Collaboration

Caris Life Sciences® founded the Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA) to promote the study and appropriate use of molecular testing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Precision Oncology Alliance

The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA) convenes the brightest minds in oncology, cancer care, clinical research, and drug development. The vision statement of the POA is to build the best-in-class collaborative research network focusing on precision oncology to identify predictive and prognostic markers that help in improving the outcomes and clinical care of patients with cancer. The POA aims to deliver molecular science solutions to promote clinical trials that cultivate combined clinical-genomic data and collaborative research to advance the science of cancer care. The alliance is comprised of a growing network of leading cancer centers from across the country that demonstrate a commitment to precision medicine and work collaboratively to:

Integrate molecular testing where appropriate into cancer care and patient treatment management
Collaborate on research studies and clinical trials
Track longitudinal clinical outcomes, contribute data, and correlate outcomes with molecular clinical demographic attributes
Publish innovative abstracts and manuscripts in top-tier journals promoting academic advancement in molecular profiling and its impact on clinical care

It’s important for oncologists and patients to know that their data is available to them for analysis. Our database of clinical outcomes is populated with anonymized data from POA member institutions and from commercially available data. This continuous feedback loop between finding new biomarkers and interpreting their significance, provides insights for drug developers, which ultimately feeds back into our system and directly helps patients.

In addition to creating a thought leadership network to develop best practices and guidelines for integrating molecular profiling into patient treatment management, POA members:

Utilize the Caris Molecular Intelligence^® platform to identify therapy options and clinical trial opportunities based on the unique molecular characteristics of a patient’s tumor.
Contribute to the Caris database. We are increasingly able to link to their electronic medical records to augment their clinical outcomes data with our molecular data in a user interface that allows analysis of the combined data set.
Leverage the network to conduct research and to generate and publish clinical outcomes data.
Leverage available data to participate in pharma-sponsored precision oncology research studies and enhance the ability to efficiently conduct investigator-initiated trials.
Explore cost-effectiveness studies and analyses leveraging Caris data.
Partner with payors and regulatory bodies to establish value-based reimbursement.

POA Leadership

Executive Committee
The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance™ (POA) Executive Committee establishes appropriate molecular testing principles to serve as guidelines for the consistent application of tumor profiling across the oncology community. The Executive Committee facilitates collaborative research studies across the POA and coordinates outcome tracking initiatives to generate and document additional medical evidence for the appropriate use and impact of profiling. The Executive Committee of the POA serves as a resource to Caris leadership helping to drive research strategy and direction.

Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP

Chairman, Precision Oncology Alliance

John L. Marshall, MD

Chief, Division Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Oncology, Georgetown University

Elisabeth Heath, MD

Associate Center Director for Translational Sciences,
Karmanos Cancer Institute

Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, FACP

Associate Director for Clinical Research, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Thomas Herzog, MD

Deputy Director,
University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute and The Barrett Cancer Center

Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP

Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences, Brown University

Marcia Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, AGAF, FASGE

Executive Director, University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center

Ruben Mesa, MD

Director, University of Texas, San Antonio, MD Anderson Center

POA Tumor Groups
The POA Tumor Groups identify leadership opportunities, author publications, and develop protocols.

Breast

Antoinette Tan, MD, MHS
Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and Co-director of the Phase 1 Program,
Carolinas HealthCare System, Levine Cancer Institute

Central Nervous System

David Ashley, MBBS, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery,
Duke University

Cutaneous Oncology

Geoff Gibney, MD
Co-leader, Melanoma Disease Group,
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and MedStar Cancer Network

Gastrointestinal

Anthony Shields, MD, PhD
Associate Center Director, Clinical Sciences, and Program Leader for Molecular Imaging, Karmanos Cancer Center Institute

Genitourinary

Elisabeth Heath, MD
Associate Center Director for Translational Sciences,
Karmanos Cancer Institute

Global Oncology

Gilberto Lopes, MD
Associate Director of Oncology, International, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami

Gynecologic

Jubilee Brown, MD
Professor and Associate Director of Gynecologic Oncology,
Carolinas HealthCare System, Levine Cancer Institute

Head and Neck

Ammar Sukari MD
Assistant Professor of Oncology, Leader of the Head and Neck Multidisciplinary Team, Karmanos Cancer Institute

Leukemia

Jay Yang, MD
Assistant Professor of Hematology and Oncology, Member of the Malignant Hematology Multidisciplinary Team, Karmanos Cancer Institute

Lymphoma

Andrew Evens, DO, MSc, FACP
Associate Director for Clinical Services and Director of the Lymphoma Program,
Rutgers Cancer Institute of NJ

Myeloma

Saad Z. Usmani, MD
Director of the Plasma Cell Disorder program and the Director of Clinical Research in Hematologic Malignancies,
Levine Cancer Institute

Pathology

Sonika Dahiya, MD
Associate Professor,
Washington University

Sarcoma

Jonathan Trent, MD, PhD
Associate Director for Clinical Research,
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami

Thoracic

Stephen Liu, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Thoracic Oncology,
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

Translational

Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP
Associate Dean for Oncology,
Brown University

POA Pathology Group

Chair

Sonika Dahiya, MD

Associate Professor,
Washington University

Breast

Yihong Wang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,
Brown University

Central Nervous System

Giselle Y. Lopez, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor,
The Preston Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke

Cutaneous

Thuy Phung, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Pathology,
University of South Alabama

Gastrointestinal

Evgeny Yakirevich, MD

Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University

Gynecologic

Rouba Ali-Fehmi, MD

Professor and Vice Chair, Pathology,
Wayne State University

Genitourinary

Sam Wei, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, Fox Chase Cancer Center

Hematopathology

Olga Weinberg, MD

Associate Professor, Director of Fellowships, University of Texas Southwestern

Head & Neck

Rebecca Chernock, MD

Associate Professor, Pathology & Immunology,
Washington University

Sarcoma

Andrew E. Rosenberg, MD

Professor, Vice Chair, Director of Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology,
University of Miami

Thoracic

Sanja Dacic, MD, Phd

Professor of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Translational

David Braxton, MD

Molecular Genetic Pathologist,
Hoag

POA Members

The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance™ consists of leading cancer centers around the world that are committed to precision medicine and work collaboratively to advance the delivery of molecular testing and establish standards of care for profiling solid tumors.

POA Publications

Every day, new discoveries confirm the increasing and important role biomarker analysis and tumor profiling have in personalized cancer care. We contribute to the body of research in oncology to advance the understanding of molecular science and further enable the delivery of precision medicine.