Fiscal and strategic uncertainty abound at our leading academic medical centers. Job cuts to hospital staff (University of Southern California), research nurses (Vanderbilt) and librarians (Duke) are changing the landscape of our leading centers.
A decrease in the payline threatens to stall careers before they even start. In response to cuts and uncertainty, cancer center leaders have acknowledged the difficulties of starting an academic oncology career (The Directors Podcast, Sept. 12, 2025) and urged junior level faculty to hold on (The Directors Podcast, July 18, 2025)
These leaders recognize that these members of the research enterprise represent enormous promise and value. Their desire to retain these future leaders is laudable.
Yet, we in the community need stars too.
Academic help in placing graduates in impactful community programs like NCORP can help grow the careers of new graduates and help sustain the national research that has led to so much success in our fight against cancer.
A career of opportunity, investigation, and impact is widely available at NCORP sites.
The NCORP is a key driver in our national research agenda. The 46 NCORP sites and ~4000 rostered community physicians place about a third of all participants onto NCTN trials. Community sites, where the majority of cancer patients are treated, are ideal for studying cancer care delivery. NCORP sites also promote generalizability and relevance to a wide population by accruing patients with different backgrounds. These community practices are the fuel for accrual and partners for dissemination.
To maintain this level of engagement and accrual, we need physicians who are keen to participate in research. Enrolling patients on trials, attending cooperative group meetings and being a trusted source for scientific merit are needed in our NCORPs.
We also need leaders. Of the 46 NCORP sites, 17 are led by a single Principal Investigator. Adding leaders to these sites will improve resilience of the network and be fruitful for physicians who truly want to make a difference in the fight against cancer. NCORP physicians are sought after for their insights.
We have seats on NCI advisory boards, task forces and steering committees. Community Oncologists are also needed to be co-chairs of large cooperative group studies. If these activities sound academic—they are! The academic life of an NCORP physician is different from the academic life of an academic oncologist. Community oncology careers are marked by full clinics and busy inboxes.
But a career of opportunity, investigation, and impact is widely available at NCORP sites.
Placing research-oriented physicians in the community has additional benefits for the research enterprise—building trust. This trust has a transactional value—more patients whose lives are touched by cancer research are also more inclined to support widespread investment.
Beyond this and more fundamentally important—trust fulfills our collective mission to meet patients where they are and to care for them as unique individuals. It is easy to imagine patients in large cities with abundant academic medical care believing in the benefit of research. They can see it and are more likely to know a researcher or a participant. In other places, the physician may be the only link between scientific research and the care a patient receives.
Chairs, fellowship directors and mentors for junior faculty should discuss NCORP opportunities during career counseling discussions. Contact information for NCORP PIs is easy to find on the NCORP website and you can find us in the NCORP section of cooperative group meetings. We are friendly and eager to collaborate. Together we will continue our successes!
References
- https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/education/our-insights/how-to-transform-higher-education-institutions-for-the-long-term
- https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/vanderbilt-university-medical-center-announces-650-layoffs-300m-budget-cut
- https://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-cuts-librarians-does-not-tell-faculty-voluntary-severance-packages-library-cuts-20250903
- https://we-are.usc.edu/2025/07/14/important-update-on-university-finances/
- https://www.highereddive.com/news/northwestern-university-425-jobs-cut-layoffs-funding-freeze-investigations/756356/
- https://ncorp.cancer.gov/about/
