2017 was an extraordinary year of growth for HCRN — both in terms of numbers and in the quality of engagement with our network collaborators.

More top academic research institutions and key opinion leaders joined our network in 2017, enriching the scientific strength and energy of each of our disease-specific clinical trial working groups. The best kept secret in clinical research is quickly evaporating as investigators invite their colleagues to join our network. We are increasingly viewed by top academic institutions as a preferred research collaborator for multi-center investigator-initiated studies.

This growth enables us to pursue more aggressively than ever our highest goal: to help our patients live longer and healthier lives.

Each investigator, bench scientist, oncology nurse, pharmacist, and study coordinator throughout our network knows that patients are the heart and soul of our work. As an outgrowth of our mission, HCRN is committed not only to the timely completion of primary endpoints, but also to exploring answers to key correlative questions. The more we learn about a patient’s genetic profile, the micro-environment of their tumor, and the effect of an investigational therapy on patients with similar characteristics, we can make more timely, informed decisions that could benefit our patients or spare them from what would be an ineffective treatment approach.

HCRN negotiates with funders and investigators to include correlative objectives within our study budgets to the fullest extent possible. Yet, important correlative studies are often outside the scope of a clinical trial budget. For that reason, HCRN relies on the generosity of individuals, businesses, and philanthropic organizations to fill the gap in funding these important studies. Every donation or grant we receive moves us further down the road of scientific discovery. To all those who contributed in 2017, and to those who are already contributing in 2018 — thank you for making a difference for our patients!

I am proud of the dedicated and knowledgeable staff at HCRN for their contributions to an outstanding year.

— Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD, MHA, BCOP

See the HCRN 2017 Annual Report.

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 180 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 7,500 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.