Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) recently announced the appointment of Ishwaria Subbiah, MD, MS, as Executive Director, Cancer Care Equity and Professional Wellness. In this role, Dr. Subbiah will focus on reducing cancer outcomes disparities and diversifying clinical trial participation within SCRI’s combined research network of more than 1,300 physicians at over 250 locations in 24 states across the country. Dr. Subbiah will also build the organization’s health-care professional well-being program to support multidisciplinary oncology research professionals in the community.
Dr. Subbiah is an expert in geriatric oncology, symptom management, palliative care, and health-care professional well-being. She previously was Associate Professor in the Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. With her unique qualifications from having trained in developmental therapeutics, medical oncology, and palliative medicine, Dr. Subbiah has more than a decade of experience leading teams in developing and implementing organization-wide programs to improve cancer care and clinical workplace experience, including leading their integration of patient-reported outcomes–based remote symptom monitoring.
Ishwaria Subbiah, MD, MS
Increasing Access to Clinical Trials
In her new role, Dr. Subbiah will work in concert with SCRI’s site management and contract research organizations to advance unmet needs that both trial sponsors and physicians are seeking to address for people facing cancer. Additionally, Dr. Subbiah will interface with external stakeholders with a shared commitment to broadening access to cancer clinical trials for patients across the United States.
“Broadening access to high-quality cancer care and cutting-edge cancer therapies on clinical trials is possible by bringing all stakeholders to the same table and enacting changes together,” said Dr. Subbiah.
“With SCRI’s national reach, we have the ability to develop transformational approaches to diversify clinical trial recruitment and reduce care disparities at an unprecedented scale,” she continued. “At the same time, we have an opportunity to also focus on workplace experiences for thousands of clinicians engaged in research across SCRI’s network. By strengthening our workforce, we can strengthen the fight against cancer for every individual we treat.”
Establishing Guidelines
Dr. Subbiah contributes to the ASCO clinical practice guidelines update in geriatric oncology, the new ASCO guidelines on medical cannabis and cannabinoids, and serves on the Older Adult Oncology guidelines committee of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network®. She holds several peer-reviewed grants and serves in editorial leadership roles for the American Cancer Society’s journal Cancer, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), JNCI Cancer Spectrum, and the Journal of Geriatric Oncology. She is Chair of the ASCO Women in Oncology working group and the ASCO State of Cancer Care in America initiative, shaping organizational and system-level strategies to ensure a sustainable and thriving oncology workforce.
