A Clinical Investigator’s Perspective: Novel Oncology Therapy During & Beyond the COVID Pandemic

Join us for an interactive webinar where experienced clinical investigators will analyze the impact of COVID-19 on oncology clinical trials and look beyond the pandemic to growing infrastructure to conduct trials for novel oncology therapies.

During this webinar, hear from expert site investigators on:

COVID-19's impact on patient recruitment & retention
Infrastructure & technical capabilities required for novel therapies
Growing site network to conduct trials with next-gen biotherapeutics
Options for overcoming these challenges through a satellite site

Dr. Michael S. Gordon

Medical oncologist with the Virginia G Piper Cancer Care Network & Medical Director of the HonorHealth Research Institute Clinical Trials Program

Dr. Gordon is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix and is actively engaged in the education of medical students. His principal interests have been in the development of new cancer therapies with a focus on targeted therapies as well as drugs that affect angiogenesis (tumor blood vessel supply) and immunotherapy. His disease focuses include kidney cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and ovarian cancer.

Dr. Gordon received is B.S. Degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Sopie Davis School for Biomedical Education at the City College of New York and his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. Following his graduation from medical school, Dr. Gordon performed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. After completing his fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, he accepted a position at the Indiana University School of Medicine as a faculty member in the Section of Hematology/Oncology. During his tenure, he played integral roles in the development of the Indiana University Cancer Center's Biologics and Developmental therapeutics Program, the Leukemia Program, Clinical Research Office and the Scientific Review Committee. Dr. Gordon has since founded the Arizona Cancer Center's Drug Development Program in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Gaurav Sharma

Senior Vice President, Project Management, Oncology

Gaurav is a strategic and tactical operations leader, with a wealth of experience building and managing high-performing teams and developing innovative, creative, and quality-driven solutions for clients. He brings strong and varied therapeutic expertise and strategic leadership skills, developed across franchise areas within several CROs and now to Worldwide. Prior to joining Worldwide, Gaurav was a Senior Vice President and Head of Global Project Management with Premier Research. He has worked extensively in solid tumor and hematological Malignancies. More recently, Gaurav was responsible for overall successful delivery of clinical programs involving immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Gaurav has also worked extensively in acute myeloid leukemia, Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma and Prostate Cancer. He was program director a large program with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) involving several studies, including pivotal study for patients with EGFR mutated NSCLC, leading to marketing authorization. Gaurav is a Project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professional, a Certified Director by the World Council for Corporate Governance and a Chartered Scientist (C.Sci) by the Science Council in the United Kingdom, with a wealth of experience working with pharmaceutical companies, such as Lundbeck, Allergan, Takeda, and global CROs, such as IQVIA, Parexel, Icon, Premier Research, and ClinTec.

Dr. Neeta Somaiah

Deputy Chair of Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston

Dr. Neeta Somaiah has 12 years of clinical and research experience focusing on soft tissue sarcomas, specifically liposarcomas and gastrointestinal tumors (GIST). Having served as principal investigator on three investigator-initiated clinical trials and on nine cooperative-group and sponsored clinical trials, she has robust expertise in trial design and execution. Her ongoing collaborations for retrospective and prospective translational research continue to advance knowledge that informs development of new sarcoma treatments. Having provided clinical care for many sarcoma patients, she brings to her research a deep understanding of the challenges particular to the individual patient, based on their unique sarcoma subtype. Her patient-focused approach was recognized in 2018 when she was rated among the top 1% nationally on the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS).

Prior to joining The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Somaiah’s career encompassed academic, clinical, and scientific aspects of clinical research through her work with Fox Chase Cancer Center at Temple University Hospital and The Medical University of South Carolina. Among the many accolades she has received is the Young Investigator Award provided by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. She was also recognized by the government of India’s National Talent Search for her achievements in education. She has served in numerous organizations focused on cancer research, including the American Society of Oncology, the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, and the American Association of Cancer Research. Dr. Somaiah completed her MD at Maulana Aza Medical College, Delhi University. She completed clinical internships with Delhi University’s Lok Nayak & GB Pant Hospitals and with St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in New York City, as well as a clinical residency in internal medicine with Drexel University Hospital (Hahnemann) in Philadelphia. She completed a clinical fellowship in hematology-oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

moderator

Arsalan Arif

Founder & CEO, Endpoints News

Arsalan Arif is a news media entrepreneur who set out in 2015 to build his vision of an independent biotech news company at Endpoints News.