The Cancer Research of Wisconsin and Northern Michigan (CROWN) Consortium is a collaboration between three of the largest cancer centers in Wisconsin: St. Vincent Hospital of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis (St. Vincent Hospital through the Saint Vincent Hospital Cancer Centers (SVHCC)), Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - Southeast Wisconsin, Inc., Columbia St. Mary?s, Inc., and Ministry Health Care, Inc. (Ascension Wisconsin (AW)), and Aspirus, Inc. (Aspirus). With SVHCC as the project/performance primary site, the three main institutions and their cooperating affiliates provide access to National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored clinical trials to community members throughout Wisconsin and northern Michigan. The consortium covers an extensive catchment area that includes both rural and urban counties, as well as minority and underserved communities. The CROWN Consortium looks to broaden recruitment capabilities, regularly share best practices through established consortium committees, reach a more diversified patient portfolio, and implement cancer care delivery research (CCDR) at multiple affiliate locations. In addition, the consortium will actively participate and engage in NCORP Research Base trials beyond accrual by serving on committees, contributing to protocol development, and developing young investigators to be engaged with clinical research. The CROWN Consortium brings together an experienced research infrastructure with a multidisciplinary team of qualified investigators across many areas of clinical research including medical and radiation oncology, palliative care and pediatric oncology. The consortium provides a vast portfolio of cancer control, prevention, and care delivery, biospecimen, screening/post-treatment surveillance trials, as well as treatment and imaging clinical studies to the community setting. As a result, the CROWN Consortium will address gaps in clinical research in rural, urban, minority, and underserved populations. The CROWN Consortium will address this by the following specific aims: 1) Broaden CROWN Consortium participation in NCI-sponsored clinical trials by expanding recruitment, clinical capabilities, and sharing of resources; 2) Expand recruitment and retention of urban, rural, racial and ethnic minorities, and other underrepresented patient populations; 3) Execute high- quality Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) throughout the CROWN Consortium; and 4) Increase investigator engagement in NCORP initiatives by contributing to best practices and research findings. The CROWN Consortium represents a proven, high-performing addition to the NCORP network. The consortium will expand NCORP?s access to populations in Wisconsin and northern Michigan. The consortium will further NCORP Research Bases? programs by providing a more representative population for studies, and by providing feedback on study design feasibility for community sites and for appropriateness for diverse participants. CROWN Consortium?s emphasis on understudied subgroups further underscores the value of CROWN Consortium to the NCORP network.
Currently, cancer clinical research is predominantly performed at academic medical centers, partially due to the operational challenges and limitations of resources at community sites. A core premise of the NCORP network is expanding the reach and execution of cancer control, prevention and cancer care delivery research deeper into community settings which will diversify trial participants and accelerate promising treatments through clinical trials and into broader use. The CROWN Consortium supports the NCORP mission by leveraging a network of community sites throughout Wisconsin and northern Michigan with a shared mission, training, procedures, and clinical resources, and will be able to provide the necessary clinical support to offer improved enrollment numbers and diversity, enhancing study outcomes and reducing disparities.
