Physicians and staff of the Cancer Care and Research Center at Marshfield Clinic Research Institute received recognition recently for oncology clinical trial accruals sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.
Cancer Care and Research Center partnered with Gundersen Health System and ThedaCare to form the Wisconsin National Community Oncology Research Program (WiNCORP), which is a NCI-supported network that brings cancer prevention clinical trials and cancer care delivery research to people in their communities.
“Clinical trials are an important tool in treating patients when their cancer defies conventional treatments," said Adedayo Onitilo, M.D., Ph.D., Cancer Care and Research medical director. “Participating in a trial provides hope for a patient, which is an integral part of treatment. Successful clinical trials also potentially create hope and better survivorship odds for future cancer patients."
WiNCORP as a whole received the Platinum Award for excellence for exceptional patient enrollments, which is the highest level of recognition the program could have received.
Dr. Onitilo and his research staff also received the NCI Outstanding Contributions Award for Treatment Trial Enrollment, which is presented to the top enrolling physician in the U.S. This is the second year in a row he and his research staff have received the award.
Additional recipients of this year's awards based on accruals from August 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 include:
- Adedayo Onitilo, M.D., Ph.D., and research staff received the Platinum Award for exceptional patient enrollments for treatment and cancer control clinical trials.
- Demet Gokalp Yasar, M.D., and research staff received the Gold Award for exceptional patient enrollments for treatment and cancer control clinical trials.
- Sueyi Lai, M.D., and research staff received the Silver Award for exceptional patient enrollments for treatment and cancer control clinical trials.
“It is important to recognize that these awards represent more than individual efforts - they represent our team as a whole and demonstrate what can be attained when we work together. None of this would be possible without the support from Health System leadership, Oncology service lines, Pathology, Radiology, Pharmacy and the countless other departments that directly and indirectly support the Wisconsin NCORP clinical trial program," said Daniel Wall, research administrator for Cancer Care and Research Center.
The Health System participates in many clinical trials in different specialties, including more than 120 oncology clinical trials actively enrolling adult and pediatric patients.
As a member of WiNCORP, the Health System and its partners provide access to NCI-sponsored clinical trials to over 680,000 community members within its collective, largely rural, service area spanning most of Wisconsin, upper Michigan and adjacent counties in northern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. WiNCORP has accrued nearly 9,000 people for clinical trials during the program's history.
WiNCORP recently was awarded a $15.6 million National Institutes of Health grant for the next six years to continue providing access to clinical trials.