Clinical Trials Navigator Program
Bringing cancer clinical trials closer to Georgians is a high priority.
But it has its challenges. Though Georgia cancer centers currently offer more clinical trials than ever in our history, participation in these trials – particularly among minorities.
Georgia CORE is partnering with Amgen, the multinational biopharmaceutical company, and the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncologists to discover ways to increase participation of cancer clinical trials for under-resourced, rural, and minority populations in Georgia.
Part of a three–year pilot, the Clinical Trials Navigator Program is intended to:
→ raise awareness and educate providers and the public about cancer clinical trials;
→ navigate patients to trials; and
→ ensure that our statewide trial database is current and inclusive of all cancer clinical trials open at Georgia institutions.
For the program to be successful, Georgia CORE is engaging with and establishing relationships among crucial research personnel at each of the state’s 26 Commission on Cancer sites, following the nonprofit’s mission of encouraging collaboration and increasing cutting-edge cancer research in the state.
The partners’ support of the pilot program allows Georgia CORE to employ its first Clinical Trials Navigator.
Meet Marquita. 
Marquita Iddirisu is one of our cancer clinical trials navigators. She guides oncologists, nurses, patients and patient navigators as they explore Georgia’s cancer clinical trials landscape.
She also manages the Georgia CORE Cancer Clinical Trials database to keep it updated on available clinical trials across the state.
Marquita’s knowledge of cancer care in Georgia is both wide and deep. She’s Georgia CORE’s first Cancer Clinical Trials Navigator and previously served as the comprehensive cancer program director for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Marquita also managed the cancer screening portfolio for the DC Primary Care Association in Washington, providing one-to-one technical assistance to federally qualified health centers.
Contact Marquita at Navigator@GeorgiaCORE.org, and please let us know if you would like some patient brochures about the program.
Last Updated: 4/24/2024 2:04:51 PM