Clinical Research Innovation
About CRI
A 45-percent increase in cancer diagnoses in the U.S. is expected by 2030. Cancer clinical trials play a crucial role in prevention, early detection, treatment, and, ultimately, cancer cures.
Recognizing that clinical trials in the U.S. face administrative and staffing barriers, regulatory constraints, increasing costs, and lagging patient accrual, AACI established the Clinical Research Initiative (CRI) in 2009 as a presidential initiative.
The first AACI CRI Annual Meeting took place that year with fewer than 200 attendees. By 2018, attendance exceeded 400 with 11 exhibitors and more than 60 posters on display.
In late 2018, to mark its success and benefits to members, the program was renamed Clinical Research Innovation.
View Our Progress Report
Strategic Plan & Goals
- Increase AACI cancer center participation in CRI
- Share cancer center clinical trial best practices through the collection and dissemination of benchmarking data
- Integrate CRI into AACI programs/initiatives
- Assist the centers in increasing patient engagement and enrollment into clinical trials
- Develop outcomes to drive change and advance cancer center clinical research programs
- Develop a training curriculum for new principal investigators (PI) and new clinical trials office (CTO) administrative directors
- Provide financial support for CRI
Chair
Carrie Lee, MD, MPH
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chair-elect
Theresa L. Werner, MD
Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
View All Steering Committee Members
Strategies to Maximize Innovation to Advance Cancer Clinical Research
The annual meeting is designed to improve the clinical research process; understand the global impact of conducting clinical research in the United States, Canada, and abroad; discuss trends in clinical trials safety and compliance; and recommend policies to promote staff retention at the cancer centers.11th Annual AACI CRI Meeting
July 9-11, 2019
Loew's Chicago O'Hare Hotel | Rosemont, IL
Register Today | Submit an Abstract | View Materials From Past CRI Meetings
A Sharing Platform
The CRI Listserv engages nearly 650 subscribers from 82 of AACI's member centers. The listserv is an efficient platform for AACI members to ask questions, receive immediate feedback, and share best practices.
Recent Listserv Topics
- Cancer center staff access to standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Dedicated resources for facilitating clinical trial referrals
- Patient representatives on feasibility committees
- Using eVisits for clinical trials
Working Groups & Surveys
Regulatory File Management Working Group
To examine the benefits of establishing a common nomenclature to use for regulatory filing systems, AACI established the Regulatory File Management Working Group in October 2018. The working group is comprised of AACI leadership, members from AACI cancer centers, and other relevant stakeholders who are working together to create a common cancer clinical trial regulatory file nomenclature.
Goals:
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Identify the challenges associated with non-standardized nomenclature
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Develop standard nomenclature for trial regulatory use
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Develop a site map for storing common documents
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Share best practices for site monitoring
Benchmarking Survey
The CRI Steering Committee invited cancer centers to participate in a benchmarking survey to learn more about cancer center clinical trials office (CTO) workload, structure and staffing, trial activation timelines, and sources of CTO funding support. The purpose of collecting this information is to allow cancer center members to compare their center with other AACI members.
Eighty-six percent of elgible centers responded to the survey. Data analysis is underway. The next steps will be to send back summary data reports to participating centers and prepare data for publication.
Cognizant Task Force
This task force is facilitating collaboration with Cognizant to help AACI member cancer centers implement the company's Shared Investigator Platform (SIP) for clinical trials.
Past CRI Annual Meetings
Download program books, abstracts, and posters from 2013-2018.
To view the CRI document library and access archived listserv discussions you will need to create a Portal account. Administrative approval of new accounts may take up to 24 hours.