Janice Mehnert, MD, was recently named Co-Chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Melanoma Committee, replacing Craig L. Slingluff, MD. Dr. Mehnert is Associate Director for Clinical Research and Director, Melanoma and Cutaneous Medical Oncology at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center. She specializes in both skin cancer and in phase I clinical trials for all types of advanced cancers.
Professional Background
At Perlmutter, Dr. Mehnert works to expand the availability of clinical trials and uses precision oncology and immunotherapy to identify effective treatments of advanced cancer. Dr. Mehnert was part of a team whose work led to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of immunotherapy for aggressive neuroendocrine tumors such as small cell lung cancer and Merkel cell carcinoma. For the past decade, she has also led a National Cancer Institute (NCI)–funded laboratory focused on developing more precise strategies for the management of melanoma.
Dr. Mehnert has held leadership positions on several international committees, including the Steering Committee of the Society for Melanoma Research and the NCI’s Investigational Drug Steering Committee. She is active with multiple patient advocacy groups including AIM at Melanoma. She is also Past Chair of ASCO’s Melanoma and Skin Cancer Scientific Committee. She has authored more than 100 publications, book chapters, and abstracts.
NCI Pancreas Task Force Elects New Vice Chair
In a recent election, NCI Pancreas Task Force members selected Efrat E. Dotan, MD, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, as Vice Chair, replacing E. Gabriela Chiorean, MD, of the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The task force is part of NCI’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee.
Dr. Dotan chairs the ECOG-ACRIN Geriatric Oncology Working Group, leading the development of clinical trials for older adults that focus on treatments, identification of risk factors, and biomarkers of aging. The now-enrolling EA2186/GIANT study for advanced pancreatic cancer is one example; others are in development.
