Houston, VP of clinical research compliance, clinical research administration at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Kimberly F. Kerstann, PhD, senior director for research administration at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University

PCLI Steering Committee Nominations

AACI is seeking nominations for the Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative (PCLI) Steering Committee. The PCLI steering committee helps guide the activities of the initiative, identify barriers and challenges where AACI cancer center clinical leaders can share best practices, and identify ways AACI can collaborate with like-minded organizations.

Nominees:

• Must be employed by university, medical center, or cancer hospital that is a member of AACI 
• Must hold a title of chief medical officer, executive medical director, associate director for clinical affairs, or an equivalent position with a leadership role in overseeing the cancer program’s clinical enterprise 
• Must hold a medical degree 

Steering Committee member responsibilities:

• Serve a three-year term beginning in January 2022
• Participate in bi-monthly and ad hoc teleconference calls
• Work with AACI staff to plan one webinar on a topic of the committee member's choice to share solutions from cancer centers to address common challenges
• Develop and pilot surveys as they pertain to physician clinical leaders or clinical teams of the clinical research program
• Plan and attend the annual AACI PCLI Meeting held during the AACI/CCAF annual meeting each fall
• Facilitate additional projects as needed 

AACI cancer center members may submit recommendations to Program Coordinator Kendra Cameron by December 1, 2021.

AACI extends its appreciation to the following outgoing steering committee members for their time and commitment in guiding the initiative and planning the annual PCLI meeting:

• Charles Ryan, MD, director, division of hematology, oncology & transplantation, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota
• David Gaffney, MD, PhD, FACR, FASTRO, FABS, senior director for clinical research, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
• Andrew Chapman, DO, FACP, interim director and chief of cancer services, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health