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Annual Clinical Trial Operations Meeting Draws Over 600 Attendees
Pictured left to right: AACI Executive Director Jennifer W. Pegher, Dina Aziz, Matthew Kovak, Dr. Margaret Kasner, Dr. Rachna Schroff, Angela Fritsche, CRI Steering Committee Chair Dr. Thomas J. George, Frances Brogan, Angela Campbell, Dr. Eneida Nemecek, Dr. Wendy Law, Dr. Muhammad Furqan, Dr. Arcadia Cruz
Photo credit: Randy Belice
AACI convened its 16th Annual Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Meeting June 24-26, in Rosemont, IL. With a focus on clinical trial office operations, the signature event drew over 600 attendees with 153 abstracts submitted for presentation.
CRI Steering Committee Chair Thomas J. George, Jr., MD, FACP, FASCO, opened the meeting with a look at CRI highlights from the past year that included a benchmarking survey for clinical trials offices and collaborations with AACI Corporate Roundtable members.
In a keynote address, patient advocate Anne Marie Mercurio emphasized the importance of building patient partnerships: "When you listen [to patient advocates] early in the process, maybe there are things that those of us who have walked the path can show you."
A session moderated by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center's Wendy Law, PhD, featured the National Cancer Institute’s David Loose and Sheila Prindiville, MD, sharing a preview of a new dashboard for NCI’s Clinical Trials Reporting Program.
Throughout the first day of the meeting, AACI Tech Gold members Caris Life Sciences (in partnership with Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson), Cognizant, and Yunu shared presentations on their products and services with select participants.
AACI President Robert A. Winn, MD, director of VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, kicked off Day 2 of the meeting. His address highlighted AACI members' common goal: to end cancer for all. Cancer centers are "one team" with "one fight," he said.
Reprising her 2023 AACI/AACF Annual Meeting Distinguished Scientist keynote talk for an audience of clinical research professionals, Patricia LoRusso, DO, PhD, of Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine, shared the inspiring story of her path to clinical research. Her presentation highlighted the impact of family and mentor relationships on her professional success and personal growth.
Breakout sessions allowed attendees a closer look at topics including community outreach and diversity, equity, and inclusion; network operations, decentralized trials, and multi-site research; resource management and finance; quality assurance and remote monitoring and auditing; trial recruitment and study conduct (IITs); trial start-up, activation, regulatory, and protocol development; and training, career development, and staff retention.
The day closed with presentations of the top three posters of 2024. AACI received a record-breaking 153 abstracts this year, each highlighting important research in the field of clinical research. The winning abstracts were presented by Alec Shultz, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Iowa; Whitney Cunningham, UK Markey Cancer Center; and Katelyn Gauger, Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center.
The meeting’s final day included a panel discussion about integrating community outreach and engagement with clinical protocol and data management. Th discussion was moderated by Dr. Eneida Nemecek of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, with panelists Nuwanthi Heendeniya, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Arizona; Dr. Tiffani Howard, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute; and Dr. Amy Leader, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Jefferson.
Meeting supporters worked with AACI to create an environment conducive to learning, networking, and strategic innovation.
Supporters:
Gold Level
Merck
Novartis
Silver Level
Bristol Myers Squibb
Huron
Yunu
Bronze Level
Deep 6 AI
Gilead
Beyond participating in plenary sessions and poster discussions, CRI meeting attendees interacted with a dozen contracted exhibitors, each with a strong commitment to working with academic cancer centers to help solve operational challenges. AACI gratefully acknowledges support from these exhibitors: Actalent, Advarra, CancerLinQ, Florence, Huron, IgniteData, RealTime Software Solutions, Slope, Veeva, WCG, and Yunu.
Planning is underway for the 17th Annual AACI CRI Meeting, June 23-25, 2025, in Rosemont. Please contact AACI Program Manager Kendra Cameron to share your ideas for topics and speakers.