The NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center (SDMC) was notified that the center will be awarded six more years of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and will continue to serve the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group NRG Oncology. The total amount of funding requested for the six year effort was $68.9 million. During the peer review grant renewal process, the NRG Oncology SDMC was ranked within the "Outstanding" range with a score of 18.
"We are honored to receive this funding and scoring for the SDMC which is such an integral part of the NRG Oncology organization. Our SDMC consistently strives to ensure that scientifically relevant cancer research is developed, conducted, interpreted, and presented in a way that maximizes the impact on evidence-based medicine," stated Joseph P. Costantino, DrPH, the current Group Statistician and Director of the NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center and Professor of Biostatistics at University of Pittsburgh.
The summary statement from the peer review panel which selected the grant recipients indicated, "The SDMC is well organized to operate at high capacity. The combined statistical group has enormous depth of experience and complementary areas of expertise. The overall impact of the proposed SDMC is high with strong organizational structure, scientific and leadership experience and governance ensuring continued success".
"We look forward to the next six years as we continue to support the clinical trial research effort of NRG Oncology through our work at the SDMC," added James J. Dignam, PhD the current NRG Oncology SDMC Deputy Group Statistician and Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Dignam will assume the role of Group Statistician and Director of the SDMC for the new grant cycle.
The six year grant cycle started March 1, 2019.
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About NRG Oncology
NRG Oncology conducts practice-changing, multi-institutional clinical and translational research to improve the lives of patients with cancer. Founded in 2012, NRG Oncology is a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation that integrates the research of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). The research network seeks to carry out clinical trials with emphases on gender-specific malignancies, including gynecologic, breast, and prostate cancers, and on localized or locally advanced cancers of all types. NRG Oncology's extensive research organization comprises multidisciplinary investigators, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, physicists, pathologists, and statisticians, and encompasses more than 1,300 research sites located world-wide with predominance in the United States and Canada. NRG Oncology is supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is one of five research groups in the NCI's National Clinical Trials Network.