Annual Meeting Showcased Collaboration at its Best
12/10/2014
On Nov. 19, nearly 40 doctors, nurses and partners from all over the state gathered in Atlanta for Georgia CORE’s 2014 Annual Meeting. In addition to a welcome by Georgia CORE Vice President Angie Patterson and an update by President Nancy Paris, brief remarks were made by Georgia CORE Chairman Thomas E. Seay, MD, PhD, as well as Walter J. Curran, MD, FACR and Executive Director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University.
The 2014 award and launch of the Georgia NCORP was the highlight of the evening. “Together, through this collaboration, we are creating a safe place for difficult conversations to happen,” said Paris.
Dr. Curran, who is also Chair of NRG Oncology, introduced the keynote of the evening, Deborah Watkins Bruner, PhD, RN, FAAN. Dr. Bruner is the Robert W. Woodruff Chair Professor of Nursing and Associate Director for Outcomes Research at Winship and also with NRG Oncology. She spoke about the success story in collaboration that is the Georgia NCORP.
Dr. Bruner explained the make up of NRG – three study groups covering bowel and prostate, radiation therapy and gynecologic oncology. She then went on to review the menu of clinical trials open with the new collaboration, as well as the specific aims of Georgia NCORP – cancer prevention and control research and cancer care delivery research.
“The cancer care delivery research, in particular, is a multidisciplinary field of investigation that studies how complex, multi-level forces – operating at the patient, provider, and health system levels – influence cancer care access, quality, and value for money,” said Dr. Bruner.
Guests were able to share one-on-one accounts of their work over the past year as well.
“The night was a celebration of the year’s achievements in collaboration, which, at its essence, is the very spirit of Georgia CORE,” said Paris.