Elizabeth Mittendorf, Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, shared on LinkedIn:
“This Veterans Day, we honor and express our gratitude to all who have served. My own time in the Air Force guided my path toward surgical oncology, showing me firsthand the profound selflessness of this population.
To fully support the veteran community, we also must bring attention to a critical gap in their care: improving access to cancer clinical trials.
Currently, U.S. veterans enroll in clinical trials at rates far lower than the national average due to factors including travel barriers, comorbidities, and strict eligibility criteria. Overcoming this requires structured and intentional collaboration. Multi-stakeholder initiatives – like the pilot program between Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and the VA – are vital to bringing trial options directly to veterans.
Ensuring veteran representation in clinical research is part of our collective mission to deliver exceptional care to patients everywhere. To help advance these efforts, I want to highlight the Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation Young Investigator Award for Veteran Cancer, which is open to physicians transitioning from a fellowship or residency program to their first faculty appointment.
Applications for the 2027 award are open through March 2027.
Read more about how we can work to improve veterans’ access to clinical trials.”
More about Young Investigator Award for Veteran Cancer.
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