Decentralization in Action: What Oncology Trials Look Like Now

James Chase (Moderator), Senior Director, Thought Leadership, Science 37

James is responsible foretelling Science 37’s story and for sharing the unique knowledge and expertise of its thought leaders. A seasoned journalist, editor and content strategist, James has spent more than 20 years in business media, having moved to the U.S. from the U.K in 1998 as part of the launch team of PR Week. After helping to roll out digital marketing title Revolution two years later, James wound up at Medical Marketing & Media, where he spent nine years as editor in chief, overseeing the launch of many successful initiatives, including the MM&M Awards. Prior to joining Science 37, James was digital director at Ad Age, where he oversaw the title’s website (which won the coveted Jesse Neal Award for Website of the Year in both 2020 and 2021). Outside of content, James is obsessed with following a dreadful third-tier soccer team in the U.K., spicy food, music, going to shows, traveling and pretending to be a runner.

Dr. Shaalan Beg, MD, MS, Vice President, Oncology, Science 37

Dr. Shaalan Beg, MD, MSCS, Science 37 Global Management Team, comes to Science 37 from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas where he served as Medical Director for the Clinical Research Office at the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and held the position of Director Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology and Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology. Nationally, Dr. Beg is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the ECOG-ACRIN Clinical Research Group and has held various committee positions in these organizations. He is a graduate of ASCO’s Leadership Development Program and has been a member of the Pancreatic Cancer Task Force of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) GI Cancer Steering Committee.

Dr. Aasma Shaukat, Professor of Gastroenterology and Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Dr. Aasma Shaukat is the Robert M. and Mary H. Glickman Professor of Gastroenterology and Medicine, Director of GI outcomes Research and co-director of the K to R program for the CTSI at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is also a staff physician at the Harbor NY VHA Medical Center. Her area of research is screening and long-term outcomes for colorectal cancer, non-invasive colorectal cancer screening, and quality indicators for colonoscopy.

Dr. Shaukat obtained a VA Merit award to study long-term benefit of CRC screening. She published the findings in first-authored paper in The New England Journal of Medicine in September 2013, showing a sustained reduction of 33% in risk of dying from colon cancer. She is a site lead investigator and also serves on the executive committee for the CONFIRM trial, a VA multi-center randomized controlled trial comparing colonoscopy to fecal immunochemical testing for colorectal cancer screening. She is the chair of the GI field advisory Board for the VA health care system and a member of the US Multisociety task Force. She is also a co-investigator for NCI -funded national multicenter trials on chemoprevention of colorectal cancer.  Dr. Shaukat’s  work includes studying molecular markers of rapidly growing colon cancers, (including microsatellite instability, CpG-island methylation phenotype and BRAF) that lead to rapid tumor growth. She has held multiple federal Merit awards to study quality indicators for colonoscopy, such as adenoma detection and is co-chair of a clinical trial evaluating role of fecal microbiota transplant in recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, and PI on a clinical trial to study the role of artificial intelligence in colonoscopy and blood based colon cancer screening test.

Dr. Shaukat is currently PI on a NCI funded study evaluating proactive colon cancer screening approaches to improve screening in a native American community clinic in Minneapolis. She plans to continue her work in reducing disparities in colon cancer screening through partnerships with the FHCs in Brooklyn.

Andrew J. Mckenzie, PhD, Vice President, Personalized Medicine, Sarah Cannon

Dr. McKenzie joined Sarah Cannon in 2015 and serves as the vice president of Sarah Cannon’s Personalized Medicine Program. He also serves as the scientific director for Genospace, Sarah Cannon’s precision medicine platform.

McKenzie has more than 10 years of basic science and translational research experience in oncology. In his role, Dr. McKenzie is responsible for providing scientific and operational oversight for implementing Sarah Cannon’s personalized medicine strategy. He and the personalized medicine program provide scientific, consultative and programmatic services to clinical research investigators, study sponsors, research personnel and other healthcare providers to advance Sarah Cannon’s molecular profiling efforts. As scientific director at Genospace, McKenzie is responsible for providing scientific and strategic guidance to data science and product development activities.

Prior to joining Sarah Cannon, Dr. McKenzie was a research fellow in the cancer biology department at Vanderbilt University’s Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center where he investigated extracellular vesicle trafficking and translational cell biology research. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Shorter College and a Doctor of Philosophy in pharmacology from The University of Vermont where he investigated extracellular matrix remodeling and cell motility.