Curing Through Collaboration: Utilizing Cooperative Groups in the Fight Against Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and B-cell Lymphomas - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Deborah Stephens, DO is an Assistant Professor (to be Associate in July 2022) at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) who focuses on clinical investigation for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and B- cell lymphoma, the most common adult blood cancers. Despite recent advances in the field, CLL and relapsed/refractory B-cell lymphomas are mostly considered incurable. Resistance to therapy is common resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Dr. Stephens’s research is focused on CLL and lymphoma patient care and survival through development and management of a clinical trial portfolio at HCI that includes National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored investigator-initiated trials. The scope of this program is significant, improves the care of local patients and has produced has changed the standard of care for patients internationally. Through several national and local leadership roles, Dr. Stephens dedicates 40% of her time to performing and promoting NCI-sponsored clinical trials. This work, currently not funded, would be supported by the R50 Research Scientist award and support the continuation and development of Dr. Stephens’s work. She is the CLL Lead for the SWOG Leukemia Working Group, which encompasses her roles as the national principal investigator (PI) for the S1925 EVOLVE CLL trial (NCT04269902) and leader of a task force to develop the next SWOG trial for CLL patients. Through the SWOG Lymphoma Working Group, Dr. Stephens has analyzed and published (as first author) the long-term follow-up of several pivotal lymphoma studies. She serves as the local PI for numerous NCI-sponsored CLL and lymphoma studies, which has resulting in placing HCI among leaders in national accrual in several studies including S1925, EA9161, and A041702 (CLL) and EA4151 and EA4181 (mantle cell lymphoma). At HCI, she serves on several committees dedicated to hematology clinical research, including HCI Hematology Disease Center (Interim Director), Hematology Clinical Trials Research Group (Physician Leader), Independent Protocol Review Committee (member), and the Center for Investigational Therapeutics (member). Building upon connections from her fellowship and extensive clinical trial collaboration with investigators at The Ohio State University (OSU), she developed a partnership with OSU and the University of Kentucky that enabled HCI’s successful UM1 ETCTN program application and resulted in grant 60075822 (Carson). She serves as the Hematology Expert for HCI on the ETCTN Executive Committee. The R50 Grant, would support Dr. Stephens to continue her work and plans for meeting the objectives of the NCI-funded clinical trials research program by (1) translation of HCI research into NCI-sponsored clinical trials and expand collaborative grant opportunities through advocating for targeted recruitment of key collaborating scientists, (2) expanding access to phase 1/2 clinical trials to all patients in HCI’s catchment areas, and (3) increasing the number of under-represented minorities and women through collaborations with HCI’s Community Outreach and Education and Patient Navigation Programs.
