NEWS
Robert Mannel, M.D., director of OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, has been re-elected as one of three group chairs of NRG Oncology.
NRG Oncology is the largest of four cooperative groups that form the foundation of the National Clinical Trials Network, a program of the National Cancer Institute that represents hundreds of clinical research sites in the United States and globally.
NRG Oncology represents the combined expertise of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, and the Gynecologic Oncology Group. The clinical cooperative has more than 150 years of cumulative experience in conducting multi-institutional Phase II and II trials sponsored primarily by the National Cancer Institute, as well as a history of undertaking the type of Phase 1 trials and translational biological studies that will be imperative for future clinical cancer research.
As a group chair, Mannel helps to oversee NRG Oncology’s research into seven disease sites: adult brain tumors, head and neck cancer, localized and locally advanced lung cancer, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, genitourinary cancer, and gynecologic cancer.
Mannel has been an active member of the National Cancer Institute cooperative group system since 1989 and has been an author of more than 100 research publications stemming from this work. He served as an inaugural deputy group chair for NRG Oncology, and in 2017, he was appointed as a group chair. In 2022, he was named presiding group chair. His fellow chairs are Quynh-Thu Le, M.D., of Stanford University and Norman Wolmark, M.D., of Drexel University School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
In the Mobility Intelligence Lab at OU, Bin Xu and other researchers are developing a prototype autonomous driving system that can retrofit any consumer vehicle with about $1,000 worth of hardware.
A newly funded study at the University of Oklahoma aims to increase prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening among Black men in Oklahoma, who die from prostate cancer at rates two to four times higher than other racial groups. An interactive app called Connect2Care may hold the key to early detection, which is crucial for improving survival.
The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded OU with a roughly $2 million grant to provide scholarships for undergraduate students pursuing engineering degrees. The program is expected to support cohorts of students beginning in fall 2027.
