NCI has an
nounced the recipients of its new Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award:
Dr. Jordan Berlin, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
Dr. Jeffrey Clark, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center
Dr. Steven Devine, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Jeffrey Lancet, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Dr. Robert Maki, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Wells Messersmith, University of Colorado Cancer Center
Dr. Julian Molina, Mayo Clinic
Dr. Melanie Royce, University of New Mexico Cancer Center
Dr. Christopher Ryan, Oregon Health & Science University
Dr. Melanie Thomas, Hollings Cancer Center
Dr. Antonio Wolff, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Designed for midlevel clinical investigators, the awards provide recognition and funding for those who lead cancer research programs at academic cancer centers. Eleven clinical investigators are being recognized for their exceptional contributions to the advancement of effective new therapies through their collaborative team science approach within NCI-funded clinical trials. The 2-year award provides investigators with partial salary support for their leadership roles in clinical trials at NCI-designated cancer centers.
The awards are the result of one of the recommendations of NCI’s Clinical Trials Working Group (CTWG), which was established to advise the institute on methods to improve and enhance the publicly funded clinical trials enterprise. The goals of the awards are to offer support and provide academic recognition to investigators who promote collaborative team science. The broad clinical trials community, including the Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, provided input into the development of this award.
“We are truly excited to be able to recognize these key clinical investigators without whom we couldn’t conduct clinical trials,” said Dr. Sheila Prindiville, director of NCI’s Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials, the office that oversees implementation of the CTWG’s recommendations. “These recipients have exceptional leadership skills in cancer clinical trial activities and have demonstrated a commitment to conducting cancer clinical trials that promise to advance care for patients.”
The initial phase of the program funds 11 awards of $50,000 in each of the next 2 years. The funding is provided to the recipient’s institution and can be applied toward the investigator’s salary, fringe benefits, and associated facilities and administrative costs. Recipients are expected to devote 10 to 15 percent of their time to the activities associated with the award.