ECOG-ACRIN Names New Committee Leaders

At the Fall 2025 Group Meeting, the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) announced the following committee leadership appointments:

Jenica N. Upshaw, MD, MSc (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), is co-chair of the Cardiotoxicity Subcommittee, filling a new position.

Amy Kirk, MS, PA (University of Wisconsin), is co-chair of the Advanced Practice Providers Committee, filling a new position.

Lisa Stucky-Marshall, MS, RN, AOCN (Northwestern University), is also co-chair of the Advanced Practice Providers Committee, filling a new position.

Welcome New Principal Investigators

At a recent meeting, the Principal Investigator (PI) Committee approved requests by member institutions to change their PIs for ECOG-ACRIN. The institutions and their new PIs are as follows:

• Iowa-Wide Oncology Research Coalition NCORP: Seema Harichand-Herdt, MD, replaces Joshua C. Lukenbill, DO
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Eytan M. Stein, MD, replaces Christopher E. Comstock, MD
• Stroger Hospital of Cook County MU NCORP: Deimante M. Tamkus, MD, replaces Thomas E. Lad, MD
• University of Michigan: Thomas M. Enzler, MD, PhD, replaces Ruth C. Carlos, MD
• University of Rochester: Megan A. Baumgart, MD, replaces Carla I. Falkson, MD

View the roster of voting members of the Principal Investigator Committee at ecog-acrin.org.

Christine Lovly Joins City of Hope

Leading lung cancer expert Christine M. Lovly, MD, PhD, has joined the City of Hope to spearhead its new national thoracic oncology program. Dr. Lovly will be division chief of thoracic medical oncology, professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research at City of Hope National Medical Center, and hold the Dr. Norman and Melinda Payson Professorship in Medical Oncology. She brings nearly two decades of experience in clinical care, translational research, and academic leadership.

Dr. Lovely is a past recipient of the ECOG-ACRIN Young Investigator Award (2021) and is highly active in the organization, especially the Thoracic Cancer Committee, where she participates in clinical trials and laboratory-based research. Her previous institution was Vanderbilt University, a longstanding member of ECOG-ACRIN. The partnership between ECOG-ACRIN and Vanderbilt provided professional scaffolding for Dr. Lovly to rise in the National Clinical Trials Network. She became known for her work on ALK-translocated (ALK+) non-small cell lung cancer, including treatment strategies and mechanisms of resistance. Her laboratory at Vanderbilt also investigated other driver mutations of lung cancer, such as EGFR and KRAS.

ESMO Congress 2025 Highlights STAMP and DREAM3R Trial Results

Lead investigator Janice M. Mehnert, MD (pictured left), presented the results of the phase 3 STAMP trial (EA6174) as a late-breaking abstract at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Congress in Berlin, Germany, in October. “The STAMP trial provides the first evidence that immunotherapy with pembrolizumab after surgery may help people with Merkel cell carcinoma by preventing their cancer from returning in organs considered distant from the site of the original disease.

"This is much-needed good news for people who are living with this highly aggressive cancer,” she said. Dr. Mehnert is co-chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Melanoma Committee and director of Melanoma and Cutaneous Medical Oncology at the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, part of New York University/NYU Langone Health. Read the press release.

Anna K. Nowak, MD (pictured left), presented the results of the phase 3 DREAM3R trial (PrE0506) at ESMO as a late-breaking abstract. DREAM3R results were consistent with prior phase 2 trials, DREAM and PrE0505, which showed promising activity from the combination of durvalumab (D) plus pemetrexed and either cisplatin or carboplatin chemotherapy (Ch) for patients with pleural mesothelioma. DREAM3R evaluated D+Ch as first-line systemic therapy for advanced-stage disease, compared initially with Ch, and later with nivolumab plus ipilimumab (NI) following results from the CheckMate 743 trial. Read Abstract LBA104.

ECOG-ACRIN and PrECOG Plan Multiple Presentations at ASH 2025

Researchers affiliated with ECOG-ACRIN and PrECOG, LLC will be active at the 2025 American Society for Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, where they will present 10 in-depth scientific analyses of various types of blood cancer. The presentations will include results from primary and secondary study analyses, as well as from correlative studies. Together, this research aims to enhance the precision and safety of treatments for hematologic malignancies. To learn more, access ECOG-ACRIN’s Guide to ASH 2025.

ECOG-ACRIN to Reveal Breast Cancer Research Discoveries at SABCS 2025

Primary results from the FEATURE (EA1183) clinical trial of FDG-PET imaging for measuring treatment response, correlative studies from the landmark TAILORx trial in early breast cancer, the important role of immune cells in tumors, new data from the first trial to focus on Black women with early-stage breast cancer, and an update on TMIST, the large-scale randomized mammography trial are all part of the scientific program at the upcoming 2025 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), The world's largest breast cancer conference will take place December 9–12, 2025. For details, access ECOG-ACRIN's Guide to SABCS 2025.

Early-Career Investigators Receive Awards of Distinction

Two presenters from the 2025 Young Investigator Symposium received awards of distinction—an annual tradition. Their names were announced during the General Session of the Fall 2025 Group Meeting.

• Faith Abodunrin, MD (University of Chicago), won the distinction award for clinical research for her presentation, Less Can Be Enough: Response-Adaptive De-Escalation Strategy in HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Cancers
• Pablo Sánchez-Vela, MD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), secured the distinction award for translational research. His presentation was titled Clonal Hematopoiesis Is an Actionable Driver of Treatment Resistance and Metastasis in Patients with Solid Tumors

Fall Group Meeting Session Recordings Now Available

Did you miss the Fall 2025 Group Meeting? If you are an ECOG-ACRIN member, you can now catch up on important study updates and trainings by viewing our library of session recordings. These are available for both attendees and those who missed the meeting. Attendees can simply visit the Attendee Hub Website and log in with the information provided during registration. Everyone else should first register for the meeting and then visit the Attendee Hub to view session recordings on demand.

After registration, users should go to the Attendee Hub and log in with the information they provided. Navigate to ‘Schedule,’ and then select ‘On Demand’ from the dropdown list. Note: The Attendee Hub Website will expire 90 days following the meeting (mid-January 2026).

In the coming weeks, we will also post select session recordings and resources from the Fall Group Meeting on the members’ section of the ECOG-ACRIN website. These materials will be available to anyone with member login credentials, regardless of meeting attendance.