The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group offers the Special Participant Member category to accommodate the participation of institutions on a trial-by-trial basis. For example, many imaging screening and surveillance trials need to have widespread involvement from a large number of radiology groups to meet patient enrollment goals.
Special Participant Members are stand-alone institutions that are interested in ECOG-ACRIN participation primarily in the area of patient enrollment. They may have affiliate sites of their own. This classification also accommodates engagement with institutions for the provision of highly-specialized trial-specific resources or expertise.
Requirements and Benefits:
Credit ECOG-ACRIN with at least six patient enrollments into clinical trials per year
Although there is no requirement for scientific or administrative leadership, ECOG-ACRIN encourages personnel from Special Participant Member institutions to serve in these roles
Special Participant membership allows the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group to involve institutions in the Group in a limited fashion. For example, it allows institutions with imaging capabilities to enroll patients in imaging, screening, and surveillance studies on a trial-by-trial basis, depending on imaging qualifications, research capabilities, and scientific interests. Furthermore, this type of membership accommodates the engagement of an institution for the provision of a highly specialized trial-specific research capability.
The Special Participants membership classification enables widespread involvement of institutions from the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) that would otherwise not be ECOG-ACRIN members.
Requirements and Benefits: Special Participants are required to register six patients annually into clinical trials. Special Participants do not have voting privileges and are not required to contribute to the governance scientific leadership of the Group.
