Big Ten CRC News & Events
March 2022

UW Carbone Cancer Center and Weiner honored during Big Ten CRC Grand Rounds
The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium honored member institution, University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center and George Weiner, MD, director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa during a monthly Big Ten CRC Grand Rounds meeting. The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center received the Big Ten CRC Institutional Leadership Award for their exemplary participation in clinical trial working groups and strong record of accrual across several studies during 2021. Dr. Weiner received the Pat Loehrer Award for Exemplary Collaboration in Cancer Research.

Patel and Fujioka appointed co-chairs of Big Ten CRC head and neck clinical trial working group
Manish Patel, DO and Naomi Fujioka, MD, from the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota were recently appointed as co-chairs of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium's Head and Neck Clinical Trial Working Group.

Investigators present prostate cancer study at 2022 GU Cancers Symposium
Big Ten Cancer Research consortium investigators presented a trial in progress abstract at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. The abstract titled, A Single Arm, Phase I/II trial of Neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation, Darolutamide, and Ipatasertib in Men with Localized, High-Risk Prostate Cancer, is led by David J VanderWeele, MD, PhD, of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

Investigators present gastric, hepatocellular carcinoma studies at 2022 GI Cancers Symposium
Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium investigators recently presented abstracts during the 2022 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. The abstracts included a poster featuring the BTCRC-GI15-015 study, led by Al B. Benson III, MD, of Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, and a trials in progress poster featuring BTCRC-GI20-457 led by Kristen Renee Spencer, DO, MPH, of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Investigators publish results of advanced esophageal cancer study BTCRC-ESO14-012
Big Ten CRC investigators recently published the results of clinical trial BTCRC-ESO14-012 in the notable Frontiers in Oncology journal. The publication titled, A Phase II Trial of Adjuvant Durvalumab Following Trimodality Therapy for Locally Advanced Esophageal and Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma: A Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Study, was led by by Shadia Jalal, MD, of the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.

BTCRC-BRE16-042 presented as a trial in progress at 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium investigators presented a trial in progress abstract at the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The abstract titled, A Phase II Study of Pembrolizumab plus Pulvestrant in Hormone Receptor Positive, HER-2 Negative Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients, was presented by Nancy Chan, MD,. The study is led by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

Shields, Sors lead Big Ten CRC Steering Committee
Since its founding in 2013, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium has experienced steady growth, guided by a Steering Committee whose members consist of one representative from each institution. Collectively, the group meets regularly to oversee the activities of the consortium and to decide matters of policy. Each year, the committee appoints a chair and a vice-chair. Peter G Shields, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) currently serves as Steering Committee chair, and Thomas G. Sors, PhD, of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease (PI4D), is vice-chair, representing the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research.

Investigator spotlights
Douglas Yee, MD

Douglas Yee, MD is a medical oncologist and the director of the Masonic Cancer Center; Professor, Medicine - Hematology, Oncology, Transplant and Professor, Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Yee shares a thought leadership piece about how the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium is well poised to design, create and execute novel trial designs in cancer prevention, health equity, treatment, and survivorship -- essentially all of the White House's Moonshot 2.0 initiative pillars.

Emil Lou, MD, PhD, FACP

Emil Lou, MD, PhD, FACP, is a physician-scientist with a strong interest in the clinical cancer biology of solid tumors. Dr. Lou's clinical practice focuses on patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers, and he is also board-certified in neuro-oncology. His approach to research is to identify gaps in knowledge at the bedside that can be closed using translational oncology and laboratory research.

Jeremy Kratz, MD

Jeremy Kratz, MD, is a medical oncologist and researcher at the UW Carbone Cancer Center and a member of the Big Ten CRC's Gastrointestinal Clinical Trial Working Group. In addition to being a staff physician at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Dr. Kratz leads precision applications in GI oncology through the VA's National Precision Oncology Program, serving on the VA's National Precision Oncology Program's monthly tumor board.

Margaret Byrne, MD, MS

Margaret Byrne, MD, MS, is a medical oncologist at the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and clinical assistant professor of Internal Medicine-Hematology, Oncology, and Blood Marrow Transplantation at the Carver College of Medicine. Dr. Byrne's research interests include early-phase clinical trials of adjunctive therapies to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with head, neck, and lung cancers. Her clinical expertise includes thoracic malignancies and head and neck cancer.

Neha Gothe, MA, PhD

Neha Gothe, MA, PhD, associate professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, serves as director of the university's Exercise Psychology Lab. Dr. Gothe is taking her expertise in kinesiology and behavioral psychology to explore the benefits of non-traditional forms of movement, such as yoga, in cancer survivors.