Thomas George, M.D., FACP, the new deputy director of the UF Health Cancer Center, has been elected chair of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) Steering Committee and assumes the position during the upcoming AACI Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. in October.
George has served as a member of the Steering Committee for the past two years. The committee is responsible for guiding and implementing activities to disseminate best practices across AACI cancer center clinical trials offices.
George has extensive experience leading clinical trials and has served as associate director of clinical research at the Cancer Center for the past seven years. Through participation with large oncology clinical trial cooperative groups, industry partners and the National Cancer Institute, George is active in developing practice-changing clinical trials, as well as early-phase clinical trials testing new therapies for patients with advanced cancers.
The mission of CRI is to collect, evaluate and share best practices that promote the efficient and effective operation of cancer clinical research offices and interact with key stakeholders to inform policy decisions and advocate for improvement in the national clinical trials enterprise.
“There’s a palpable sense of urgency in our profession, which our patients remind us of regularly, to move the needle as fast as is possible for their benefit,” George said. “This spirit of collaboration, celebration of innovation and sharing of best practices is key to us achieving our common mission of helping reduce the burden of cancer through clinical research.”
The AACI represents over 100 leading academic and freestanding cancer centers in North America. AACI is accelerating progress against cancer by enhancing the impact of academic cancer centers and promoting health equity.
This year’s Annual AACI CRI Meeting, held June 26-28 in Chicago, set records for attendance. In a new AACI commentary published July 17, George reflected on the meeting and its theme, “Taking Cancer Clinical Research from Abstract to Reality.”
