I-SCORE: Investigators' and Site Coordinators' Opportunity for Research Excellence Meeting (Speaker Bios)

KyungMann Kim, PhD, is Professor of Biostatistics and Statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He serves as Director of the Clinical Trials Program in the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics. He is PD/PI of the Cancer Prevention Clinical Trial Network Data Management, Auditing, and Coordinating Center (CP-CTNet DMACC) and MPI of the HIV/Cervical Cancer Prevention 'CASCADE' Clinical Trials Network Coordinating Center. His research interest is in statistical methods for clinical and healthcare research including group sequential methods for interim analysis, survival analysis and analysis of longitudinal and repeated measures data, and applications in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and healthcare-associated infections among others. He has served on numerous advisory committees, including two Federal Advisory Committees, study sections for NIH, VA and PCORI, and data monitoring committees for NIH, VA, DOD, and biopharmaceutical and medical device industry. He is an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2005), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012), and the Society for Clinical Trials (2012), for contributions in statistical science and clinical trials methodology, professional services to government, industry and professional organizations, and leadership role at the national and international level.

Dr. Bansal completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at New York Medical College, New York. Subsequently, he served as the Chief Resident at New York Medical College, New York. Then he completed his Gastroenterology Fellowship from the University Hospital at Stony Brook, Long Island, New York. Currently, he is the Medical Director of Gastroenterology Cancers Prevention Clinic of the NCI-designated Kansas University Cancer Center and an Professor of Medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology at the University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, KS. His overarching research interest is cancer prevention. He conducts research in the areas of inherited gastrointestinal cancer syndromes, Barrett’s esophagus and novel imaging techniques for detection of premalignant and malignant lesions in the gastrointestinal tract. He is the principal investigator on an NCI funded 14-center trial to test a novel combination of vaccines and IL-15 superagonist in patients with Lynch syndrome. He recently was funded to repurpose itraconazole for prevention of recurrent Barrett’s esophagus in a 6-center clinical trial. He has > 100 peer-reviewed publications and is a reviewer for multiple peer-reviewed journals.

Julie E. Bauman, MD, MPH is director of the George Washington (GW) University Cancer Center as well as associate dean of cancer and professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Bauman completed a dual MD/MPH degree at Tufts University School of Medicine, internal medicine residency at the University of Utah and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Washington / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her education and training, at the intersection of oncology and public health, resulted in unique expertise in clinical trial design. As a recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award, Bauman is a nationally recognized leader in cancer therapeutics for both prevention and treatment, with more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and a long track record of NIH team science funding. Bauman is the co-principal investigator of the University of Arizona UA Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network, one of only five NCI-funded clinical trial networks devoted to drug development for cancer prevention. Her own research focuses on "green chemoprevention," or the use of whole plants or their extracts for cancer prevention. Bauman also leads multiple national clinical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer, with dedicated expertise in precision medicine and immunotherapy. She is the current co-chair of the NCI Cancer Prevention Steering Committee as well as the co-chair of the NCI Head and Neck Steering Committee’s PULA Task Force.

Amy Carrier, RN, BSN is the Research Nurse and Clinical Manager at the University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network. During her 26 years at the UACC, she has been involved in Phase I, II, III, and prevention trials and has also worked as a project manager for a high-risk multisite metastatic breast cancer clinical trial. Amy has also been a member of the UACC Data Safety Monitoring Board for the last 12 years.
Amy completed her nursing training and received her BSN at the University of Iowa. Her entire nursing career has been in the oncology field. Prior to working at the UACC she was the Clinical Nurse Leader for a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. Amy enjoys spending time with her three adult children (two of whom are RNs) and supporting University of Iowa football.

Philip E. Castle, PhD, MPH is the Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) and a Senior, Tenured Investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) (Rockville, MD, USA). Previously, he was a Tenured Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY, USA) (2014-20), Chief Scientific Officer of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) (2011-2), and Senior, Tenured Investigator (2010) and Tenure-Track Investigator (2003-10) in DCEG/NCI. Dr. Castle was a Cancer Prevention Fellow in DCP/NCI (1999-2002). Dr. Castle received a Ph.D. in Biophysics (1995) and MPH in Epidemiology (2000) from the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD, USA) and his BS in Biological Sciences from Carnegie-Mellon University (1986).

Juan Chipollini, MD, FACS is an urologic oncologist and associate professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Arizona. He completed residency at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and attended H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center for a Society of Urologic Oncology fellowship where he specialized in the management of urologic malignancies using both complex open and minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Chipollini is board-certified by the American Board of Urology and has served as section editor on the oncology core curriculum for the American Urological Association. He has research interests on heath disparities and treatment outcomes for urologic cancer patients and has published over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. He is principal investigator in several clinical trials at the University of Arizona and was recognized as Castle Connelly’s America’s Top Doctors in 2024.

Dr. Fabian is a Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Medical Oncology and Precision Prevention at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is the founder and Director of its Breast Cancer Prevention Research Center within the University of Kansas Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focus over the past several decades has been Phase II trials for primary breast cancer risk reduction in which in which risk biomarkers in blood imaging and benign breast tissue are assessed. Breast tissue is sampled using a minimally invasive procedure known as Random Peri areolar Fine Needle Aspiration (RPFNA). Interventions explored include novel selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMS) SERM and hormone combinations, natural product derivatives, and weight loss interventions. She has served as PI for more than 25 of these trials funded primarily by the National Cancer Institute, Komen for the Cure, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She is a member of both the Northwestern and University of Michigan Early Phase Consorta. Current active trials include Bazedoxifene and Conjugated estrogen vs a Wait List Control in high-risk postmenopausal women with vasomotor symptoms, acolbifene vs low dose tamoxifen in high-risk premenopausal women, and tirzepatide in women with obesity and other risk factors for breast cancer.

Dr. Leslie Ford built clinical cancer prevention research as a scientific field when few people were considering the possibility of prevention, and is recognized as a national and international leader in cancer prevention research. She has a passion for prevention and strong belief that all clinical science must, to the fullest extent possible, derive as a translation of basic science. The European Institute of Oncology recognized her in 2007 for her "outstanding passion and pivotal role in creating, sustaining, and confirming the value of cancer prevention in modern oncology."

The creation and success of the NCI’s Community Clinical Oncology Program is largely due to her efforts and guidance. In 2007, this network of community-based cancer clinics continued to enroll fully one-third of all participants on NCI-sponsored prevention, treatment, and cancer control studies. The CCOPs are a major phase III trials network that reaches across the United States. Their existence contributes to the diffusion and adoption of new therapies more quickly than any other mechanism. The CCOP system has served as a model for clinical research in AIDS and other diseases. The CCOPs are also the focal point for well-designed trials of symptom management in cancer care.

I am a Research Assistant Professor in the Gynecologic Oncology Department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I completed my medical degree (M.D.) and Ph.D. at the Miguel Hernandez University, Alicante, Spain, and my residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, Spain. I am board-certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology in Spain. Following my clinical training, I joined the faculty at La Paz University Hospital as Attending Physician for a brief period of time. After obtaining a prestigious fellowship grant to extend my studies in US, I moved to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Drs. Sophia Merajver and Stephen Gruber. My studies focused in the discovery of low-penetrance genes for hereditary predisposition to breast and ovarian cancers. I devoted my time as post-doc with Dr. Merajver to assess the frequency of CHEK2 and PALB2 mutations in different populations. Then, I completed a second post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Gruber, which focused on different aspects of molecular biology of colorectal cancer, such as global methylation changes, and then re-focused my work around mucinous neoplasms. In 2012, I relocated with my family to Houston, TX, and started to work with Drs. Meyer and Ramirez’s group in different clinical research projects including to assist in the implementation of the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) program in GYN Oncology, to establish surgical trials, to implement patient reported outcomes (PROs), and to contribute to Health Services Research (HSR) and Quality Improvement (QI) projects.

Dr. Seema Ahsan Khan is Professor of Surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and is trained in Surgical Oncology. Her clinical practice at the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center includes the surgical therapy of women with breast cancer, and the evaluation and management of women at high risk for breast cancer. She has had an interest in the surgical management of women with stage IV breast cancer, and chaired the ECOG2108 randomized trial addressing this question. She also has an active research program in breast cancer risk biomarkers and prevention, and is PI of the Northwestern Cancer Prevention Consortium. This is funded by the Division of Cancer Prevention of the NCI, and conducts early-phase trials in cancer prevention at all organ sites.

Dr. Khan’s current research is focused on the development of novel agents for breast cancer prevention, and on transdermal drug delivery to the breast through the breast skin so as to avoid or reduce the systemic effects associated with oral drug administration. She has also conducted studies on breast cancer risk biomarkers in breast tissue, and on minimally invasive techniques of obtaining breast samples for biomarker research.

Arjun Pennathur, MD, FACS, is the Sampson Family Endowed Chair in Thoracic Surgical Oncology and tenured Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He underwent General-Surgery training at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and University of Nevada. He subsequently worked as a surgeon at the VA/US Airforce-Base Hospital. He trained in Surgical-Critical-Care at Johns Hopkins University and Cardiothoracic-Surgery at University of Georgia. He is Board certified in General Surgery,Surgical-Critical-Care and Thoracic-Surgery.
Dr.Pennathur has made major contributions in translational research and in investigations of thoracic malignancies including esophageal and lung cancer. He is a member of the UPMC-Hillman-Cancer-Center and is a PI or co-investigator in several studies, including trials investigating immunological approaches for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer.
Dr.Pennathur has published over 225 publications including original peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, editorials and book chapters. He is among highly-cited (google-scholar-citations >24,000;H-index-65) thoracic-surgeons worldwide. He is an editor or associate-editor for textbooks including the gold-standard textbook-STS-Pearson’s General Thoracic Surgery. He is a dedicated educator and in recognition for accomplishments in education, Dr.Pennathur has been appointed to the Academy of Distinguished Medical Educators at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr.Pennathur was appointed nationally as co-chair of the AATS Clinical-Practices-Standards- Committee. Under his leadership, this group published several expert consensus documents pertaining to the management of high-risk stage I NSCLC patients. Dr. Pennathur has been recognized as a “Top Doctor” by Castle Connolly, has received NIH recognition for Distinguished Accomplishments in the Biomedical Sciences and is a recipient of the TSF-Alley-Sheridan Scholarship.

Dr. Edward Sauter serves as a medical and program officer in the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group (BGCRG). He received his medical degree from Louisiana State University in New Orleans, LA and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. He completed a residency in general surgery at the Ochsner Hospital and Clinics in New Orleans and a fellowship in surgical oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He also received a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He spent 20+ years in academic medicine as a physician scientist with an NIH funded laboratory before joining BGCRG. The focus of his clinical care has been on the treatment of breast cancer. His research has centered on 1) the prevention and early detection of breast cancer using noninvasive and minimally invasive approaches, and 2) pregnancy associated breast cancer.

Amy Selegue, BSN, MLS, CCRP is the CP-CTNet LAO Coordinator for the University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC) Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network. She has been with the UACC for seven years and with the Prevention team since 2022. Prior to the UACC, Amy worked as an RN at the bedside and in wound care.
In a past life, Amy received a BA in Communication from Cal State San Bernardino in California. As a second-career nurse, she completed her RN at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona and her BSN at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. She also holds a Master of Legal Studies in Health Law and Policy from the University of Arizona. Amy enjoys spending time with her son (a fellow UA Wildcat) and her dog and performing improv with the Tucson Improv Movement.

Dr. Meredith Shiels is a Senior Investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute. She earned her M.H.S. and Ph.D. in cancer epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She joined the Infections and Immunoepidemiology Branch (IIB) as a Cancer Research Training Award postdoctoral fellow in 2009 and was promoted to research fellow in 2011. She became a tenure-track investigator in 2016 and was promoted to senior investigator and awarded NIH scientific tenure in 2021. Dr. Shiels uses innovative approaches to confront high-impact public health questions with population-based data resources and descriptive analyses. She combines multiple population-based data resources, quantifies the contribution of risk factors to time trends, and disaggregates cancer incidence and mortality rates to reveal underlying patterns and explanatory mechanisms. Currently, her research program focuses on 1) quantifying cancer risk and burden in people with HIV, 2) estimating the impact of risk factors on changing cancer rates over time, and 3) providing insights into emerging public health crises in the United States.

Suzanne Siminski has been working in clinical trials data management and related research activities for more than 30 years. Her expertise lies in innovative data collection strategies, data harmonization and data-sharing initiatives. She currently serves as PI for the HIV/Cervical Cancer ‘CASCADE’ Clinical Trials Network Coordinating Center, and the Frontier Science Principal Investigator for: The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) Network Data Center, The Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network (CP-CTNet) Data Management, Auditing and Adminstrative Core (DMAAC), The RePORT International Consortium for Tuberculosis Research Coordinating Center, and The Clinical Pharmacology Quality Assurance (CPQA) Program Statistical and Data Management Center, all programs funded by the NIH.
As President and Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Science Foundation, Sue is strategically expanding the organization’s range of clinical research services and fostering global partnerships with investigators worldwide.

Eva Szabo, MD is the Chief of the Lung and Upper Aerodigestive Cancer Research Group in the Division of the Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute. She is the Director of the Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network (CP-CTNet), through which she designs and oversees early phase cancer prevention clinical trials funded by the NCI. Dr. Szabo also participates in clinical trials and standard-of care treatment of patients with lung cancer and thymic malignancies in the NCI Intramural Thoracic Malignancies Clinic. Her research centers on identifying effective agents for lung and head and neck cancer prevention, identifying intermediate endpoints for assessing efficacy in early phase cancer prevention clinical trials, and developing new clinical trial models for assessing efficacy of preventive interventions. She is a Senior Deputy Editor for Cancer Prevention Research, has participated in multiple committees and working groups for ASCO and AACR (including as a member of 2022 Annual Meeting Program Committee), has participated in FDA Oncologic Drug Review Committees, recently served as the Chairperson of the US Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program Integration Panel, and is a member of the Cancer Research UK Prevention and Population Research Committee and co-chair of its grant review committee (the Expert Review Panel).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/eva.szabo.1/bibliography/public/

Dr. Patricia Thompson is Professor of Physiology at the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. After completing her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, she completed postdoctoral work in mechanisms of carcinogenesis and determinants of individual susceptibility under Drs. Fred Kadlubar and Christine Ambrosone. With cross training and an interest in inflammation and cancer, she joined the University of Arizona and the cancer prevention program at the Arizona Cancer Center led by Dr. David Alberts where she gained expertise in cancer prevention clinical trials. Recently returned to University of Arizona, she now serves as the co-principal investigator of the University of Arizona Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network and as MPI for three active phase 2 prevention clinical trials all with an important focus on agents targeting immune mechanism of cancer and other chronic diseases.