Former Hoosier Cancer Research Network vice-chair Robin T. Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, will chair an Education Session during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago.

Zon, along with Jeffrey S. Abrams, MD, of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, and Nicholas J. Robert, MD, of Virginia Cancer Specialists, US Oncology Research Network, will present “The Changing Landscape of Federally Sponsored Trials” on Saturday, May 31, from 8:00 – 9:15 AM at the McCormick Place in Chicago.

ASCO Education Sessions offer interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary explorations of focused areas of clinical oncology. ASCO’s Cancer Education Committee determines the topics and format for these sessions that will best serve the educational needs of Annual Meeting attendees.

Zon’s session will present a historical perspective of federally sponsored clinical trials, identify the key components to developing and maintaining a successful community-based research program, and describe some of the key workload-related issues associated with conducting clinical trials in community-based settings. Presenters will identify strategies to assess and monitor workload, explore some of the key challenges related to research quality, identify strategies to assess and monitor quality, and discuss the objectives and initiatives of ASCO’s Community Research Forum.

Zon is a vice president and senior partner at Michiana Hematology-Oncology, P.C., and immediate past principal investigator for the Northern Indiana Cancer Research Consortium (NICRC)-CCOP. Zon served as vice chair of Hoosier Cancer Research Network from 2006 to 2009 and as chief community officer from 2009 to 2010. An ASCO member since 1997, Zon has served on numerous committees and recently completed her service on the ASCO Board of Directors (2010-2013). Zon is now chair-elect of the Clinical Practice Committee, along with many other ASCO related responsibilities. In 2013, she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO), in recognition of her extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to ASCO.

Zon recently co-authored an article exploring the changes in community-based cancer care since 1964. The article, published in the May 2014 edition of the Journal of Oncology Practice, is part of a series of articles published by the journal in celebration of ASCO’s 50th anniversary.

Read Zon’s article: The Changing Face of Research in Community Practice.

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has initiated more than 150 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 300 publications. More than 4,400 patients have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.