January 29 2021
NRG National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Contact Principal Investigator, Deborah Watkins Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, opened the NRG NCORP Townhall with welcoming remarks and updates on NRG NCORP. In her updates, Dr. Bruner listed open and developing NRG NCORP studies, NRG trials that included patient-reported outcomes, NRG prevention trials, and the NRG NCORP impact represented in abstracts and publications – including the impact on cognitive decline after radiation to the brain. She reminded investigators of the importance of sharing the message that biospecimens are currently available through NRG and congratulated the following recipients of the NRG NCORP Pilot Project Awards:
As Dr. Kate Yeager steps down from her role as NRG Health Disparities Research Chair, Dr. Bruner honored her several accomplishments leading the committee and welcomed Dr. Jennifer Wenzel as the new Chair from Johns Hopkins schools of Medicine and Public Health. Most importantly, Dr. Bruner thanked the NCORP sites for their ongoing effort and commitment to their accrual to NRG trials, as NCORP makes up approximately one-third of NRG patient accruals.
NRG NCORP Principal Investigator, Joan Walker, discussed mentorship and NRG Oncology’s Health Equity New Investigator Mentorship Program for Underrepresented Minority Scholars. Dr. Walker shared a video that was created for the campaign and addressed NRG’s goal to overcome systemic disparities in health outcomes among underserved and underrepresented minority communities by funding new investigators that come from and serve these communities.
Sandra Russo, MD, PhD, MPH, of the Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group in the National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Prevention provided an update on NCI NCORP. Dr. Russo highlighted the accrual in NCORP trials, despite the ongoing pandemic, and the trials that have activated specifically to address COVID-19 within the NCI, including NCCAPS and TRC-10446. She elaborated on NCI’s focus on accrual in cancer prevention trials and highlighted the NCOR prevention studies available and in development. Lastly, Dr. Russo provided updates and overviews on the NCI Prevention Steering Committee and the upcoming NCORP workshops and meetings.
Kathleen Castro, RN, MS, a Nurse Consultant in the Office of the Associate Director of the Healthcare Delivery Research Program at the National Cancer Institute, informed attendees of updates to the NCI NCORP Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) portfolio as well as active and upcoming studies. Castro acknowledged that the Disparities Integration Emphasis Group had reorganized and will have efforts underway to work towards the goal of stimulating disparities research through NCORP.