The Southeast Clinical Oncology Research Consortium (SCOR) is a unique organization comprised of 21 community members from rural and metropolitan areas under the leadership of three experienced Principal Investigators (PIs), a Leadership Council, and the SCOR Operations Center (SOC). The members comprise small community hospitals, hospital systems, and private practices in a six-state geographical area (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia). The primary goal of this application is to bring NCI clinical trials and Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) to the catchment area. A second goal is to facilitate the use of effective, evidence-based practices to improve the quality of care, health outcomes, and reduce cancer health care disparities. There are currently 230 investigators and 160 clinical research staff across 93 treatment performance sites engaged in National Cancer Institute (NCI) research. Each community has a Community Responsible Investigator to oversee research and to ensure human subjects protection. SCOR has a Young Investigator Mentoring Program designed to increase participation of the next generation of NCI investigators in cancer clinical research. Each community also has a research coordinator who is responsible for clinical operations. The SCOR catchment area includes over 16 million people with significant ethnic, rural, and medically underserved populations. The SOC in Winston-Salem, NC provides extensive expertise, regulatory assistance, training, monitoring, mentoring, education, and coordination to facilitate member community?s ability to provide clinical trials to their patient population. SOC staff conducts at least yearly site visits to each community member to review their research program and recruitment strategies, to ensure compliance and quality data submission, and to assist with audit preparation. This infrastructure allows understaffed member communities to conduct NCI clinical research. The efficient, centralized SOC and experienced PI leadership will facilitate accomplishment of the goals of this application.
Advances in oncology are made through the execution of well-designed innovative clinical trials, including participation in Cancer Care Delivery Research, and these advances will lead to improved quality of life and health outcomes, as well as reducing cancer health disparities. This 21-community organization has the expertise, strength, capacity, and capability to contribute to these outcomes. Through covering a six-state area, this organization provides clinical trial access to small, rural, medically underserved, and Appalachia communities of the Southeast.
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