NRG Oncology Health Disparities Committee Committee's primary goals are to:

• Develop research to address health disparities to improve cancer care and outcomes for underserved populations
• Improve access to cancer clinical trials by increasing enrollment of underserved populations to clinical trials

The HDC serves both the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) to understand and eliminate health disparities by improving cancer care and outcomes for underserved populations. The NCI's NCTN is a collection of organizations and clinicians that coordinates and supports cancer clinical trials at more than 2,200 sites across the United States, Canada, and internationally. The NCORP is a national network that brings cancer clinical trials and care delivery studies to people in their own communities.

NCORP is committed to integrating health disparities research questions across studies in the network. By bringing cancer clinical research studies to individuals in their own communities, the NCORP research reflects national diversity so the evidence generated contributes to improved patient outcomes and a reduction in cancer disparities for all people.

Research questions in this area address disparities in clinical trial outcomes and cancer care delivery related to the most serious, prevalent cancers and cancer-related problems which disproportionately affect racial/ethnic minorities and underserved populations. It includes studies to: enhance participation of racial/ethnic minorities and the underserved in clinical trials; address determinants of disparities (for example, social and health care system factors, co-morbidities, and genomics); evaluate differential outcomes in minority/underserved populations; and test interventions to reduce disparities and improve cancer care across all groups.

The NCORP network designs and conducts clinical trials in the following focus areas:

• Cancer control and prevention;
• Symptom management;
• Screening;
• Post treatment surveillance;
• Quality of Life Studies embedded in treatment trials
• Cancer care delivery
• Cancer Disparities

NRG Oncology's Health Disparities Committee goals and responsibilities include the following specific to NCTN and NCORP.

NCTN goals:
Increase accrual of underserved populations in NRG Oncology trials by:

• Removing barriers to enrollment of diverse participants
• Providing education, training and support to investigators

Programs and efforts related to the NCTN goals include a mentorship program for minority investigators as well as new investigators who are interested in health disparities issue; collaborations with other NCTN groups to share resources; community engagement efforts; providing educational programs and resources to the NRG membership.

NCORP goals
Promote health disparities research to improve cancer care and outcomes for underserved populations by:

• Generate protocols to develop interventional concepts
• Integrate secondary endpoints in NCORP trials and NRG Oncology treatment trials

NRG Health Disparities Research will encompass the development of interventional studies to decrease health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities; testing of those interventional studies for optimal care of at risk elderly; and identification of optimal access to cancer screening, treatment, symptom management and surveillance of rural populations.

The NRG HDC meets at the NRG Oncology semi-annual meetings and are open to all who attend the NRG meetings.Please feel free to attend the Health Disparities Committee meeting during the semi-annual NRG Oncology meetings in the future.We welcome you and believe that your experience will enhance our discussions.

If you are looking to gain more experience in discussing your concept idea, developing and conducting health disparities research or participating in any of the NRG HDC activities, please contact us at: NRGDisparities@nrgoncology.org.Based on your area of focus, we will look to match your interests with an expert researcher to help you gain additional experience in this area.