With the expert leadership of the CureSearch Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), which sets the academic priorities for research initiatives and evaluates projects on scientific merit, CureSearch funds projects with commercial potential and the ability to quickly reach patients who need new and better treatment options.
The SAC includes best-in-class pediatric oncologists, such as Elizabeth Fox, MD, senior vice president of clinical trials administration at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Compared to cancer in adults, childhood cancer is rare. This relatively small patient population is a hurdle for designing clinical trials that meet traditional regulatory thresholds for approval,” said Dr. Fox. “Together, these factors are disincentives for many in the pharmaceutical industry and serve to limit the access to new agents for childhood cancer.”
During her time as a resident, Dr. Fox learned that clinical trials were the tool that pediatric oncologists used to treat individual patients, while systematically making improvements in the survival for many children with cancer. This inspired her to pursue a career in pediatric oncology. She has years of experience and expertise in quantitative clinical and pre-clinical pharmacology, pediatric clinical oncology, and clinical research and trial design.
“The patients and families that my dedicated colleagues and I have been privileged to care for, as well as great role models and mentors throughout my career, provide perspective, inspiration, resiliency and hope to continue to contribute to the unifying goal of curing childhood cancer,” she said.
Dr. Fox says that CureSearch’s mission to ensure children with cancer have safe and effective treatment options is evident in its patient and family resources, grant funding opportunities, innovative initiatives and in-depth symposia and summits. Facilitating dialog among academic investigators, pharmaceutical industry, research organizations, and government and regulatory experts is the key to bringing children to the forefront of drug development.
“CureSearch Symposia and Summits tackle imperative issues facing pediatric oncology,” she said. “The cross-sector expertise is the cornerstone for CureSearch and the benchmark for progress in pediatric cancer drug development.”
To learn more about the SAC and its members, visit https://curesearch.org/advisory-councils.