This fall, AACI will welcome new members to its Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) and Government Relations (GR) Forum steering committees. The new members will formally assume their duties during the 2020 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, held virtually October 12-13.
Joining the CRI Steering Committee are Tiffany Colvin, BS, ACRP, director of clinical research operations, University of Colorado Cancer Center; Thomas J. George, MD, FACP, associate director for clinical research, University of Florida Health Center; Kimberly F. Kerstann, PhD, senior director for cancer research administration, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University; Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD, associate center director of experimental therapeutics, Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine; and Anne B. Schnatterly, MBA, BSN, RN, CCRP, director, clinical research unit, WVU Cancer Institute.
Four members will also roll off the CRI steering committee this month: Tricia Adrales Bentz, MHA, CCRP, clinical trials office director, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina; Stefan C. Grant, MD, JD, associate director, clinical and translational research, Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center; Helen Peck, RN, MA, OCN, CCRP, director, clinical trials office, Wilmot Cancer Institute, UR Medicine; and Alex Zafirovski, MBA, RTT, ARRT, executive director, administration, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
Bentz, Grant, Peck, and Zafirovski each served on the steering committee from 2017-2020. During their terms, they attended AACI Corporate Roundtable meetings, served on various working groups related to clinical research, and helped plan the annual CRI meeting.
Joining the Government Relations Steering Committee are Matthew Swaback, senior manager, government affairs, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health; James Kennedy, director of government affairs, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center; Jill Homer Stewart, director, federal government relations, The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center; and Alex Krigstein, deputy director, federal government relations, University of Florida Health Cancer Center.
Three members rolling off the GR steering committee are Jack Cline, associate vice chancellor for federal relations, The University of Kansas Cancer Center; Jennifer Evans Stacey, Esq., vice president, general counsel, secretary and government relations, The Wistar Institute; and Orly Isaacson, MA, director, federal legislative affairs; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Cline, Evans Stacey and Isaacson have been active members of the steering committee, helping plan congressional briefings on Capitol Hill, setting agendas for in-person government relations meetings, and presenting on their cancer centers' respective government relations departments. Their efforts for government relations steering committee were pivotal in determining the agenda of AACI’s advocacy activities over the last few years.