Announcement: Group Statistician, Therapeutics, Leadership Transition

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to share important news that Robert J. (Bob) Gray, PhD, has retired from his role as Group Statistician, Therapeutics, for the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), as of February 28, 2026.

Bob has been a central figure in ECOG-ACRIN for more than 25 years, in one of the most senior leadership positions for the Group. He became Group Statistician in 2000, succeeding Dr. David Harrington, who in turn took over from Dr. Marvin Zelen, the founding statistician of the Eastern Clinical Oncology Group. This remarkable continuity speaks volumes: only three statistician leaders have held this role in the entire history of the Cooperative Group. Bob’s tenure represents an extraordinary chapter in that legacy.

Dr. Gray’s influence on the culture, rigor, and collaborative spirit cannot be overstated. As a result, excellence within ECOG-ACRIN will endure. ECOG-ACRIN is also fortunate that Bob will continue with the Group in a senior advisory role, where he will continue to collaborate in several key areas, including in precision medicine studies during this next grant period. Under Bob’s leadership, the ECOG-ACRIN Biostatistical Center, located in the Department of Data Science at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, has been foundational to our scientific strength and international reputation. He has guided the statistical strategy and execution of our therapeutic clinical trials portfolio with exceptional rigor, clarity, and integrity. We cannot emphasize enough the degree to which the scientific reputation of the Group rests on the rigor and the authority that Bob and his co-principal statistician, Dr. Constantine Gatsonis, bring to the creation, implementation, and interpretation of trials large and small.

In therapeutic and translational studies, Bob effectively wrote the book—defined roles, activities, interim evaluations, and statistical principles by which study statisticians contribute to successful research. Many see statistical involvement in study design and interpretation of results; those are only a part of the structure set up in ECOG-ACRIN. Statistical review of study data, usually weekly, ensures high data quality, early detection of systemic problems with the trial, and continuous toxicity monitoring. No amendments are issued without sign-off of the study statistician. These principles have guided our research for the duration of Bob’s leadership and continue as his legacy.

In addition to developing these rigorous standards and work practices, Bob is an integral part of ECOG-ACRIN leadership in numerous ways. The arbiter of study conduct and interpretation is ultimately the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC), and Bob has served in the statistical leadership of the DSMC since 1996. All decisions regarding changes in study accrual or design, interpretation of data concerns, and timing of the release of study results are the purview of this highly select and independent committee (a majority of whom are from outside ECOG-ACRIN). This Committee meets twice a year and reviews every randomized study at each meeting.

Dr. Gray is also a key leader in our scientific planning activities, ensuring we embrace change that can accelerate progress but maintain core standards and activities. Examples include his guidance as the Group embraced genomics and mounted translational studies in early trials. When NCI asked us to implement the NCI-MATCH trial in 2014, Bob was the lead statistician and worked closely with CTEP statisticians in crafting a design that could yield meaningful results. Within ECOG-ACRIN, he helped design the structures and processes that would make the trial feasible. He has participated in numerous reports evaluating the trial and was a key driver in the design of the successor trials, ComboMATCH and MyeloMATCH, both in progress. Most recently, he oversaw the statistical interpretation of the genomic, pathomic, and clinical interpretation of samples from patients treated in the TAILORx trial, as presented by Dr. Sparano at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December.

As the statistician for the Breast Committee for many years, he was the chief statistician for TAILORx, one of the most impactful trials undertaken by ECOG-ACRIN, and several other large adjuvant studies. Among other new projects, he was instrumental (along with Dr. Victoria Wang) in developing our research portfolio in real-world data, an epidemiology-driven research effort requiring a somewhat different approach to data analysis. Bob’s contributions to statistical design and analysis are numerous including fundamental work on competing risks analysis and methods for monitoring ongoing trials. His papers are widely cited throughout the statistical and clinical research communities. In addition, Dr. Gray has taught and mentored scores of students and junior statisticians, many of whom have gone on to prestigious careers of their own in academics and industry.

The continuity of statistical leadership and support for our cancer therapy clinical trials portfolio will be assured by the appointment of Dr. Paul Catalano, who assumed the role of Group Statistician, Therapeutics, on March 1, 2026. He will join Dr. Constantine Gatsonis, who continues as Group Statistician, Imaging.

We are deeply grateful for Bob’s service to ECOG-ACRIN and are awestruck at the impact he has made across the Group and nationally in the broader oncology research community. We look forward to continued collaboration and perspectives derived from deep knowledge of our field.

Sincerely,

Peter J. O'Dwyer, MD
Group Co-Chair

Mitchell D. Schnall, MD, PhD
Group Co-Chair