Mary Bird Perkins to Partner with LSU Health New Orleans for $13.6 Million Cancer Clinical Trials Network

Network to offer clinical trials for more than 50 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients in region

  (Baton Rouge, La.) Along with LSU Health New Orleans and other partners, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center has been awarded a $13.6 million multi-year grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand its successful statewide clinical trials network with a special emphasis on underserved cancer patients. Mary Bird Perkins enrolled the largest number of clinical trial participants in two of the five years in the previously funded Gulf South Minority/Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program, which was active from 2014 – 2019. David Hanson, MD, Mary Bird Perkins principal investigator, said that the organization is grateful to NCI for the continued support and enhanced funding to ensure that more patients can be enrolled in clinical trials. During the 2014 – 2019 cycle, Mary Bird Perkins enrolled 810 patients in the more than 125 studies that were open during that time. Mary Bird Perkins will continue to advance its clinical trials outreach throughout southeast Louisiana, in Natchez, Mississippi and beyond. “Our physicians, hospital partners, and clinical research teams are one-hundred percent dedicated to fighting cancer and clinical trials are an important element in bringing the highest level of care to patients,” said Dr. Hanson. “We look forward to collaborating with LSU Health New Orleans and the other collaborators through this clinical trials network to bring more clinical trials to patients closer to home.” “Mary Bird Perkins has been a key partner in this clinical trials network and we anticipate that they will continue to be a leader in this area”, said Augusto Ochoa, MD, director of LSU Health New Orleans Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center. “Together, the partners powering this network make an enormous difference in increasing access to clinical trials. It’s a critical need and we are excited to see the impact this grant will make over the next six years for the more than 50 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients in the region.” Other Gulf South Minority/Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program partners include LSU Health Shreveport and Ochsner Health System. For more information on Mary Bird Perkins’ clinical research program, visit https://marybird.org/research.   About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for almost 50 years. The cancer care organization provides care at nine centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma, Gonzales, Zachary and Natchez, Mississippi, and its service area encompasses southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi regions. For more information, please visit www.marybird.org.   About LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans (LSU Health New Orleans) educates Louisiana’s health care professionals. The state’s health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine, the state’s only School of Dentistry, Louisiana’s only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu, http://www.twitter.com/LSUHealthNO, or http://www.facebook.com/LSUHSC.