Task Force

Dr. Nadine J. Barrett is Senior Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Equity in Research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health. Prior to that she held senior leadership roles as CTSI Co-Director for Equity and Stakeholder Strategy.

A medical sociologist by training, Dr. Barrett is a health disparities researcher, expert equity strategist, and a nationally-recognized leader in facilitating community/stakeholder and academic partnerships to advance health equity and developing training and methods to address implicit bias and structural and systemic racism that limits diverse participation in clinical and translational research and access to quality healthcare. Her goals are to integrate diverse stakeholder engagement in the research process and quality improvement in healthcare systems, enhance enrollment and retention of underrepresented groups in research through innovative interventions such JUST ASK, a nationally recognized program adapted by ACCC and ASCO, and diversify the healthcare workforce, and advance health equity.

Prior to her aforementioned role at Duke, Dr. Barrett was the founding director of the Duke Cancer Institute’s Office of Health Equity, where for eight years she led a team to create a nationally awarded community engagement model to advance health equity, through patient navigation, nationally funded pipeline training programs for underrepresented race and ethnic groups, and authentic community partnerships to inform and drive research and quality healthcare as advisors, experts, and participants. Her leadership in both nonprofit and academia spans local, national, and international partnerships to better serve and engage historically marginalized and underserved populations.

Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO, is a professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He is also the associate director for cooperative groups at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Benson is a recipient of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Statesman Award (fellow of ASCO) and has served on a number of committees, including as member of the Quality of Cancer Care Task Force, co-chair of ASCO’s Colorectal Cancer Guidelines Subcommittee, the Stage II Colon Cancer Guidelines Panel, and the Guidelines Panel for use of Radiofrequency Ablation for Colorectal Cancer. In addition, he served as ACCC President (2010-2011), and most recently as as chair of the ACCC Clinical Affairs Committee. He is also a  past president of the Illinois Medical Oncology Society. Dr. Benson He is on the editorial board of the ASCO Connection (term completed), Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, American Health and Drug Benefits, Personalized Medicine in Oncology, Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research, and Gastrointestinal Cancer Research, among others. 

Dr. Benson’s research is primarily in the areas of gastrointestinal cancer clinical trials, biologic therapies, phase I cancer clinical trials, health services research, and cancer guideline development. He has authored or coauthored numerous reports, reviews, and book chapters focusing on these topics. His research in biologics, cancer therapy, and cancer prevention has been awarded funding from a variety of sources including the National Institutes of Health. His most recent national awards include the NCCN Rodger J. Winn Award and the ACCC Clinical Research Award.

Christa Braun-Inglis is a nurse practitioner and an assistant researcher at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is also a clinical faculty member at the University of Hawaii School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, as well as a board-certified oncology nurse practitioner.

Ms. Braun-Inglis has 25 years of oncology nursing experience, with over 18 years as an oncology nurse practitioner. She has a wealth of clinical expertise and has been a huge proponent of cancer clinical trials in the community.  Her interests include increasing advanced practice provider involvement in clinical trials, cancer care delivery, breast and GI cancers, as well as providing quality cancer care to residents of Hawaii.

Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP, is medical director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Network; Medical Director, Research Integration at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA); and associate professor of Medicine, University of Washington. Dr. Crews has more than 18 years of experience in oncology in academic, private practice, and hospital-based settings. Previously she served as the medical director for Cancer Services in the PeaceHealth Northwest Network, which includes St. Joseph Cancer Center in Bellingham, Washington; PeaceIsland Hospital on San Juan Island, Washington; and PeaceHealth Ketchikan, Alaska. She also served as the medical director of the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center in Washington, N.C., and held appointments as a consulting associate in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology and Transplantation at Duke, and as an affiliate associate professor in the Department of Medicine at East Carolina University.

Dr. Crews served as ACCC Treasurer (2013-2015), ACCC President-Elect (2015-2016), and ACCC President (2016-2017). She has served as the president of the North Carolina Oncology Association (NCOA) and as NCOA’s legislative liaison to the North Carolina General Assembly. She is on the Editorial Committee for the ACCC Oncology Drug Database, a reviewer for the Journal of Oncology Practice, and a member of the ASCO Practice Guidelines Implementation Network. She has been named to the Best Doctors in America since 2007.

Dr. Crews received her BS degree in Biology with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her MD from Duke University and completed training in internal medicine and oncology at Duke, where she served as assistant chief resident. She is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Una Hopkins, DNP, MSN, BSN, FNP-BC, NE-BC, FACCC, RN, is a registered nurse with more than 30 years of experience in oncology, 25 as a nurse practitioner. Dr. Hopkins is currently the director for research and evidence-based practice at the Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, where she is responsible for the oversight and management of nurse engagement in programs of research and evidence-based practice, academic and affiliations, nursing internet and intranet development, and presentations and publications for the department of nursing. This includes the management of selected staff and operations, academic affiliations and funded educational projects, survey preparation, specialized training initiatives, education related to promotion of nursing research and evidence-based practice, oversight of project management, and funding attainment. 

Dr. Hopkins has received numerous awards for her accomplishments in clinical and research work and since 1927, has published over 20 articles in various medical journals. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Nursing Science from the College of New Rochelle where she also studied to become a family nurse practitioner. She received her doctorate from Pace University in New York City. Dr. Hopkins serves on the Advisory Committee for the ACCC Institute for Clinical Immuno-Oncology.

Dr. Marc Matrana is Director of the Ochsner Precision Cancer Therapies Program, the only dedicated Phase I cancer research program between Houston and Birmingham. He serves as a senior medical oncologist at Ochsner’s Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center in New Orleans and holds an Endowed Professorship at Ochsner Health System.  He also serves as Associate Director of Clinical Cancer Research at the Ochsner Cancer Institute, and as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Queensland School of Medicine in Brisbane, Australia.  Dr. Matrana is a ninth-generation native of New Orleans, where he earned a Master of Science degree in Human Genetics from Tulane University and received his medical degree from LSU School of Medicine. He served as Chief Resident at Ochsner, and Chief Fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.  He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed books, articles, chapters, and abstracts.  He has presented his research findings and educational programs at numerous national and international meetings.

Dr. Randall A. Oyer is a practicing medical oncologist at the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute at Penn Medicine Lancaster General in Pennsylvania, where he serves as the medical director. Dr. Oyer is also the medical director of oncology, the chair of the Cancer Committee, the chair of the Oncology Physicians Advisory Council, and the medical director of the Cancer Risk Evaluation (Cancer Genetics) Program at Penn Medicine. Dr. Oyer is a member of the Cancer Service Line Executive Committee and the Cancer Service Line Quality Committee at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Dr. Oyer divides his time among patient care, program administration, program development, and community outreach. He works closely with a multidisciplinary team that includes nursing, social work, pharmacy, chaplaincy, and medical specialties focused on strategy, implementation, and patient care. A long-standing active member of ACCC, he served as president from 2020 to 2021. Dr. Oyer is also an ex-officio member of the National Cancer Policy Forum and commissioner of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, where he represents ACCC. Dr. Oyer is a graduate of Georgetown University and Georgetown University School of Medicine, and is Clinical Professor of Medicine at Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Pal is an internationally recognized leader in the area of genitourinary cancers, including kidney, bladder, and prostate cancer. He is the co-director of City of Hope's Kidney Cancer Program, where he is also the head of the kidney and bladder cancer disease team. Dr. Pal entered college at the age of 13 and began medical school at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) at age 17. After completing his residency training at UCLA, Dr. Pal completed a fellowship program in medical oncology at City of Hope's comprehensive cancer center, where he has remained on faculty since 2009.

Dr. Pal sits on the editorial board for Kidney Cancer, and he is a reviewer for multiple journals, including The Lancet, The Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Journal of Urology, European Urology, and others. He has received grants from the National Institute of Health, the Comprehensive Cancer Network, SWOG Cancer Research Network, and multiple other leading entities in support of his research.

Dr. Peterson is the Director of Clinical Research and Sponsored Programs at Munson Healthcare. Dr. Peterson has spent 13 years as a Project Director at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, where she managed behavioral research studies in the areas of childhood cancer, doctor-patient communication, and health disparities. Dr. Peterson has a masters degree in health communication and a PhD in medical sociology.

An experienced nurse, Lindsey Petras is the Cancer Programs Manager at the American Indian Cancer Foundation. She received her Master in Nursing Education from Western Governors University in Utah. She takes pride in promoting the importance of health equity on a national level and her goal is to reduce the cancer burden in Indigenous communities. She hopes to accomplish this goal through education and patient advocacy. Ms. Petras feels honored to work on these important issues and is committed to improving Indigenous health outcomes.

Cary A. Presant, MD, FACP, FASCO, is a hematologist and medical oncologist with the City of Hope Medical Group. He has been involved in laboratory and clinical investigations, and has served as director of cancer programs at Washington University School of Medicine, the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis and the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He is currently Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. Dr. Presant's current research is focused on predictive assays to increase survival, pharmacologic improvement of chemotherapy effectiveness by magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the development of new therapeutic programs for cancer.

He is the author of more than 400 scientific articles and is a recognized expert in cancer treatment, cancer detection, chemotherapy, experimental tumor biology and pharmacology, liposomes for cancer diagnosis and therapy, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, measurement of quality of life in cancer patients, and quality care in oncology. Dr. Presant has authored Surviving American Medicine, and is a physician columnist and authors blogs for the national website "Medscape."

Dr. Presant is a past Director of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and received the ASCO Statesman Award in 2007. He is a Past President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers. Additionally, Dr. Presant was honored as one of the "Best Doctors in America."

Because of his commitment to early diagnosis of cancer, Dr. Presant was appointed by Fran Drescher to the Board of Directors of her charitable organization Cancer Schmancer. From 2004 until 2007 Dr. Presant co-chaired the national Oncology Congress. Since 2008 Dr. Presant has also served as the Director of Medical Oncology for DiaTech Oncology to develop an effective chemotherapy sensitivity test for cancer patients.

Dr. Presant received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University in New York City, the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Joanne Riemer, RN, BSN, began her nursing career at Johns Hopkins Hospital as an inpatient nurse on the solid tumor oncology unit. From there she moved into critical care in coronary care, intensive care, emergency, and recovery rooms. In 2002, she returned to oncology at Johns Hopkins in the outpatient infusion area, then radiation oncology, staff education, and in 2010 to her current position as senior research nurse on the Upper Aero-digestive Team. In January 2011, she was asked to work with the immunology group on a multidisease study using MDX-1106, which became BMS-936558 and then Nivolumab. She was assigned to the non-small cell lung cancer patients and since then has been almost exclusively working with immunotherapy trials.

In addition to her involvement with the immunotherapy trials, she and fellow colleagues created a booklet for oncology nurses treating patients with immuno-oncology agents. The booklet is an overview of these agents' indications and mechanisms of action and suspected related side effects.

Premal H. Thaker, MD, MSc, is an Associate Professor in Gynecologic Oncology and Director of Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Thaker is a member of the NRG Oncology’s Phase I committee and is the Chair of the Early Business Development Committee of the GOG Partners Investigator Council. She has been national PI of three GOG clinical trials as well as other national clinical trials. She served as a member of the grants and awards committee for the Foundation for Women’s Cancer. Additionally, she has served on the NRG Ovarian Cancer Committee, NCI Ovarian Task Force, NCI Gynecologic Task Force, and on the NCCN Task Force for genetics. She also serves on several Data Safety Monitoring Boards and is on the NCCN committee for Ovarian Cancer. She has published over 180 peer-reviewed publications as an author or co-author as well as 12 book chapters.

Dr. Thaker graduated from a six-year combined baccalaureate and medical degree program through Villanova University and Medical College of Pennsylvania. Subsequently she joined the obstetrics and gynecology residency program at the Hospital of University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She then went to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, to complete a master’s degree in Cancer Biology as well as her gynecologic oncology fellowship in 2006.

Lawrence D. Wagman, MD, is currently the regional medical director and surgical oncologist for the City of Hope Inland Empire Program. This follows a 10-year hiatus from City of Hope when he served as executive medical director for the Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California (2008-2018). During that time, Dr. Wagman opened an independent surgical oncology practice that focused primarily on hepatopancreaticobiliary (70 percent), gastric, sarcoma, melanoma, and breast cancers.

Previously, during his initial 20-year experience at City of Hope, Dr. Wagman served as the chair of surgery, director of the surgical oncology training program, institutional and national cooperative group principal investigator for many clinical trials, and led a basic science laboratory investigating targetable receptors and liver regeneration.

Dr. Wagman has authored numerous peer-reviewed surgical oncology publications, guest edited Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America twice, and edited Cancer Management: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

As both a Geriatrician and Oncologist, Dr. Williams’ research is focused on refining treatment selection and improving the outcomes of older adults with cancer. His research involves the use of geriatric assessment and novel biomarkers, such molecular markers of aging and body composition, to better evaluate functional age and developing interventional clinical trials to improve the tolerance and outcomes of older adults undergoing cancer treatment.