February 02 2021
NRG Oncology, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group focused on improving outcomes for adults with cancer through international clinical research, recently appointed two new Chairs to their organization’s committees. Jeffry Simko, MD, PhD was recently selected to Chair the NRG Oncology Pathology Committee and Jennifer Wenzel, PhD, RN, CCM, FAAN will Chair the NRG Oncology Health Disparities Committee.
Dr. Jeffry Simko, Professor of Clinical Pathology in the University of California, San Francisco’s Departments of Anatomic Pathology, Radiation Oncology, and Urology will Chair the NRG Oncology Pathology Committee. He previously served as a Vice Chair for the Committee. The Pathology Committee assists NRG Oncology cancer site-specific committee research with deliverables to help determine the causes and effects of the particular disease in question by a clinical trial.Dr. Simko will work closely with the NRG Oncology Pathology Committee Vice Chair and the committee members to continue the use of quality pathology research to advance NRG Oncology trial design and measuring outcomes. He will be taking place of the previous Committee Chair, William Rodgers, MD, PhD. NRG Oncology appreciates the achievements Dr. Rodgers has made in his tenure as former Committee Chair.
“Due to my prior leadership of NRG’s Pathology Committee as Vice Chair, I am very familiar with the goals of this committee and the mission of NRG Oncology. I am passionate about the direction of this Committee and look forward to leading in my new role,” stated Dr. Simko.
Dr. Jennifer Wenzel, Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Nursing and Medicine (Oncology), will lead the NRG Oncology Health Disparities Committee. She has directed the Johns Hopkins branch of Enhancing Minority Participation in Clinical Trials (EMPaCT), the only nurse in this role across all five National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers. Dr. Wenzel will be working closely with the Committee’s Vice-Chair and Committee Members to identify appropriate investigators and develop Health Disparities Committee research within NRG Oncology and help to reduce disparities in cancer care outcomes targeting racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and rural population. She will be following the leadership of previous Committee Chair, Kate Yeager, PhD, RN, FAAN. Dr. Yeager made an extraordinary impact in the Health Disparities Committee during her service as Chair and NRG Oncology is incredibly appreciative of her dedication.
“I look forward to working with NRG Oncology and the NRG NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) to continue to advance research focused on ending cancer disparities.” remarked Dr. Wenzel. “Increasing attention to inclusivity across all races, ethnicities, and regions in this capacity can help us meet our goal: rigorous research designed to address and improve treatment and health outcomes for all cancer patients, families and communities.”
These appointments were effective with the start of the 2021 year.
About NRG Oncology
NRG Oncology conducts practice-changing, multi-institutional clinical and translational research to improve the lives of patients with cancer. Founded in 2012, NRG Oncology is a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation that integrates the research of the legacy National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) programs. The research network seeks to carry out clinical trials with emphases on gender-specific malignancies, including gynecologic, breast, and prostate cancers, and on localized or locally advanced cancers of all types. NRG Oncology’s extensive research organization comprises multidisciplinary investigators, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, physicists, pathologists, and statisticians, and encompasses more than 1,300 research sites located world-wide with predominance in the United States and Canada. NRG Oncology is supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is one of five research groups in the NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network.
www.nrgoncology.org