DEI Champions are part of a larger diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative underway across SWOG’s network. Learn more here.
SWOG leadership have selected five Champions to collaborate with study teams and help implement its new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) methodology for improving diversity and representativeness of SWOG’s clinical trial participants.
Champions will be trained to help research committees use TeamScience@SWOG and will:
- Guide committees and leadership as they assess the current state of DEI within their areas of focus
- Create and lead a dedicated team to develop and implement evidence-based DEI plans and resources for studies
- Report and evaluate DEI study metrics to SWOG leadership semi-annually
- Help guide development of sustainable DEI training for leadership and study teams
- Improve and disseminate DEI methods and values across SWOG
The newly named Champions, their home committees, and the respective pilot studies are:
- Lucy Gansauer, MSN, RN, OCN, CCRP – lung committee:
Lung-MAP – our lung cancer master protocol in non-small cell lung cancer - Jessica McDermott, MD – genitourinary committee:
S1802 – adding surgery or radiation to standard therapy for metastatic prostate cancer - Gayathri Nagaraj, MD – breast committee:
S2202 – treating minimal residual disease to prevent recurrence of triple-negative breast cancer - Colmar Figueroa-Moseley, PhD, MPH – gastrointestinal committee:
S2001 – adding immunotherapy to maintenance therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations - Manuel Espinoza-Gutarra, MD – myeloma committee:
S2209 – testing new drug combinations for patients with myeloma who are considered too frail for a stem cell transplant
DEI Champions will be instrumental in activating TeamScience@SWOG: Improving Diversity and Representativeness of Clinical Trial Participants in research committees. The program, a partnership between the SWOG patient advocate and recruitment and retention committees, will give Champions direct experience improving clinical trial accessibility, increasing diversity in cancer trial participants, and leading organizational change.
The Hope Foundation is pleased to support the efforts of DEI Champions as part of SWOG’s network-wide DEI initiative. Learn more about our efforts to advance this work here.
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