Two members of the UF Health Cancer Center contributed to recent publications exploring issues around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in oncology research.
Kate Hitchcock, M.D., Ph.D., is the co-author of a new commentary published June 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that explores DEI in leadership across the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Many multicenter randomized clinical trials in oncology are conducted through the NCTN, which consists of five cooperative groups.
The commentary, titled “The Room Where It Happens: Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in NCTN Clinical Trial Leadership,” was the result of an independent NCTN Task Force for Diversity in Gastrointestinal Oncology established in 2021. The article presents ways to ensure diversity in clinical trial leadership and to foster the design of trials that are inclusive and representative of the population of patients with cancer in the United States.
This fall, Hitchcock, a clinical associate professor in the department of radiation oncology in the UF College of Medicine, was appointed vice chair of the DEI Committee of NRG Oncology, which is one of five research groups in the NCTN.
Luisel Ricks-Santi, Ph.D., contributed to a commentary, titled “Disparities in Cardio-Oncology,” published in the journal Circulation. The commentary is in response to the American Heart Association’s new scientific statement, titled “Equity in Cardio-Oncology Care and Research.”
The multidisciplinary consensus scientific statement, published June 28, provides strategies and guidance for reducing inequities in cardio-oncology.
Ricks-Santi, an associate professor in the department of pharmacotherapy and translational research in the UF College of Pharmacy, serves as associate director for DEI at the UF Health Cancer Center.
