As I reflect on what we have accomplished during the past year, let me say how much I have enjoyed my new position as chief scientific officer of Hoosier Cancer Research Network. Getting to know the leadership and the staff has been a wonderful experience, and I have been very impressed with how HCRN operates. What an amazing group of people. As it was my first year, it is hard for me to compare this to other years, but as I understand it, I have come to HCRN in a time of tremendous change and opportunity. I would like to focus on a couple of highlights from the past year:

We spent quite a bit of time on our biggest (no pun intended) new venture, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (BTCRC). This exciting organization really took flight this year, with a number of groups (thoracic cancers, urologic cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, breast cancer) meeting and developing concepts. By the end of the year, two concepts reached mature stage (one from the GU group and one from the GI group), with expected activation early this year. The BTCRC named Susan Goodin from Rutgers the second Chief Scientific Officer of the BTCRC, taking over from Noah Hahn, to whom much is owed for the early success of this venture. We expect over the coming year to see several new concepts funded and hopefully activated as the groups have gotten to know each other better and are sharing many excellent concepts.

It was a busy year for the HCRN working groups as well. As a gastrointestinal oncologist, one of my goals was to reinvigorate the GI efforts in HCRN. We did just that, inviting several new academic members into the group (Ohio State, North Carolina, Emory, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of Virginia, and more), and have generated several concepts, two of which are nearing activation. In similar fashion, the thoracic group was quite active, producing two new funded concepts. The genitourinary group, still led by Noah Hahn, was typically active and generated three new funded concepts with more in the pipeline. New members were added to each of the working groups during the year, and HCRN is working toward launching new groups in melanoma, quality of life, myeloma, lymphoma, and leukemia.

I think all at HCRN would agree that 2014 was a busy and fulfilling year. I would like to thank all of our excellent and hardworking staff, our leadership team, and all of our dedicated investigators and their wonderful staff for continuing to support our mission to bring cancer research to the community nationwide.

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network

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.