News

Entering its eleventh year, AACI's Clinical Research Initiative (CRI) has been renamed Clinical Research Innovation, to mark its popularity and success.

Earlier this year, AACI sought recommendations from its members and board of directors for renaming CRI. The decision was rooted in a desire to reflect the program’s longevity: with over a decade of consistent growth, CRI has expanded beyond its status as an “initiative.” Participation in CRI has grown since 2009, from 83 individuals from 47 cancer centers attending the first CRI meeting, to 405 attendees from 75 AACI cancer centers at the annual meeting this past July. The AACI CRI listserv reaches 650 individuals from 85 AACI cancer centers, allowing clinical trials office (CTO) colleagues from many institutions to interact daily.

AACI’s CRI is a familiar acronym at AACI cancer centers, therefore the CRI steering committee agreed to maintain the acronym as a recognized brand. The steering committee recommended several words to replace “initiative.” The top five suggestions were: Integration, Ingenuity, Implementation, Innovation, and Institute. The AACI Board of Directors and CRI steering committee voted to replace “initiative” with “innovation”, marking CRI’s new name, Clinical Research Innovation.