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Workshop Inspires Future Cancer Center Leaders
The 2025 AACI Leadership Diversity and Development Workshop, held March 11-12, drew nearly 100 attendees, with 82 cancer centers represented. Many thanks to all the AACI member colleagues and supporters who joined us in Rosemont, IL. Attendees reflected the deep pool of talented emerging leaders who are accelerating progress against cancer at AACI cancer centers.
Keynote talks were delivered by Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, executive director, Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, and Ted A. James, MD, surgical oncologist and cancer center medical director, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Winkfield spoke about the importance of crafting a career path that complements your life goals. Dr. James’s talk, titled "Inclusive Team Building: Strategies for Cancer Center Leadership Excellence," considered ways to transform health care by promoting patient-centered care and fostering positive workplace culture.
A panel discussion on navigating the pathway to cancer center leadership featured Brian Gonzalez, PhD, associate center director for research career development, Moffitt Cancer Center; Wendy Law, PhD, associate director of administration, Fred Hutch Cancer Center; Yolanda Sanchez, PhD, director and CEO, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Tammara Watts, MD, PhD, associate director, equity, diversity, and inclusion, Duke Cancer Institute.
As cancer centers face unprecedented challenges around federal funding, three experts offered advice on budgeting and how to manage requirements set forth in the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Center Support Grant. The panelists were Dr. Law, Ahlam Al-Kodmany, PhD, associate director, administration, University of Illinois Cancer Center; and Jennifer Rogers, associate director for administration at the UK Markey Cancer Center.
Dolores Bernardo, of the Makena Leadership Group, provided pointers on giving and receiving quality feedback, while Peter James, an executive and leadership coach with HCG Consulting Solutions, identified a variety of leadership styles that can promote diversity and team-building at cancer centers.
The workshop’s second day of programming featured two panel discussions: "Fostering a Culture of Respect in Academic Cancer Centers," with panelists Dr. Brian Gonzalez and Virginia Valian, PhD, distinguished professor, Hunter College – CUNY; and "Maximizing Partnerships With Sponsors and Industry Partners," featuring Adam Kinsey, associate vice president, Global Clinical Trial Operations, Merck; Eneida Nemecek, MD, MS, MBA, associate director for clinical research, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute; Kiran Patel, vice president, global head, Solid Tumor Clinical Development and Diagnostics, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; and Julia Ronlov, senior director of strategic alliances, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
AACI extends its deep appreciation to Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, and J & J Innovative Medicine, for their generous support of the workshop and commitment to training future cancer center leaders.