Meet the Neuro-Oncology Clinical Research Team
Ali Drury-Sibiga
Clinical Research Coordinator
Ali joined the Neuro clinical trials team in
2016 as a research data specialist and was
then promoted to clinical trials coordinator
Ali is responsible for ensuring study patient
safety and protocol compliance is maintained
for assigned Neuro program trials.
Stephanie Taylor
Research Coordinator
Stephanie joined the Neuro clinical trials team
in September 2017. She is the primary contact
for the protocol sponsors (pharmaceutical,
neuro bio-sample research and device protocols)
and works closely with the faculty investigators
to ensure data integrity, PI compliance and team coherence.
Jennifer Dzierzeski
Research Data Specialist
Jennifer joined the Clinical Trials Office in
February 2017. As an RDS, she is responsible
for abstracting key research data from the
medical record and other source documentation
to the research databases for the various clinical
trials. Quality and timely data is imperative to determine if the
aims of each clinical trial are met.
Aleysha Harris
Regulatory Specialist
Aleysha joined the Regulatory Affairs Office in
2017. She coordinates and prepares essential
documentation and regulatory submissions for
the Neuro-Oncology Program clinical trials to
ensure proper compliance and adherence to FDA
and governing agencies regulations, sponsor requirements and
Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements.
The Neuro-Oncology Clinical Research Team facilitates
and coordinates the conduct of quality clinical research
by supporting a team of two oncology physicians and
two oncology surgeons. Our team consists of highly
dedicated and well-trained support staff; two clinical
research coordinators, a research data specialist,
a research coordinator and a regulatory specialist.
We manage a total of 19 robust treatment trials with
an additional five innovative non-interventional trials
within the Neuro-Oncology Department to ensure the
highest ethical conduct, adherence to patient safety
guidelines and scientific integrity.
Denise Dorman RN., CCRP
Clinical Trials Office Manager
Denise has been in the clinical trials office at
Moffitt since December 2012. As the Clinical
Trials Office Manager, Denise is an operational
leader for several clinical research teams.
She is responsible for ensuring the execution
of clinical trial coordination through the management and
development of CTO staff, developing and executing quality
and training initiatives, and ensuring fiscal viability of the
trials support for the various departments assigned.
Melissa Wicklund
Clinical Research Coordinator
Melissa joined the Neuro clinical trials team
in 2015. She coordinates the daily clinical trial
activities of subjects ensuring that the
principal investigator (PI) and the clinic team
are meeting FDA requirements, international
(ICH-GCP) best practices, and Moffitt policies in their respective
roles for trial management.
Solmaz Sahebjam, MD
My interest is in developing new drugs for
brain tumors originating from brain tissue
or tumors which have spread to brain.
I have trained in Internal Medicine and
Medical Oncology. I also did a fellowship
in Neuro-Oncology and drug development
which is a two-year fellowship about how
to bring the new anti-cancer treatments to
cancer patients and conduct early phase
clinical trials (Phase 1 clinical trials) in a
way that is safe and efficient. In past
decades, most patients with brain tumor
were excluded from studies checking
the promising drugs in cancer patients.
The reason was the wrong perception
that brain tumor patients are weaker
than other cancer patients and including
them in clinical trials is risky.
In collaboration with other neuro-oncologists/
medical oncologists from large NCI designated
cancer centers, we have shown that patients
with brain tumor are fit for clinical trials and
should be given the opportunity of trying new
drugs early on. Fortunately, this has been
changing and more and more clinical trials are
including patients with brain tumors. I want to
make sure that our patients with brain tumor
have the option of trying novel treatments
that are in development and are not available
outside the clinical trials.
On page 14 of this publication is a list of the
clinical trials that are available. These run
a broad spectrum which includes the latest
immunotherapies, viral therapies, biological
therapies, and surgical trials.
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