The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU) in Winston-Salem, N.C., has joined Guardian Research Network (GRN). The rapidly growing nationwide collaborative with a vision to expand clinical trial access and provide new clinical insights has grown to nearly 80 hospitals in 10 states. Guardian Research Network intends to accelerate the clinical trial and drug development process through its unique clinically integrated platform.

“We welcome the CCCWFU to the network,” said Timothy J. Yeatman, MD, President of Guardian Research Network. “They have a long and distinguished history in cancer research and its precision medicine program is one of the best in the world – we are honored they have joined the team.”

Guardian Research Network is a nationwide consortium of health systems harnessing the power of big data and aggregating hundreds of thousands of patient clinical and molecular profiles into dynamic knowledge architecture. This provider-led revolutionary collaboration with sophisticated healthcare data analytics brings advanced targeted therapies to the community and clinicians. Guardian Research Network benefits patients, member hospitals, clinicians and life science professionals by providing patient access to leading therapies without leaving home.

Guardian Research Network intends to halve the time for clinical trial accrual, shorten drug development cycles, improve data quality through real-time electronic feeds, and make the cancer drug development process cost-effective for innovative drugs. Speed-to-trial accrual will be dramatically increased for actionable patients since searches are based on a nationwide database of integrated electronic data from EMRs that includes all protocol eligibility criteria.

“A major principle of the network is to eliminate treatment disparities, particularly for the poor and underserved,” said James Bearden, MD, Vice President of Research, Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute. “The elite CCCWFU is perfectly aligned with that principle.”“The CCCWFU team brings to the network a tremendous addition of expertise in advancing the science of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer oncology,” said Mark Watson, MD, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, Guardian Research Network. “We are thrilled that they have joined the network.”

Wake Forest Cancer Center Director Boris Pasche, MD, Ph.D. said he was hopeful about the future of precision medicine and the development of a cure for cancer.

“The availability of these large structured data sets and the disease biology insights they provide will benefit CCCWFU patients in the immediate future and will expedite progress toward precision medicine and enhance our research capabilities with a combined goal to cure cancer,” Pasche said.

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