Clinical Research Office
The mission of the UF Health Cancer Center Clinical Research Office, or CRO, is to help deliver new and promising cancer treatments that improve the lives of our patients at the UF Health Cancer Center. The CRO provides support to our clinical investigators for the development and implementation of cancer clinical trials — facilitating the conduct of high-quality clinical research while adhering to the highest ethical standards and maintaining compliance with all governing bodies.
About the Clinical Research Office
The UF Health Cancer Center Clinical Research Office (CRO) is committed to supporting clinical research addressing the complex needs of the catchment area and the patients we serve, with an emphasis on providing access to novel therapies. The office provides comprehensive resources to investigators for the efficient conduct of cancer clinical research with representative inclusion of minorities, women, children and the elderly.
Currently, the clinical research program consists of the CRO and 10 disease-specific working groups (e.g., thoracic, GI, GU, neuro-oncology, hematologic malignancies). It also supports an experimental therapeutics group for early-phase clinical trials as well as a Cancer Control and Population Sciences group. These two groups support trials that may be relevant to patients across several different cancer types. There is also a specific group focused on the research opportunities for pediatric cancer patients. Additionally, the CRO provides clinical trial support for institutions that are affiliated with UF Health, the university’s academic health center.
Affiliate Clinical Research Sites Include:
- Broward Health Medical System (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (Gainesville, FL)
- Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center (Tallahassee, FL)
- UF Health Proton Therapy Institute (Jacksonville, FL)
- Watson Clinic Cancer & Research Center (Lakeland, FL)
- Ocala Oncology Center (Ocala, FL)
Clinical Research Office Leadership
Thomas George, M.D.
Associate Director, Clinical Research
Alison Ivey, R.N., M.S., MBA, O.C.N., CCRP
Administrative Director
Ashley Anderson, M.B.A., ACRP-CP
Assistant Director, Clinical Research Administration and Compliance
Leslie Pettiford, R.N., M.S., O.C.N., CCRC
Assistant Director, Study Coordination and Data Management
Clinical Research Highlights
In 2020, the Clinical Research Office helped the Cancer Center realize various accomplishments in alignment with its mission – to deliver new and promising cancer treatments in order to improve the lives of the patients at the UF Health Cancer Center.
- The CRO supported 4,941 accruals in cancer clinical trials.
- Enrollments to treatment remained strong at 409 despite temporary suspensions of research due to COVID-19.
- By the end of 2020, 78% of all eligible CRO staff were research certified through either the Society of Clinical Research Associates or the Association of Clinical Research Professions.
- The CRO is now actively recruiting patients for Precision Promise, an initiative of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the first large-scale precision medicine trial designed to transform outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. UF Health is one of 15 national centers chosen to participate.
- The UFHCC is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trial Network, bringing new novel therapies directly to UFHCC patients from other top cancer centers around the country.
Selecting best-suited clinical trials
The UF Health Cancer Center has 13 Disease Site Groups, 10 disease-specific, one pediatric and two disease-agnostic, that consist of both research and clinical leaders. Each Disease Site Group is charged with developing and maintaining a portfolio of trials that brings forward scientific hypotheses developed in the Cancer Center Research Programs and is relevant to the Cancer Center’s catchment area. All newly proposed interventional trials must be endorsed first by the appropriate Disease Site Group. During the first stage of review, Disease Site Groups emphasize prioritization, catchment area and clinical needs. In 2020, the Disease Site Groups reviewed 139 interventional trials, only 47 of which were endorsed. This demonstrates that the Disease Site Groups are highly selective in bringing only the best suited clinical trial options forward for their patients.
