John P. Leonard, MD, a hematology and oncology expert specializing in the treatment of lymphomas at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been named Chair of the Lymphoma Committee for the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored group, the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. Dr. Leonard is the Associate Dean for Clinical Research at Weill Cornell and Director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office at Weill Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
In his role as Chair, Dr. Leonard will help guide the national agenda for lymphoma research by developing, supporting, and shepherding phase II and III clinical trials funded by the NCI at medical centers across the country. He will direct a team of lymphoma clinical and translational researchers from academic and community medical centers across the United States to create and implement new standards of treatment as well as foster the development of novel therapeutics.
“I am honored and deeply humbled to be chosen to lead this vital national effort to improve cancer care for patients in the United States,” said Dr. Leonard, who also serves as the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Vice Chairman for Clinical Research in the Department of Medicine and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell.
About the Alliance
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology is a national clinical trials network sponsored by the NCI that consists of nearly 10,000 cancer specialists at hospitals, medical centers, and community clinics across the United States and Canada. The Alliance is dedicated to developing and conducting clinical trials with promising new cancer therapies, and utilizes the best science to develop optimal treatment and prevention strategies for cancer, as well as researching methods to alleviate side effects of cancer and cancer treatments.
The Alliance was formed in 2011 by the merger of three NCI-funded cooperative groups with a history dating back more than 50 years: the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, Cancer and Leukemia Group B, and the North Central Cancer Treatment Group. The merged organization is one of the cooperative clinical trials groups that comprise the NCI-funded National Clinical Trials Network.
As the main mechanism by which national phase III lymphoma clinical trials are conducted, the Lymphoma Committee, one of the Alliance’s nine scientific committees, is dedicated to developing novel therapies and therapeutics that advance the standards of care for patients with the disease. ■
