Shadia Jalal, MD, chief scientific officer for Hoosier Cancer Research Network and a thoracic medical oncologist and researcher at Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, understands the importance of process in directing research priorities and getting studies off the ground in a timely fashion.

Since succeeding Bert O’Neil, MD, as CSO in April 2019, Dr. Jalal has focused on ensuring HCRN and member sites can open clinical trials as quickly and efficiently as possible, so eligible patients can gain access to studies when they need them most.

“One of our goals should be to keep clinical research simple,” Dr. Jalal said. “Aside from our regulatory and internal review, it’s good to take a step back and reevaluate and ask, ‘is this step really needed’? From the day we think of an idea to the day we enroll the first patient we should make that process as quick and efficient as possible.”

As CSO, Dr. Jalal provides scientific and clinical expertise to HCRN staff, network investigators, and Clinical Trial Working Group members; attends HCRN Board of Directors and other leadership meetings; and participates in HCRN strategic planning. She brings more than a decade of clinical oncology experience and membership with HCRN and the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium.

Dr. Jalal said it’s essential to maintain a diverse portfolio of research, including the types of therapy provided, such as immune therapy and emerging areas such as DNA repair.

“We have to remember that we need to pivot based on the science, so that we can do the most promising clinical trials. Good science is what should provide our direction,” she said. “We need to maximize the impact of science and do our best as a stakeholder in the oncology field to ensure that we are doing things as well, as efficiently, as creatively, and as scientifically sound as possible.”

Dr. Jalal received her medical degree from the University of Jordan in 2002 and completed her fellowship and residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She serves as a medical oncologist at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center with expertise in esophageal and lung cancer.

As a fellow, Dr. Jalal participated in HCRN research alongside more experienced investigators. For her contributions to research, HCRN honored her with the 2013 George and Sarah Jane Fisher Young Investigator Award. She looks forward, now, to working with junior investigators and advises them to be open to feedback and to seek mentorship from other investigators and collaborative research opportunities through HCRN working groups.

“I think it’s really important to identify a mentor who is invested in your future,” Dr. Jalal said. “Stay focused on the task, try not to let the noise distract you, and just keep on going.”

She said getting published should be secondary to honing one’s skills and integrity as a researcher.

“You grow from the years of work that you’ve put in. If you’re doing good research, the biproduct of that effort is you end up on the podium.”

Chris Fausel, PharmD, MHA, BCOP, clinical manager of oncology pharmacy at IU Simon Cancer Center and chair of the HCRN Board of Directors, welcomes Dr. Jalal’s new role with the organization.

“Dr. Jalal is a seasoned medical oncologist and researcher, who has led clinical trials in HCRN and the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium, so she understands the challenges and opportunities we face in managing clinical trials. Dr. Jalal can help guide HCRN in selecting promising studies, supporting physician-led disease working groups, and offering recommendations to help member sites accrue eligible patients faster,” he said. “We wish her great success as she continues to advance in her field.”

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 conducted more than 210 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 8,500 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.