Schilsky's mandate is to consolidate and enhance the clinical research infrastructure throughout the division. There's more competition for sponsored research than ever before, but there is much more opportunity to take part in truly innovative clinical studies. The first steps include appointing a faculty advisory committee on clinical research and setting up a clinical trials office to provide oversight and serve as a single point of contact for inquiries from the pharmaceutical industry. That office will establish a clinical research curriculum committee, which will organize formal training programs for all investigators and their staffs, as well as seminar series on aspects of clinical research. It will also include a biostatistics advisory group, developed jointly with by Ron Thisted, Ph.D., chairman of health studies, to help investigators plan efficient, informative trials and collect and analyze their data.
Patients choose university hospitals because they have multiple complex medical problems.
Dr. Schilsky brings considerable research and clinical experience to the post. As director of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center for eight years, he managed the growth of one of the Medical Center's leading and best organized clinical research teams. He has also served for five years, and will remain, as chairman of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, one of the largest and oldest cancer clinical trials groups in the country. More recently, he was appointed chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, which recommends action on all new anti-cancer agents. He was also recently nominated to become a member of the National Cancer Institute's Board of Scientific Advisors.