E-Newsletter - May 2022
Upcoming Alliance Group Meeting


2022 Alliance spring hybrid group meeting CONVENES MAY 11-14



















It’s been two years since our last face-to-face Group meeting and we look forward to connecting with everyone at the 2022 Alliance Spring Hybrid Group Meeting. We'll review our accomplishments over the past 10 years, and, as always, engage the entire Alliance community in planning for the future. This will be our first hybrid meeting where members can attend either in-person or online.

Our 2022 Alliance Spring Hybrid Group Meeting will convene May 11-14 in Chicago, IL. The four-day meeting will showcase novel and innovative cancer control, prevention, and treatment trials conducted by investigators through a multidisciplinary academic and community research network, as part of the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). More than 75 disease, modality, administrative and special sessions led by distinguished oncology researchers and clinical trial specialists from across the country are scheduled.

We will use the CrowdCompass App again, which can be accessed through a desktop or by downloading the app. It will allow attendees to browse the schedule and session agendas, view room locations and join sessions virtually when the time comes. Click here to access the meeting app. To register for the Group meeting, click here. The meeting schedule can be viewed online here.

If you have questions about the meeting or registration, please send queries to AllianceTravel@bwh.harvard.edu. 

Meeting Highlights

PLENARY SESSION
Friday, May 13 | 10 am-1 pm


 

Welcome and Group Chair Announcements
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, Alliance Group Chair


 

2022 Charles G. Moertel Lecturer
Larry Norton, MD, is the 2022 Charles G. Moertel Lectureship Award recipient. Her lecture is entitled: “The Essential Role of Cooperative Research in the Application of Growth Kinetics to Cancer Therapy.” His research focuses on the basic biology of cancer; the mathematics of tumor causation and growth; and the development of approaches to better diagnosis, prevention, and drug treatment of the disease. He's noted for the development of a therapeutic approach called “dose density” or “sequential dose density” – a new and more effective way of using anticancer drugs that maximize the killing of cancer cells while minimizing toxicity. Dr. Norton is the Senior Vice President in the Office of the President; Medical Director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center; the Norna S. Sarofim Chair in Clinical Oncology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The Moertel Lecturer is an investigator whose research within the NCI National Clinical Trials Network results in a major impact on community cancer practice.

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ALLIANCE HEALTH DISPARITIES COMMITTEE EDUCATION SESSION

Pursuing Health Equity: Frameworks, Barriers and Solutions
Friday, May 13 | 8 am-10 am CST










Welcome and Introductions           
Matthew Banegas, PhD, MPH - Vice-Chair, Alliance Health Disparities Committee

"ZNA vs DNA: Which Matters Most in Cancer Today?"
Robert A. Winn, MD - Director and Lipman Chair in Oncology, VCU Massey Cancer Center

"The Essential Role of Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Clinical Trial Access"
Tawara D. Goode, MA - Director, National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University

"Social Determinants of Health and Cancer Equity:
Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD - Associate Director for Cancer Equity, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

"The Importance of Patient Navigation in Helping Underserved Communities"
Ivis Sampayo - Chief Diversity Officer and Senior Director of Public Health, SHARE Cancer Support

"New Advocacy Strategies for Engaging the Black Community in the Digital Age"
Karen Jackson - Founder/CEO of Sisters Network® Inc.

Panel Discussion and Audience Participation
Scientific Presenters: Robert Winn, MD; Tawara D. Goode, MA; Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD; Ivis Sampayo; and Karen Jackson
Patient Advocates: Coleen Crespo, MIS; Phyllis Nassi, MSW; and Ivis Sampayo  Moderator: Matthew Banegas, PhD


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CLINICAL RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS SESSIONS    
 
Clinical Research Professionals (CRP) Orientation – Wednesday, May 11 | 1 pm- 3 pm CST
This session is for CRPs, including data managers, clinical research coordinators, regulatory coordinators and research nurses in their first 18 months as a CRP or in their first 18 months affiliated with Alliance trials.  This session will provide an Alliance specific overview of the organizational structure from Trini Ajazi, MM, Alliance Chief Administrative Officer; the Alliance protocol template from John Taylor, MA, Alliance Associate Director of Protocol Operations; followed by Kim Ward, RN, MSN, OCN (Wake Forest Baptist Health) presenting how to complete an eligibility check and the basics of routine adverse events (AE) reporting.

Clinical Research Professionals (CRP) Breakout Sessions
Data Management Tips and Tricks – Wednesday, May 11 | 3 pm-4 pm CST
Jason Atkinson, CCRP (Washington University in St. Louis) and Belen Martinez-Caro Aguado, CCRP (OHSU Knight Cancer Institute) will present this breakout session, which is designed for CRPs completing Rave data for any study and will focus on data completion, tips for completing baseline data in addition to navigating Rave and identifying causes of data queries. In addition, the presenters will speak about data submission expectations and timely reporting to help mitigate overdue data.

BioMS – Wednesday, May 11 | 4 pm-5 pm CST
Amy Brink, BS, Clinical Informaticist for the BioMS Application Support Team, will present information about BioMS sample submission entries and deliver lively presentation on tips to avoid common pitfalls when entering samples in BioMS.

RECIST – Wednesday, May 11 | 5 pm-6 pm CST
Back by popular demand! This hands-on RECIST session will begin with Scott Okuno, MD (Mayo Clinic) discussing RECIST and iRECIST criteria.  Clinical Research Professionals Committee members Terah Hardcastle, MS, Rachel Link, CCRP, and Belen Martinez-Caro Aguado, CCRP, will work through several real-life RECIST examples to help session participants practice their RECIST assessment knowledge. 

Clinical Research Professionals (CRP) Information Session – Thursday, May 12 | 12:30 pm-2:30 pm CST
This information session will offer helpful information to CRPs, including clinical research coordinators, data managers, regulatory coordinators and research nurses regarding Alliance updates and resources.  Presentations will include a presentation on obtaining information directly from patients, Alliance Central Protocol Office updates from Trini Ajazi, MM, Alliance Chief Administrative Officer; a presentation on a neuroendocrine trial (Alliance A021901: Randomized phase II trial of lutetium lu 177 dotatate versus everolimus in somatostatin receptor positive bronchial neuroendocrine tumors) from Study Chair Thomas Hope, MD; CTSU updates from Martha Hering, RN, MHA, CCRP, Project Director, CTSU Core Service; and an Alliance Statistics and Data Management Center (SDMC) update from Aaron Johnson, Senior Program Coordinator, Alliance SDMC.

Clinical Research Professionals (CRP) Education Session - Friday, May 13 | 8 am-10 am CST
This education session will include an presentation from Study Chair Devon Noonan, PhD, MPH, FNP-BC, on a smoking cessation trial (Alliance A211901: Reaching rural cancer survivors who smoke using text-based cessation interventions); a presentation from Study Chair Ellen Smith, PhD, MSN, RN, AOCN, FAAN on a neuropathy trial (Alliance A221805: Duloxetine to prevent oxaliplatin-induced chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II to phase III study); and the presentation “A Site Perspective on Using DQP Reports” from Jason Atkinson, CCRP (Washington University of St. Louis). In addition, Jennifer Dill, CCRP, Alliance Clinical Research Professional Committee Chair, will present a snapshot of the results from a recent CRP survey.

Oncology Nursing/CRP Open Forum – Thursday, May 12 | 11 am-12 pm CST
This open forum is for CRPs and research nurses and will cover important issues, including the current changes and challenges in oncology research. This forum provides an opportunity for participants to share best practices, address site challenges and how other sites are handling recent changes in oncology research.

Clinical Research Professionals (CRP) Breakout Sessions
Regulatory 201 – Friday, May 13 | 2 pm-3 pm CST
This breakout session picks up where the November 2021 Regulatory 101 session left off and will review additional regulatory areas. Erin Lynch, MS, CCRP (Norris Cotton Cancer Center); Jamie Crow, MS, MBA, MHA, CCRP, CHFP (MD Anderson Cancer Center); and Frank Brown, JD will discuss topics, including regulatory submissions in CTSU, site registration tab utilization, DTL build and management, along with the inter-functionality between CTEP IAM, RCR, RUMS, and the DTL, to help troubleshoot common issues at the site level.

Cancer: Let’s Start at the Beginning! – Friday, May 13 | 3 pm -4 pm CST
This session is targeted towards CRPs working with various cancer types or those newer to cancer research. Presenter Linda Sutton, MD ( Duke Cancer Network) will discuss the basics of cancer.

SAE Reporting – Where to Start? – Friday, May 13 | 4 pm-5 pm CST
This session is ideal for those participants who have questions about how to know if a SAE is required, how to read a SPEER or what to do when RAVE recommends a CTEP-AERS report. This session is for you!  Howie Weiner, CCRP (University of Chicago) and Kaylee Deutsch, MHA, CCRP (University of New Mexico School of Medicine) will lead session participants through an overview of SAE reporting, including some situational examples to work through as a group.

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ALLIANCE FOUNDATION TRIALS (AFT) SESSIONS
 
Thursday, May 12
8:30 am-9:30 am
AFT Lung Studies

9 am-10 am
AFT-25 COMET

11 am-12 pm*
AFTT-38 PATINA

2 pm-3 pm*
AFT-50 EndoMAP

3 pm-4 pm
AFT Overview and Updates
 
Friday, May 13
1 pm-2 pm
AFT-63 and AFT-64: New Delfi Cancer Screening Studies

3 pm-4 pm  
AFT Gu Studies
AFT-17 and AFT-47
 
3 pm-5 pm*
AFT-05 PALLAS
AFT-55 AMEERA/6
AFT-58 HARMONICA

(*Sessions are closed to Alliance members only)

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CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS  

RN, OCN, ARNP - ONA Credit - The Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) is the largest approver unit of CE credit in the country, accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Contact hours have been submitted for approval. To receive ONA credit, attendees must complete a required survey e-mailed to them after the meeting.
 
CCRP - SoCRA Credit - The Society of Clinical Research Associates (SoCRA) provides training, continuing education, and an internationally recognized certification program that promotes quality clinical research to protect the welfare of research participants and improve global health. Credit hours will be offered, including concurrent sessions, at this meeting. To receive SoCRA credit, attendees must complete a required survey e-mailed to them after the meeting.

ALLIANCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA   

Share your meeting experience and session highlights using the hashtag - #AllianceSpring2022. Find and follow us on Twitter: @ALLIANCE_org and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AllianceForClinicalTrialsInOncology/

 

 

For other articles in this issue of the Alliance E-news Newsletter, see below: