March 12 2024
Written by: Erin McCaig RN, BSN from Cancer Research for the Ozarks
On behalf of the Protocol Support Committee (PSC), we would like to thank everyone who attended the Semiannual NRG Oncology Meeting in sunny Orlando. There were 138 in-person and 186 virtual attendees at the PSC Nurse / CRP Introduction to Clinical Trials: Principles of Clinical Trial Management Thursday morning. There were 100 in-person and 169 virtual attendees at the afternoon Discussion Sessions. The Friday morning PSC Nurse / CRP Continuing Education Session included 103 in-person and 181 virtual attendees. The members of the PSC and NRG Oncology appreciate everyone’s patience while we continue to navigate the ins and outs of the hybrid-meeting model. Congratulations are owed to our wonderful Education & Training Subcommittee led by Lead Facilitator Cindy Licavoli, along with Co-facilitators Marissa Weiss, and Lauren Seames, for putting on two days of fabulous programming.
Thursday morning’s education session got off to a great start with a presentation by Sharon Hartson Stine, NRG Oncology Interim Executive Director, who provided an overview of NRG Oncology’s inception and current operational structure. Next, Karan Boparai highlighted NRG Oncology Membership and thanked attendees for their contribution to NRG’s continued success. Judy Langer walked us through the history of our federal regulations and the impact regulatory affairs has on our work today. Next up, Sara McCartney, discussed Expedited Adverse Event Reporting, including the recent change to 24-hour reporting for all SAE’s. Before the morning break, Dr. Brian Miller discussed immunotherapy drug management and shared best practices used at his site in Pittsburgh.
Joseph Mroziak prerecord his iMedidata talk which reviewed the new updates rolling out soon; Lisa Beaverson talked Pathology / Biospecimen Collection followed by Mary Jo Antonelli’s prerecorded discussion on Quality Control Assurance; Dr. Shannon Puhalla presented RECIST and iRECIST criteria, always a crowd favorite; Nancy Fusco highlighted our Mentorship Program and thanked our wonderful Mentors for the incredible work they continue to do each and every day; and Kandie Dempsey closed the morning out with a quick update on Patient Reported Outcome Compliance.
The Thursday afternoon Discussion sessions were highly attended and covered a variety of topics, including Patient Screening & Enrollment; Treatment Modalities in Clinical Trial Management; Data Management; and a crowd favorite, Adverse Event Reporting. There was thoughtful discussion and enthusiastic participation by many! Thank you to the many PSC members who participated in topic presentations and meeting coordination: Cindy Licavoli, Erin McCaig, Tiffany Elsea, Terry Thomas, Pamela Mason, Alison Ivey, Alex Kudryashev, Elaina Harper, Becky Kramer, Rachel Lacy, Cortney Montgomery, Stacey Lewis, and Brittany Lansford. A huge THANKS is owed to Marissa Weiss, our IT expert, who ran our virtual sessions, monitored the chat, and kept us organized and on time throughout the afternoon.
Friday’s PSC Continuing Education Session, facilitated by Cindy Licavoli and Marissa Weiss started with Research Operations Initiative Update by Jennifer Dill; followed but Jennifer Wenzel’s, ‘Conquering Cancer Disparities through NRG Oncology Clinical Trials’ presentation; CTSU Updates were presented by Krishna Chothwani; PMB Aurora Updates by Kayla Dye reviewed the current inventory management system; there no timeframe yet for the highly anticipated eDARF module. ‘What We Don’t Talk About When We Don’t Talk About Sex & Cancer’ by Dr. Janelle Sobecki was an excellent and informative addition to our Friday morning line up. We closed the morning with ‘How to manage Adverse Events’ by Stacey Lewis, Audrie Walls and Sara McCartney. They walked us through common examples and scenarios, all the while, calmly and expertly answering questions and comments. There will be a Q&A PDF available online at the link below, along with many other invaluable resources from the winter meeting.
Thank you to everyone who participated by presenting, facilitating, and asking questions. So much valuable information was presented! You can find pdfs of the slide presentations and recordings from the Thursday and Friday morning sessions at this link (login required):
We are excited to report that the Protocol Support Committee obtained approval for CME credits, as well as up to 11 nursing continuing education contact hours through the Virginia Nursing Association for attending the three sessions. You must complete the evaluations to obtain your certificates. The Nursing Certificates will be emailed to participants within 4 weeks post meeting. For any questions visit the NRG Oncology website under the NRG 2024 Winter Meeting to access the CME & CEU Information.
Mark your calendars for our next Semiannual NRG Oncology meeting July 25-27, 2024, in Denver, CO. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas about topics of interest for future meetings by emailing us at NRG-PSC@nrgoncology.org . Your input and participation are always encouraged and welcome!
Don’t forget: If you are interested in participating in our innovative Mentorship program, as either a mentor or mentee, we encourage you to visit our website. This program works to provide resources, support, and guidance for research nurses and CRAs.