November 11, 2025

Honoring Veterans with Access to the Best Cancer Care

A decade funding grants to better treat those who serve

At SWOG's fall group meeting in Chicago we were excited to meet Dr. Brittany Rogers and research coordinator Sarah Hanson who lead the team behind SWOG's third VA Storefront. Based at Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida, the North Florida/South Georgia Storefront is funded by a two-year grant from The Hope Foundation and provides centralized clinical trial administration to its "spoke" sites, serving as their hub.

Thanks to the vision of our board of directors and dedicated VA members and member sites, we've been able to help SWOG expand trial access to veterans at sites across the country through grantmaking from our VA-focused programs. We shifted our support to the storefront model in 2022, recognizing that this was an efficient way to assist sites in opening trials for the greatest number of patients. The effort has been successful, and we look forward to working with SWOG's VA committee and research teams to sustain progress made for the long term.

GU Mentoring Opportunity Returns for a Third Year

The Nicholas J. Vogelzang GU Scholars Program furthers a legacy of mentorship

Established in honor of the late SWOG leader, mentor, and friend Dr. Nicholas J. Vogelzang, the Nicholas Vogelzang SWOG GU Scholarship supports early career genitourinary cancer investigators with funds to travel to 2 SWOG group meetings (spring and fall) during the year of their award.

Each Vogelzang Scholar is paired with one or more senior mentors to help them with navigating SWOG and the group meetings, as well as throughout their early career years. 

Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD

The inaugural Vogelzang Scholar was Dr. Umang Swami from the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute. In 2025, Dr. Alex Zhu from the University of Washington received the honor.

The deadline to apply for the 2026 Vogelzang Scholarship is January 15.

We're now on Bluesky