The 3-day CADEx conference convenes experts in cancer center catchment area data and community engagement to share best practices. Attendees will explore policies and methodologies to advance cancer center catchment area analytics.
Registration is now open.
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AACI Update | January 2026
Headlines
AACI Welcomes UMass Memorial Health Cancer Center
AACI is pleased to announce that UMass Memorial Health (UMMH) Cancer Center became the association's newest member in December 2025. UMMH Cancer Center is led by David Cachia, MD, interim chief of Hematology Oncology Services and associate professor of neuro-oncology at the University of Massachusetts.
Call for Abstracts: 18th Annual AACI CRI Meeting
The AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Steering Committee is currently soliciting abstracts for the 18th Annual AACI CRI Meeting. This year’s meeting theme is "Shaping the Future of Clinical Trial Innovation." The purpose of the abstracts is to inform attendees about challenges and solutions implemented at AACI cancer centers, showcasing advancements across key areas in clinical research and operational excellence.
CADEx Spotlight: Bringing Data and People Together in Clinical Research
"Bringing Data and People Together in Clinical Research" will focus on practical ways to use catchment area data to ensure that clinical trial enrollment reflects both the broader population and specific neighborhoods. The session is scheduled for 9:00 am eastern time on Wednesday, March 11.
Place an Ad in the AACI Newsletter
AACI invites you to promote your cancer center or company by purchasing an ad in the AACI Update. Your ad may highlight a conference, new initiative, or product of interest to AACI members. In addition to newsletter ads, AACI offers a variety of support opportunities for its annual events. For more information about supporting AACI, please contact Development Manager Chelsea Borries.
AACI Launches New Cancer Service Line Listserv
AACI is pleased to announce the launch of a new Cancer Service Line listserv. This new platform offers an additional space for members to connect, share best practices, and exchange insights. All AACI members who work with service lines are welcome to participate. Subscribers must have a valid cancer center email address to join.
News from the Centers
Giuliano Honored With McGuire Memorial Award
Cedars-Sinai Cancer
Armando E. Giuliano, MD, received the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, in recognition of his development of the sentinel lymph node technique, transforming surgical management of breast cancer.
Pediatric Oncology Researcher Elected to National Academy of Inventors
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Mark R. Kelley, PhD, senior leader for biomedical innovation and partnerships at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named a 2025 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors for his contributions to pediatrics and cancer research.
A Scientist Without Borders Steps Onto the National Stage
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health
Edna "Eti" Cukierman, PhD, was recently appointed to the National Cancer Institute’s Working Group for Extramural Research Concepts, an advisory group that brings together 35 national experts to help shape the direction of federally supported cancer research.
Breast Cancer Researcher Elected to National Academy of Inventors
UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD, whose innovations in breast cancer treatment have benefited millions around the globe, was named to the 2025 class of the National Academy of Inventors.
Designation Announced for NORD Rare Disease Center of Excellence
The University of Kansas Cancer Center
The University of Kansas Medical Center, Children’s Mercy, and the University of Kansas Health System have collectively been designated a NORD Rare Disease Center of Excellence by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). The NORD Rare Disease Centers of Excellence Network now includes 46 institutions across 28 states and Washington, DC.
$30 Million Gift to Improve Access to Rural Health Care
Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson
The University of Texas at San Antonio has announced a $30 million gift from the Kate Marmion Charitable Foundation to support the mission of The University of Texas at San Antonio School of Public Health and improve the health and well-being of communities across South Texas.
$30 Million Gift Creates BRCA Center
Cedars-Sinai Cancer
Cedars-Sinai has received a $30 million gift from the Cayton Goldrich Family Foundation to establish the Cedars-Sinai Cayton BRCA Center. The state-of-the-art center will concentrate on the research, diagnosis, and comprehensive treatment of illnesses linked to mutations in the genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2.
UAMS Awarded $10.5 Million as Nationwide Hub to Develop Biomarkers for Human Diseases Including Cancer
UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received a five-year, $10.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop biomarkers for all human diseases including cancer through the IDeA National Resource for Quantitative Proteomics. The grant supports ongoing efforts to make highly advanced protein analysis known as proteomics available to biomedical researchers nationwide.
$7.5 Million for Tobacco Cessation
Siteman Cancer Center
Li-Shiun Chen, MD, and other WashU Medicine researchers at Siteman Cancer Center have received $7.5 million for a multicenter trial aimed at developing effective tobacco-treatment strategies in cancer clinics.
BCRF Awards $2.6 Million in Grants
Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Seven scientists with the Fred Hutch Cancer Center/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium received another year of funding from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, or BCRF, to pursue research into new therapies, new biomarkers, and new vaccines meant to improve outcomes in this deadly disease.
Research Seeks to Unlock Pancreatic Cancer Mysteries With $1.8 Million NCI Grant
UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute
Inside the labs at the Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, researchers are studying how a protein that’s been in humans since the embryonic stage plays a role in triggering the development of a particularly deadly type of pancreatic cancer. The project, in the second year of a five-year $1.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), could lead to better biomarkers for the disease and improved treatment.
Grant Awarded to Advance Childhood Cancer Research
Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
David Dominguez-Sola, MD, PhD, was awarded a St. Baldrick’s Foundation grant to support research in Burkitt lymphoma with the goal of developing more precise, less toxic treatments for children facing this aggressive cancer. Dr. Dominguez-Sola’s lab is exploring how a specific genetic mutation drives Burkitt lymphoma’s growth and how a metabolic pathway that his team discovered may be key to how the cancer spreads.
Ghobadi Named Director of Cellular Therapies
Siteman Cancer Center
Armin Ghobadi, MD, a WashU Medicine professor of medicine and bone marrow transplant specialist, has been named director of cellular therapies at Siteman Cancer Center. The new position formalizes his role as leader of clinical care and clinical research activities related to cellular therapy in the Hematologic Malignancies program at WashU Medicine.
Goss to Head Cancer Research Administration
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center
Kathleen Goss, PhD, has been named executive director of cancer research administration for UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, effective January 5. She most recently served as senior scientific director for extramural discovery science at the American Cancer Society.
Liekweg Named Associate Director for Administration
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center has named Christopher J. Liekweg, MBA, CMPE, associate director for administration and chief department administrator, effective January 12. Liekweg is a senior administrator at VCU Health, the academic medical center of Virginia Commonwealth University. He was previously executive director for radiation oncology at the University of Louisville.
Dramatic Drop in HIV-Infected Immune Cells Seen After Chemotherapy Given for Cancer in Person Living With HIV
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they may have taken an early step toward a more practical HIV cure. The study, done largely with federal funding, focused on a patient undergoing cancer treatment and also living with HIV, who, after receiving chemotherapy, had a significant reduction in the number of CD4+ T immune cells that contained an HIV provirus – a key player in HIV’s ability to persist in the body.
New Discovery May Improve Ovarian Cancer Treatment
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
Hua-Ying Fan, PhD, and her team at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center discovered that auranofin, a drug approved by the FDA, may sensitize ovarian cancer cells to standard chemotherapy treatment. They discovered that auranofin disrupts the Notch pathway, which certain ovarian cancer cells depend on for their development.
Study Finds Childhood Leukemia Aggressiveness Depends on Timing of Genetic Mutation
Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center
Elvin Wagenblast, PhD, and team have uncovered why children with the same leukemia-causing gene mutation can have dramatically different outcomes, depending on when in development the mutation first occurs. Their findings show that leukemia beginning before birth is often more aggressive, grows faster, and is harder to treat.
Link Between Tumor Metabolism, Drug Efficacy in Cancer Cells May Help Advance Precision Chemotherapy
Stony Brook Cancer Center
An international research team, including Stony Brook University Distinguished Professor Peter J. Tonge, PhD, has demonstrated a connection between drug efficacy and tumor metabolism in an established target of human cancers that provides a mechanistic bridge between tumor metabolism and drug engagement in cancer cells.
Team Discovers How to Target 'Undruggable' Protein That Fuels Aggressive Leukemia
UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Researchers at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a small molecule that can inhibit a cancer-driving protein long considered impossible to target with drugs – a discovery that could open the door to a new class of treatments for leukemia and other hard-to-treat cancers.
Genetic Clues Piece Together the Puzzle of Pediatric Thyroid Cancer Predisposition
Comprehensive Cancer Center St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, parents often want to understand why. For those with pediatric thyroid carcinoma, that question has long gone unanswered. However, a new study is changing that narrative, revealing hidden genetic clues that may help explain why the disease occurs in some children.
Leukemia Drug Secures FDA Approval
University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center
Komzifti (ziftomenib) has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) with the NPM1 mutation. The mutation makes AML, already an aggressive disease, more difficult to treat and affects 30 percent of all AML cases. The drug was discovered and developed by researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center and Department of Pathology.
New Research Targets Iron Dependency in Multiple Myeloma Cells
Duke Cancer Institute
Multiple myeloma remains one of the most challenging hematologic malignancies to treat. Despite advances in therapy, many patients eventually relapse or develop resistance to standard treatments. A team led by Mikhail Nikiforov, PhD, a Duke Cancer Institute member, is uncovering a promising new approach that could reshape the therapeutic landscape.
Race, Ethnicity and Donor Type Continue to Affect Survival After Donor Stem Cell Transplant
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
A study led by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center reveals that a patient’s race and ethnicity, as well as how closely matched they are to their stem cell donor, can significantly affect clinical outcomes for those who undergo stem cell transplant as treatment for cancer – despite the introduction of a new standard-of-care drug regimen shown to lower the risk of graft-versus-host disease, a potentially fatal side effect.
Research Links Health Impacts Related to 'Forever Chemicals' to Billions in Economic Losses
The University of Arizona Cancer Center
The negative health impacts from contamination by so-called "forever chemicals" in drinking water costs the contiguous U.S. at least $8 billion a year in social costs, a University of Arizona-led study has found. The study builds on previous research into how PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—can negatively impact health when the chemicals contaminate drinking water.
Clinical Trial Using Focused Ultrasound With Chemotherapy Finds Potential Survival Benefit for Brain Cancer Patients
University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
Patients with glioblastoma who received MRI-guided focused ultrasound with standard-of-care chemotherapy had a nearly 40 percent increase in overall survival in a landmark trial of 34 patients led by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers.
Differences Revealed in How Multiple Myeloma Develops in Men and Women
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Researchers at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered biological differences in how multiple myeloma develops and progresses in men and in women. The rare blood cancer occurs more often in men than in women, making these biological differences important for understanding why multiple myeloma affects the sexes differently.
Significant Mental Health Care Gaps Seen for Childhood Cancer Survivors
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
With rising survival rates of childhood cancers, ensuring survivors receive mental health services is essential for long-term well-being. A recent study led by Rollins School of Public Health and Emory School of Medicine researchers looked at how often childhood cancer survivors utilized mental health services after their diagnosis. The answer is: not nearly enough.
Breakthrough Trial Shows Promising Therapy for Aggressive Brain Cancer
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah participated in a clinical trial that found that a new combination treatment plan helped people with recurring grade 3 astrocytoma live longer. The Phase III trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of a treatment plan using a combination of the drug eflornithine, a compound that targets an enzyme to inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, and the oral chemotherapy lomustine.
Comprehensive Study Settles Debate Over Diet Safety for Cancer Patients
UF Health Cancer Institute
For decades, patients undergoing blood cancer treatment have been told to avoid certain foods to reduce infection risk, guidance that some physicians hoped could safely be relaxed. Now, a University of Florida study offers clear evidence that a diet designed to limit exposure to foodborne microbes results in fewer serious infections, confirming it is still the safest choice.
Study Identifies Pathway Driving Prostate Cancer Bone Metastatic Progression
UK Markey Cancer Center
A UK Markey Cancer Center study reveals how prostate cancer cells adapt their metabolism to thrive in bone tissue, offering a potential new treatment target for patients with advanced disease. The research identifies a biological pathway that helps prostate cancer cells produce the energy they need to grow in bone.
Cell-Free DNA Could Detect Adverse Events From Immunotherapy
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University
A noninvasive blood test to detect genetic material shed by tumors may help clinicians identify adverse events related to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs, investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have found. The researchers measured cell-free DNA to identify tissue damage to nine organs in a study involving 14 patients with solid tumors who received immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
Study Uncovers Immune Switch for Cancer and Autoimmunity
Stanford Cancer Institute
Stanford Cancer Institute member Edgar Engleman, MD, is the senior author on a study finding that the erythropoietin signaling pathway in type 1 conventional dendritic cells triggers regulatory T cells, essentially acting as a central switch that controls immune tolerance. Manipulating this pathway could allow researchers to toggle the immune response to treat many types of diseases, including cancers, autoimmune disorders, and those that require organ transplants.
Next-Generation CAR T Cells Show Stronger, Safer Response in Animal Models, Study Shows
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
USC researchers have engineered a next-generation CAR T cell therapy that may provide a safer, more effective way to treat blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. They did it by developing a new way to control the CAR T cell signaling process which helps guide how strongly and how long the immune cells that fight the cancer, known as T cells, stay activated.
Researchers Identify Strategy for Reducing Risk of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease for Many With Blood Cancers
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Preclinical research from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University of Minnesota demonstrates that inhibiting a particular metabolic pathway decreases the incidence and severity of a serious side effect, acute graft-versus-host disease, while preserving beneficial effects of treatment for cancer patients who receive an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Cancer-Promoting DNA Circles Hitchhike on Chromosomes to Spread to Daughter Cells
Stanford Cancer Institute
Stanford researchers identified retention elements that tether episomes to mitotic chromosomes to increase ecDNA transmission into daughter cells. Triggering the addition of methyl groups resulted in the affected ecDNAs no longer attaching to chromosomes and were significantly less likely to be portioned to daughter cells.
Program Aims to Help Childhood Cancer Survivors as They Enter Adulthood
The University of Kansas Cancer Center
The transition to adult care may get easier for childhood cancer survivors at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, thanks to a $750,000 grant from Braden’s Hope for Childhood Cancer, a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization founded to accelerate the fight against childhood cancer. The award will fund a new Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Transitions Program at KU Cancer Center.
Cann Leads Effort to Transform Young Adult Cancer Care
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health
Christopher G. Cann, MD, first found his passion for treating young adult cancer patients as a resident and fellow. Now, after receiving the Robert A. Winn Excellence in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award, he is even better equipped to work with this unique, underserved population.
Cancer Center Jobs
Administrator - School of Medicine, Medical Oncology
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
Read moreDeputy Associate Director, Community Outreach and Engagement
LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center
Read moreAssociate Director for Administration
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center
Read morePediatric Oncology and Cellular Therapy Physician Scientist
Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina
Read moreMeeting Announcements
2026 AACI Catchment Area Data Excellence (CADEx) Conference
March 9, 2026
2026 AACI/AACR Hill Day
May 14, 2026
Your participation in the 2026 AACI/AACR Hill Day is crucial to sharing our message with our legislators in Washington: that stable, predictable funds for the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute are critical for advancing cancer research and care at our nation’s cancer centers. We encourage each cancer center to send at least one representative to Washington to advocate on your center’s behalf.
Registration for this free event opens Monday, March 16, 2026.
18th Annual AACI Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Meeting
June 23, 2026
The 3-day CRI annual meeting includes panel discussions, breakout sessions, and presentations of abstracts and posters, which aim to establish best practices for cancer center clinical trials offices. Registration opens Monday, March 2, 2026.
Support Opportunities
2026 AACI Leadership Development Workshop
October 24, 2026
The 2026 Leadership Development Workshop will be held in conjunction with the 2026 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. Registration opens Friday, May 1, 2026.
This event convenes emerging leaders for didactic and experiential leadership development sessions. An offshoot of Dr. Caryn Lerman’s AACI presidential initiative, the workshop aims to enhance the oncology leadership pipeline with top talent.
Support Opportunities
2026 Impact Summit
October 24, 2026
The 2026 Impact Summit will be held in conjunction with the 2026 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. Registration opens Friday, May 1, 2026.
Co-hosted by AACI, the American Cancer Society, and the Cancer Center Network, the Impact Summit brings together cancer center leaders, researchers, and key stakeholders for a dynamic one-day event focused on strengthening the future of cancer center leadership and workforce development.
Support Opportunities
2026 New Cancer Center Directors Meeting
October 24, 2026
The 2026 New Cancer Center Directors Meeting will be held in conjunction with the 2026 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. Registration opens Friday, May 1, 2026.
2026 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting
October 25, 2026
The 3-day AACI/CCAF annual meeting offers AACI members the opportunity to network with cancer center colleagues, national cancer research and advocacy groups, industry, and government health agencies to develop solutions to common challenges. Registration opens Friday, May 1, 2026.
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