St. Jude On Clinical Trials: 5 Discoveries to Explore

Hi, I’m Dr. Beth Fox, Senior Vice President of Clinical Research Administration at St. Jude, and here are five discoveries to explore about clinical trials.

Discovery 1

Dr. Jun Yang and Dr. Seth Karol are translating pharmacogenomics research into clinical impact by testing the drug dasatinib in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Their work is advancing personalized medicine, demonstrating the importance of understanding how genomics influences treatment response.

Find out more: Translating lab discoveries to clinical trials in the age of personalized medicine

Discovery 2 

Biostatistics plays an important role in how clinical trials are designed. Dr. Arzu Onar-Thomas and her colleagues are using advanced computational tools to design increasingly complex clinical trials that feature adaptations that ensure robust data collection while also maximizing patient benefit. 

Find out more: Behind the curtain: the key role of biostatistics in advancing clinical trials

Discovery 3 

St. Jude has a long history of leading clinical trials for rare diseases — from childhood cancer to a new program on pediatric neurologic diseases. Through that program, Dr. Richard Finkel is leading research on Friedreich’s Ataxia, recruiting patients to participate in research to learn more about the disease and how to treat the patients.

Find out more: The collaborative journey of rare disease clinical research

Discovery 4 

Through national cooperative groups, multiple institutions conduct the same clinical trial, which gives patients in different locations an opportunity to participate in research and helps accelerate discovery. At St. Jude, Dr. Sara Federico is leading a national study through the Children’s Oncology Group testing a chemoimmunotherapy approach in children with neuroblastoma.

Find out more: Strength in numbers: Cooperative group clinical trials move the needle against pediatric cancer

Discovery 5

Dr. Victor Santana has spent 40 years at St. Jude focused on clinical trials, testing treatments for childhood solid tumors and now, in collaboration with Dr. Dylan Graetz, leading research to identify barriers to participating in clinical research globally, with the goal of making studies more accessible. 

Find out more: Looking back on four decades of pediatric clinical research with Victor Santana, MD