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CRI Annual Meeting Focuses on 'Driving Solutions Together'
Loriana Hernández-Aldama (photo by Randy Belice)
AACI hosted its 17th Annual Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Meeting, June 23-25, in Rosemont, IL. Focusing on the theme of "Driving Solutions Together," the event drew over 600 registrants—including 578 in-person attendees—with 157 abstracts submitted for presentation.
CRI Steering Committee Chair Thomas J. George, Jr., MD, FACP, FASCO, of University of Florida (UF) Health Cancer Center, welcomed attendees and introduced keynote speaker, Loriana Hernández-Aldama, a two-time cancer survivor and founder of ArmorUp for Life. In a presentation supported by Advarra, Hernández-Aldama challenged the audience to recognize that every data point has a face, a family, and a future.
“Your work doesn’t just move science forward; it moves lives forward,” she said. “You're restoring hope to all patients – one protocol, one patient, one life at a time.”
A panel discussion on the restructuring of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) submission and review processes provided guidance from cancer centers that have recently completed CCSG site visits and renewals. Presenters were Jennifer Rogers, UK Markey Cancer Center; Angela Campbell, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James; Collette Houston, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; and Teena Kochukoshy, MD, MS, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health.
Lauren Wall, of University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, moderated an engaging discussion on shaping career paths in oncology with Stefanie Belanger, Duke Cancer Institute; Whitney Cunningham, UK Markey Cancer Center; and Danielle Mitchell, CEO and founder of Black Women in Clinical Research.
A poster session closed the day, highlighting important research by AACI members.
Day 2 also began with a keynote, this time by Chad Fritsche, of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. In "The Key to Unlocking Effective Communications," Fritsche distinguished between listening to respond and listening to understand patients and build their trust.
Following her husband's keynote, Angela Fritsche, also of Mayo Clinic, moderated a discussion on using a "hub and spoke" model to conduct clinical trials across multiple sites. Panelists were Sara Raboin, PhD, and Thomas Ferencz, RPh, BCOP, Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine; Jessica Moehle, Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah; and Aashka Shah, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
CRI Steering Committee Chair-elect Margaret Kasner, MD, MSCE, of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson, moderated a session on navigating investigator-initiated trials (IITs). She was joined on the panel by Allison Camp, PhD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; David DeRemer, PharmD, FCCP, BCOP, UF Health Cancer Center; John Hays, MD, PhD, The James; Kelly Kyle, Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center; and Bhuvana Ramachandran, Stanford Cancer Institute.
Throughout the day, concurrent breakout sessions explored financial management, the NCI’s CCSG and Clinical Trials Reporting Program, trial amendments, IITs, oversight, trial activation, artificial and informatics, education, training, and quality assurance.
Day 2 closed with the presentation of three winning abstracts by Kristina Humphries, The James; J. Kaitlin Morrison, PhD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Lauren Wall, UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The final morning of the meeting opened with Kira Pavlik, of Yale Cancer Center, providing an overview of two initiatives aimed at improving the clinical research experience for both patients and staff: the Equitable Access to Clinical Trials (EACT) project, and the Biospecimen Management Consortium.
A discussion on clinical trial portfolio management provided guidance on analyzing trial data and implementing best practices for delivering data. The panelists were Sarah Bigelow, Louisiana Cancer Research Center, Tulane; Nicholas Fisher, Siteman Cancer Center; Aaron Gerds, MD, MS, Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center; Molly Gosky, UK Markey Cancer Center; Milijana Ugrenovic-Petrovic, Moffitt Cancer Center; and Katie Van Abel, MD, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The CRI meeting's final session, supported by BeOne, featured four AACI Corporate Roundtable members sharing how corporate partnerships can align with cancer center initiatives to improve clinical trials. Dr. George moderated the discussion with Adam Kinsey, Merck; Dan Otap, Genentech; Reneé Smith, Johnson & Johnson; and Suellyn Sorensen, Lilly.
Closing remarks were delivered by Dr. George, steering committee chair, and Dr. Kasner, chair-elect. Dr. Kasner will officially begin her term as steering committee chair in October, during the 2025 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
Thank you to the CRI meeting supporters, who worked with AACI to create an environment conducive to learning, networking, and innovation:
Premier
Merck
Novartis
Champion
Advarra
Bristol Myers Squibb
Huron
Veeva
Verily
Additional Support
BeOne
Paradigm Health
Triomics
Beyond participating in general sessions, breakouts, and poster discussions, CRI meeting attendees interacted with exhibitors that are strongly committed to helping academic cancer centers solve operational challenges. AACI gratefully acknowledges support from these exhibitors: Actalent, Advarra, AstraZeneca, Caris Life Sciences, Florence Healthcare, Huron, IgniteData, Medidata, nCartes, Veeva, and Verily.
Read the Meeting Program