Joshi appointed chief scientific officer of Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium
Dr. Monika Joshi, associate professor of medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and medical oncologist at Penn State Cancer Institute, has been named chief scientific officer of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium. She will serve a three-year, renewable term.
Big Ten Cancer Center directors selected her based on her scientific and leadership skills and her ability to lead the scientific efforts of the consortium.
Joshi hopes to serve as a guiding resource for the consortium’s disease-specific Clinical Trial Working Groups. She will provide support to Big Ten cancer center directors in the next few years as they continue to explore philanthropic support, provide opportunities for young investigator development, increase participation from cancer experts from all institutions and enhance study development and activation through streamlining processes.
Joshi credits her predecessor Dr. Ruth O’Regan for her work to position the consortium as a leader in its field. “Our hope is that we will continue to build upon its growth,” she said. “I want to thank the consortium’s administrative team and the cancer center directors for placing their trust in me. Additionally, I am grateful to my mentors and my family, who continue to support my career growth.”
Joshi is an associate professor in the Division of Hematology-Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine. She serves as disease team co-leader for the genitourinary diseases group and as medical director of the Clinical Trials Office at Penn State Cancer Institute. Her clinical and research interests lie primarily in the field of genitourinary tumors, particularly in the field of immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Her work focuses on developing clinical trials with novel immunotherapeutic combinations and identifying predictive and prognostic biomarkers. Joshi is the lead principal investigator for multiple investigator-initiated trials.
Dr. Mitchell Machtay, associate director of clinical research at Penn State Cancer Institute and associate dean for clinical cancer research at the College of Medicine, said he is thrilled for both Joshi and for the consortium.
“She is an exceptionally skilled clinical investigator, a thought leader in the treatment of genitourinary cancers and she is also someone with broad expertise and passion for caring about people with all types of cancer,” Machtay said. “In addition to her independent research accomplishments, she has been an exceptional medical director for our Clinical Trials Office at Penn State Cancer Institute. I know she brings the same level of excellence, creativity and integrity to the consortium. Not all Big Ten heroes wear a football jersey – Dr. Joshi is a rising star!”
Read the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s full announcement
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