Board of Directors
ACCRU Leadership
Board of Directors
The ACCRU Board of Directors provides oversight for all research and membership activities and policies. This includes reviewing the Executive Committee’s recommendations, approving new membership applications, and implementing and updating the ACCRU Constitution and Bylaws. The Board of Directors also communicates and coordinates ACCRU’s scientific and operational activities with the Mayo Cancer clinical trial research operations.
OFFICERS
Tanios Bekaii-Saab, M.D.
ACCRU Chair, Board of Directors ChairMayo Clinic Arizona
Tanios Bekaii-Saab, M.D. is a medical oncologist focusing on the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. He is the leader of the gastrointestinal cancer program for the Mayo Clinic Enterprise Cancer Center. Dr. Bekaii-Saab has served on various committees for ACCRU since 2012. He currently serves as the Consortium and Board of Director Chair for ACCRU.
Anthony Jaslowski, M.D.
Board of Directors Co-ChairSaint Vincent Hospital
Anthony Jaslowski, M.D. FACP is a board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. “Today’s cancer treatments are only good enough for yesterday—not tomorrow.”
ACADEMIC MEMBERS
Sara M. Tolaney, M.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH is the Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and is internationally recognized for her research and education leadership in breast cancer. She also serves as Associate Director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers and is a Senior Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Kristen Spencer, D.O.
NYU Langone
Kristen Spencer, DO, MPH is a medical oncologist at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center where she is the Director of the Phase I Program and focuses on treating patients with gastrointestinal malignancies and on early phase clinical trials. She is active on several committees nationally, and currently serves as the Chair of both the ECOG-ACRIN Genomics Subcommittee and Hepatopancreatobiliary Working Group, and as a member of both the ECOG-ACRIN Task Force on Advancement For Women and the NCI Gastrointestinal Steering Committee Hepatobiliary Task Force.
James Foran, M.D.
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
James Foran, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Oncology at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. He is also a consultant with both the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine and the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Sciences Research.
Apar Ganti, M.D.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Apar Ganti, M.D. a medical oncologist specializing in lung and head and neck cancer, is the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. He has served on the ACCRU Board of Directors since 2013.
John Marshall, M.D.
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
John Marshall, M.D. received his training at Duke University, the University of Louisville, and Georgetown University. He is an internationally recognized expert in new drug development for GI cancer, with expertise in phase I, II, and III trial design, and has served as Principal Investigator for more than one hundred clinical trials throughout his career. While he has an interest in many areas of cancer research, his primary focus is on the use of precision medicine in treating cancer. Dr. Marshall has become an outspoken advocate for GI cancer patients and the importance of clinical research participation. He currently is serving as the Oncology CMO for Indivumed, creating a global precision medicine research network.
Kristen Ciombor, M.D.
Vanderbilt University
Kristen Ciombor, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology within the Department of Internal Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and is a member of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Dr. Ciombor has been a member of the GI committee and site PI for ACCRU since 2016, is the national PI for ACCRU GI-1701, and has served on the ACCRU Board of Directors since 2019.
Daniel Ahn, M.D.
Mayo Clinic Arizona
Daniel Ahn, M.D. is a GI Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic. He serves as the Medical Director for the Clinical Cancer Research Office at Mayo Clinic Arizona as well as serving on several national committees including GI committee member for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (NCI supported cooperative research group) and a NCCN committee panel member.
Catherine Diefenbach, M.D.
NYU
Catherine Diefenbach, M.D. is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology in the NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center (PCC) at NYU Langone Health, the Clinical Director of Lymphoma, and the Translational Director of Hematology, and the Co-Chair of the Lymphoma Committee of the ACCRU network. Her research focuses on the relationship between systemic immunity, and tumor microenvironment and spans from investigator initiated clinical trials correlative science, to non-therapeutic investigations in collaboration with basic scientists.
Jolene Hubbard, M.D.
M D Anderson Cancer Center
Jolene Hubbard, M.D. is currently an Associate Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Her area of clinical and research expertise is in colorectal cancer. She is also currently the Practice Chair for the Division of Medical Oncology at Mayo Clinic Rochester.
Scott Kopetz, M.D.
M D Anderson Cancer Center
Scott Kopetz, M.D. is a professor and physician-scientist in the Department of GI Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas and has been practicing between 11-20 years. Although, Dr. Kopetz’s clinical research focus is on colorectal cancer, he also treats other types of GI cancers.
Toni Choueiri, M.D.
Dana-Faber Cancer Institute
As Director of the Lank Center for GU Oncology at Dana-Farber and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, clinical trials are the heart of what Dr. Choueiri does every day – with a bit of soccer on the side. He is excited to join the board of directors of ACCRU and help guide development of the next generation of trials.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
Shebli Atrash, M.D.
Levine Cancer Institute
Before starting at the Levine Cancer Institute, Shebli Atrash, M.D., worked on multiple myeloma in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2011, he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR. Post-graduation he studied cancer cell biology. His work mostly focused on proteomics analysis of proteasome inhibitors’ effects on myeloma cell lines.
Currently, he serves as a member of the Plasma Cell Disorders program at the Levine Cancer Institute. Their team focuses on clinical trials and translational science for multiple myeloma. Dr. Atrash concentrates primarily on immunotherapies and investigator-initiated clinical trials for high-risk multiple myeloma.
Daniel Flora, M.D., Pharm D
Saint Elizabeth Hospital
Daniel Flora, M.D. is a Medical Oncologist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky. With a background in pharmacology, Dr. Flora has a special interest in “personalized medicine,” in which each individual’s treatment plan is developed to minimize toxicity. He is currently leading the St. Elizabeth Oncology research team as principal investigator for multiple clinical trials. Many of these studies are exploring alternatives to chemotherapy, such as targeted or immune therapies. Dr. Flora is the recipient of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award and the Cancer Family Care Unsung Heroes Award.
Bryan Faller, M.D.
Heartland NCI Community Oncology Research Program
Bryan Faller, M.D. a community medical oncologist based in St. Louis, Missouri, is the Alan P. Lyss Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Missouri Baptist Medical Center and the PI of Heartland Cancer Research NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP). He has served on the ACCRU Scientific and Administrative Review Committee since 2013 and on the ACCRU Board of Directors since 2018.
Chris Dakhil, M.D.
Cancer Center of Kansas
Chris Dakhil, M.D. is a second-generation oncologist who had the unique opportunity to practice in his hometown with his father and sister. He has been fortunate to participate in an outstanding and nationally recognized community-based research program at the Cancer Center of Kansas over the past 10 years.
Daniel Anderson, M.D.
Metro Minnesota Research Consortium
Daniel Anderson, M.D. is a board-certified hematologist-oncologist and a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation. He has a medical degree and master’s in public health. He has a strong interest in clinical trials, having completed training in clinical cancer research, and has taken local and national leadership roles to ensure cutting-edge research trials are broadly available in patients’ own communities.
Abdel-ghani Azzouqa, M.D.
Monument Health
Abdel-ghani Azzouqa, M.D. is a medical oncologist at Monument Health, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Dr. Azzouqa currently serves as the Medical Director of the Cancer Institute as well as Principal Investigator of the research program.
TRANSLATIONAL & CORRELATIVE SCIENCE MEMBERS
Andrew Nixon, Ph.D.
Duke Medical Center
Andrew Nixon, Ph.D./MBA, is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Phase I Biomarker Laboratory at Duke University. He is a nationally recognized expert regarding the development of biomarkers, bringing extensive experience in coordinating multi-investigator and multi-center correlative analyses to the ACCRU network. Dr Nixon joined the ACCRU Board of Directors in 2019 and serves as the Translational and Correlative Science advisor.
ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBERS
Jennifer Dill
Heartland NCI Community Oncology Research Program
As a Clinical Research Professional and Oncology Research Program Manager, Jennifer Dill brings site operations experience into the discussion of ACCRU protocols and processes.