Board of Directors

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.

Meet Tanios »

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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Meet John »

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Meet Toni »

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Meet Jennifer »