About the Speaker

Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP is an associate professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine and medical director of the Data and Technology Applications Shared Resource at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. In this role, he is responsible for its overall strategic scientific management and operational oversight. Dr. Parikh directs the Human-Algorithm Collaboration Lab, an NIH-funded multidisciplinary laboratory focusing on developing and testing algorithm-driven interventions in cancer care and serious illness, and serves on the Board of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC).

Seminar Abstract: Real-World Emulation of Clinical Trials

In this seminar, Dr. Parikh will present research on why randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for cancer treatments often fail to generalize to real-world patients. While restrictive eligibility criteria contribute to this issue, his talk will focus on framework, the TrialTranslator, which evaluates RCT generalizability using Flatiron Health's electronic health records database.

His approach emulates 11 landmark RCTs across three machine learning-identified prognostic phenotypes. Results show low-risk and medium-risk patients have survival outcomes similar to RCT participants, while high-risk patients experience significantly worse survival and treatment benefits.

These findings, validated through robustness assessments across patient subgroups, holdout validation, and semi-synthetic data simulation, suggest prognostic heterogeneity significantly impacts RCT generalizability. Machine learning frameworks may improve patient-level decision support and real-world treatment benefit estimation for future trial design.

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/digicores-seminar-series-real-world-emulation-of-clinical-trials-tickets-1287372308229?aff=oddtdtcreator

About the Speaker

Dr. Anna Dorothea Wagner is a consultant, senior lecturer and head of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Clinic at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV). She's board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology, and currently chairs the ESMO Gender Medicine Task Force.

Her research focuses on gastrointestinal cancers, meta-analyses, and gender medicine. She co-chaired the EORTC GI Group Gastric Cancer Task Force (2014-2024) and leads the EORTC-1203 "INNOVATION-trial" on HER-2 positive gastric cancer treatment.

Dr. Wagner has published extensively in prestigious journals including JCO and Annals of Oncology. She's a member of ASCO, ESMO, EORTC, and SAKK GI-group, and served on ASCO's scientific committee (2022-2023).

ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4728-7013

Seminar Summary: Gender Medicine in Oncology

Dr. Wagner's talk began with a brief introduction to the general concept of Gender Medicine, which was developed around 20 years ago in cardiology. She explained how the importance of sex and gender as modifiers of health, disease, and medicine have gained increased recognition over time.

The presentation then focused on how the relevance of sex and gender in oncology has only been understood recently, despite the longer history of gender medicine in other fields. Dr. Wagner discussed key findings and developments that have enhanced our understanding of how gender and sex influence cancer development, progression, treatment response, and patient outcomes.

Throughout her talk, she highlighted practical implications for clinical practice and research in oncology, providing attendees with valuable insights into this emerging and important area of medical science.