image: Linda Bulone receieves the CRP RISE Award from Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Group Chair Eva Galanis, MD.
Credit: Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Oncology nurse Linda Bulone has received the 2025 Alliance Clinical Research Professionals Research Integrity Service Excellence (CRP RISE) Award from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. This award honors site Clinical Research Professionals (CRPs) who exemplify excellence through quality, patient advocacy, professional development, and leadership with compassion, integrity, respect, safety, and teamwork.
“Clinical Research Professionals are the backbone of clinical trials as they work day in and day out with cancer patients and their families to explain trial details, ensure protocol compliance, monitor side effects, collect data, enter data and ensure that trials run smoothly,” said Jennifer Dill, Chair of the Alliance Clinical Research Professionals Committee and the Research Administrator, Oncology Clinical Trials at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis. “Linda really stood out to us for her commitment to clinical trials and her dedication to expanding access to novel treatments to patients of all walks of life. We are delighted to bestow this honor upon her.”
“Receiving the CRP RISE Award is an incredible honor,” said Linda Bulone, RN, OCN, CCRC, Research Nurse Manager at the Queens Cancer Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens. “My work has always been about meeting people where they are, answering questions honestly, and making sure they understand their options. It is essential that clinical trials include people from all backgrounds so future treatments work for everyone — and that requires addressing mistrust with respect, transparency, and follow through.”
Bulone joined NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in 2004 and has become a singular force for cancer prevention, education, and trial enrollment across southeast Queens, according to her colleagues. During her two decades, she has led hundreds of community events attended by thousands of residents, repeatedly invited back for her expertise, compassion, and ability to connect. Her efforts helped increase clinical trial participation at the Queens Cancer Center from roughly 1% to 16%, expand early screening efforts, and support reductions in late-stage diagnoses.
Thanks to Bulone’s efforts, more than 1,500 cancer patients at Queens Hospital have enrolled in clinical trials over the past two decades. Bulone is widely known for taking time with patients to explain informed consent in plain language and for addressing community concerns directly — including historical reasons for mistrust in medical research, particularly in marginalized communities — building trust through transparency, respect, and consistent follow up.
Bulone frequently partners with Aiden, the hospital’s therapy dog, who often shadows her at outreach events and in the cancer center to provide comfort to patients. The duo is a familiar and deeply appreciated presence across the community.
“Linda’s commitment has strengthened our clinical research program and expanded access to care for our patients,” said Dr Ellen Hagopian, Director, Queens Cancer Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens. “Her community ties and practical approach to enrollment and education set a standard for others to follow.”
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The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology is a national leader in advancing cancer research, uniting more than 25,000 cancer specialists at 115 main institutions and 1,400 affiliates across the U.S. and Canada. As part of the National Clinical Trials Network and a leading research base for the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, the Alliance conducts pioneering, practice-changing clinical trials that improve outcomes and reshape standards of care. Our work has led to multiple FDA approvals, influenced national guidelines, and produced hundreds of high-impact publications. More than 40,000 participants have taken part in Alliance studies, and our growing biospecimen repository now includes more than 1.5 million samples, collected over the past 30 years. Learn more at www.AllianceforClinicalTrialsinOncology.org.