Why Should I Participate in a Clinical Trial & What Are the Benefits?

Christina Brennan, MD, MBA has devoted her career to clinical research and currently serves as Northwell Health’s vice president of clinical research. Committed to the advancement of science and medicine, Dr. Brennan has more than 22 years of extensive clinical research experience, including over 17 years in clinical research management roles. She is on the board of trustees for the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. She is the immediate past president of the NY Metropolitan Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.  She is an active member of the Clinical Trial Transformation Initiative (CCTI), with Duke University and the FDA, where she actively sits on some of their committees.  She also sits on the oncology advisory board and technology site advocacy group with the Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS).   She is also an active member of the Women in Bio and the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Brennan also has authored chapters in textbooks, coauthored many manuscripts and abstracts, and has presented at numerous scientific and research meetings. She is also adjunct faculty for Yeshiva University for their Master of Science program for clinical trial management and Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Herman is currently the Director of Clinical Research for the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Vice Chair of Informatics in the Department of Radiation Medicine, and is also leading a 4 year funded project to create a pancreatic multidisciplinary clinic learning health network across 14 high volume pancreas cancer centers (Canopy Cancer Collective). His goal has been to provide team-based, multidisciplinary patient care that is compassionate, innovative, and efficient. He is committed to working across disciplines, organizations, and centers at Northwell Health to develop a robust clinical trial portfolio that facilitates rapid introduction of novel therapies into the clinic. Recently, he was Professor and Ad Interim Division Head in Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University Department of Radiation Oncology, where he initiated and co-directed the Pancreatic Multidisciplinary Clinic. He has been a writing member for the NCCN and ACR guidelines committees and on the medical advisory board and Chief Medical Officer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network as well as a member of the NIH Neuroendocrine and Pancreas Task Forces. He has served as Principal Investigator for several institutional gastrointestinal protocols and is a Co-Investigator (radiation oncology lead) for the Alliance 021101 borderline resectable cancer trial. His major areas of clinical and basic research involve identification of novel biomarkers and integration of SBRT and hypofractionated radiation with immunotherapy and targeted therapies.