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Showing posts from February, 2018

First in the World!

Last month, the team at Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Cancer Institute at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center let me know that they are again the first to enroll a patient in a world-wide clinical trial!

Many studies for oncology research are conducted around the world to help the largest number of patients.  Estimated enrollment for “Phase III Randomized, Double-Blind Study of Pembrolizumab plus Epacadostat vs Pembrolizumab plus placebo as First-line Treatment in Patients with Metastatic NSCLC expressing high levels of PDL1” (NCT03322540) is more than 580 patients from around the world, at over 160 locations.

Suman Rao, MD, lead PI for the study at MedStar shared that without the commiment of the entire research team, including contracts, regulatory, and pharmacists is what made their team successful. “Special recognition goes to Jean Flack for her commitment to this study. She went the extra length and her persistence was what resulted in making this milestone.”


The Weinberg Cancer Institute was also the first in the world to enroll a patient in another Phase III oncology study in 2016. Congratulations and thank you to this dedicated, hard-working team for their commitment to advancing health through research!

MedStar Health Research Symposium: Registration Now Open!

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the seventh annual MedStar Health Research Symposium on Monday, April 30, 2018, from 1:30 to 6:30 pm at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

The Research Symposium features scientific poster presentations from investigators across the system and the spectrum of care, information on research support services offered by MedStar Health Research Institute and the opportunity to connect with residents and researchers dedicated to advancing health.


Focused on You: 2018 MedStar Campaign


Each year, MedStar makes a commitment to connect with our community through a system-wide brand campaign. It launches now, through commercials with the Winter Olympics! I’ve seen the overview and look forward to seeing it in action.

The goal of the campaign this year is to highlight our “access points” to health care, which means that it is showcasing the breadth of healthcare services we offer in our integrated and diversified health care system.

The ads will link to a landing page, MedStarHealth.org/You, which tells our system brand story through our own patients’ stories in engaging video format.

The campaign is across the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., regions as an integrated media plan which includes TV, digital, and out-of-home advertising. Keep an eye out through April!


PowerTrials is Now Live in MedConnect!


At the Fall Town Halls last year, we shared that we were working on integrating research into clinical practice across MedStar Health via our electronic health records (MedConnect). I can now share that PowerTrials is now available to all MedStar Health clinicians. PowerTrials is a new module within the Cerner PowerChart product we call MedConnect. This now integrates current research studies into clinical care.

This is beneficial for patients, participants, and providers, as information about a patient’s participation in a MedStar Health or Georgetown clinical trial, as well as information about the study, is available in one location within MedConnect.
For providers, it brings awareness of patient research participation via an “on study” flag on the demographic Banner Bar and the ability to view research study description (protocol name and study synopsis) and recruitment information at the point of care. This information is available in the 'Clinical Research' tab on the left side of the chart.

For our research teams, this now allows for clinicians to contact them via the message center and can get automated notifications if a study participant is in the emergency room or admitted to the hospital. PowerTrials also makes it easier when study monitors need to review the study.

As always, thank you for your continued support, time and training dedicated to our new electronic platforms that support research - both OnCore and now PowerTrials. Both systems serve important functions as we move closer to full integration of research and clinical care.

Sharing What We are Proud Of

Below is my monthly message for the February 2018 edition of the MHRI newsletter, Focus. You can view Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.


Dear Friends and Colleagues,

When you are proud of something, you want to share it. This is evident when someone proudly displays their college diploma, a prestigious professional degree, or an award they received for an exceptional achievement. Similarly, walls are often adorned with pictures of an athletic milestone or medals sits on the shelf for winning competitive events.

When I look around my office, I also have some of these routine things (such as my medical school diploma, but certainly no medals for sports!). What I also notice is a lot of pictures of people such as a group photo from the first MHRI managers’ retreat or when our associates got a little crazy ‘going red’ for heart health month. I am proud of the team I get to work with and want to share it. And of course, many pictures of my son— the pride bubbles up every time I look at that angelic smile as a baby, the determination in Little League when pitching his fastball, or the quiet confidence as he enters high school. Yes, when we are proud of something we want to share it so others can see and feel it for themselves.

At MedStar Health, we have so much to be proud of. Among the many exceptional achievements is that we are advancing health every day, in many ways, and in many areas of medicine. And when you advance the health of our patients, of our community, and for our future, it is something that brings exceptional pride.

This month, we will be launching the ‘We are Advancing Health’ report that shares some examples of the great work in research, innovation, and education at MedStar Health. This compendium of stories provides the reader a sampling of the depth and breadth of our forward-looking work and the impact it is having on our community. We sit at the crossroads of academics and ‘real world’ medicine and that provides a wonderful opportunity for novel discoveries, inventions, and training that can provide immediate benefit for our patients.

Thank you for all your work to help us make a difference in the lives of our patients, both those today and tomorrow.

You can view the report online here or learn more at MedStarHealth.org/AdvancingHealth.


Neil
Read Focus at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.