Greg Yothers, PhD, to Retire from the University of Pittsburgh and the NRG Oncology SDMC

02/17/2026

Dr. Greg Yothers, Senior Deputy Director and Deputy Group Statistician of the NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center (SDMC), and Research Professor of Biostatistics at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, is retiring after 20 years of leadership in the cooperative group setting.

Dr. Yothers has been involved in cancer clinical trial research since joining the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) as a statistician in 1999. He later served as the Associate Director of the NSABP SDMC from 2006 to 2014, and was named Head of the Biostatistics Division for the NRG Oncology SDMC following its formation. Since 2019, Dr. Yothers has held positions as the NRG SDMC Deputy Group Statistician and Director of the Pittsburgh SDMC office, assisting with the overall management of the group while overseeing a major hub of data management, statistics, quality assurance, and information technology SDMC functions in Pittsburgh. In these critical roles, Dr. Yothers has been a steady, reliable leader that colleagues could count on when support or guidance was needed.

Throughout his time with NSABP and NRG, Dr. Yothers has been at the forefront of research for breast, colon, and rectal cancer. In his early career, Dr. Yothers was involved in the landmark joint analysis of NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831 that established adjuvant trastuzumab as highly effective for HER2-positive operable breast cancer. Over the last two decades, he led the NSABP/NRG program of research for treatment of stage II and III colon cancer from the statistics side, championing pivotal adjuvant trials that helped inform modern standards of care. His contributions to the Adjuvant Colon Cancer ENdpoinTs (ACCENT) meta-analysis group have substantially advanced our understanding of the impact of treatment and other factors on outcomes among colon cancer patients. In rectal cancer, his collaborative work has demonstrated capecitabine as an effective alternative to 5-FU and also contributed to the development of novel endpoints used in subsequent clinical trials.

“Greg’s role in the group, both in research and in solid SDMC leadership, has been key to our success as a complex and diverse and yet unified group”, said Jim Dignam, Group Statistican for NRG Oncology. This sentiment was strongly echoed by NRG Operations leadership and investigators, for whom Greg has been a highly valued collaborator over many years.

The NRG Oncology SDMC is grateful to Dr. Yothers for his many years of leadership, scientific contributions, and dedication to improving outcomes for cancer patients. While his presence will be missed, we look forward to Dr. Yothers having more time for his family, travel, and all things outdoors including his fishing adventures, and we wish him all the best.