What We Offer
Working with the Kidney Cancer Research Consortium enables you to:
- Collaborate with leading researchers across the country — big names with big ideas and a track record of research success.
- Conduct cost-effective, multicenter trials at a fraction of the cost you would pay using a traditional CRO.
- Access high volumes of RCC patients for trial enrollment, as well as serve underrepresented populations.
- Propel innovative research, including biomarker development.
Trial Execution & Design
We have a dedicated team focused on facilitating trial design and accelerating execution.
A major barrier to multicenter clinical trial execution has been the harmonization of regulatory processes required to open studies rapidly across participating centers. Academic centers are now realizing that their continued relevance in the clinical trials world is dependent on being able to overcome these inefficiencies.
– efficient concept approval process
– accelerate clinical trial document generation
– streamline Consortium IRB review
– harmonize contracting across institutions
– risk based monitoring across institutions
– utilize performance metrics for clinical trial sites
Biomarker Discovery
A key goal of the Consortium is to enable the development of biomarkers that can predict response and anticipate resistance to novel therapies. The Consortium will facilitate this by drawing on the expertise of the respective institutions in Pathology, Genomics, Imaging and Bioinformatics.
The Consortium emphasizes performing biopsies; collecting plasma, serum and urine; and proposing companion correlative studies in conjunction with the clinical trial itself.
Data Sets
Clinical trials and correlative studies generate huge amounts of data. All aspects of clinical trial initiation, execution, and analysis are dependent on having a transparent, robust data-management system.
Consortium information technology personnel at MD Anderson have developed and delivered systems to support the capture of quality, structured research data. The Prometheus platform addresses gaps in institutional systems that support clinical and translational research.
Immunotherapy holds curative potential. It’s a real game changer in oncology, and we are helping to lead the way in the development of new treatments for kidney cancer patients.
– Dr. Hans Hammers
Information for Patients
Patients with kidney cancer may benefit from participation in clinical trials at any point in their treatment. Read on for more information and to locate enrolling trials.
Research News
Kidney cancer research is a rapidly-advancing area of oncology. Read about the latest research coming from Consortium sites and others researching treatment for RCC.
The Kidney Cancer Research Consortium Members
The Consortium members have over 100 years of combined experience in kidney cancer clinical research. KCRC brings an unmatched commitment to and expertise to RCC trials.
Eric Jonasch, M.D.
Dr. Jonasch leads the Consortium. He is a professor in the Department of GU Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Jonasch's research focuses on clear-cell RCC and VHL with an interest in replication stress and microenvironmental determinants of resistance to therapy.
Hans Hammers, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Hammers is a nationally and internationally recognized medical oncologist focusing primarily on kidney cancer. Dr. Hammers is an international thought leader in immunotherapy, a form of treatment that boosts the body’s own immune defenses to help fight cancer – and one that is changing the kidney cancer landscape.
Brian Rini, M.D.
Dr. Rini is an internationally recognized leader in genitourinary oncology, kidney cancer, and clinical drug development. He is an Ingram Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University in the deperatments of hematology and oncology, where he leads kidney cancer clinical research efforts, and also serves as the Chief of Clinical Trials.
Naomi Haas, M.D.
Dr. Haas is an international expert in the conduct and design of adjuvant clinical trials for kidney cancer, as well as a national expert in prostate and kidney cancer therapeutics. She is the director of the Prostate and Kidney Cancer Program at UPenn, as well as co-leader of the Cancer Therapeutics Program at Abramson Cancer Center.
Daniel George, M.D.
Dr. George oversees a large clinical research team at Duke focused on developing therapy and improving care and outcomes for patients with urologic cancers. His work involves both interventional trials with new and emerging therapies, as well as diagnostic tests and markers of cancer biology, response, and outcome.
David McDermott, M.D.
Dr. McDermott is a professor of medicine at Harvard, as well as the co-leader of the Kidney Cancer program at Dana-Farber/HCC. He focuses on identifying meaningful biomarkers for early detection and prognosis, underlying mechanisms of disease biology, and novel therapeutic targets for various kidney cancer populations.
Ulka Vaishampayan, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Vaishampayan is the Director of the Phase I program at the Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI. Dr. Vaishampayan is a Professor of Internal Medicine and her research is primarily in translational drug development and early phase clinical trials in cancer with a focus on genitourinary malignancies.