Baptist Cancer Center’s Osarogiagbon named Hope Foundation board chair

Memphis, Tenn. –Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon, chief scientist at Baptist Memorial Health Care/director of the Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program and the Thoracic Oncology Research Group at Baptist Cancer Center, has been named board chair of the Hope Foundation for Cancer Research, a public charity for the SWOG Cancer Research Network.

“We are so proud of Dr. Osarogiagbon, and we know he will be an asset to the Hope Foundation as he is to Baptist,” said Ann Bishop, system oncology administrator for Baptist Memorial Health Care. “His experience in the field and passion for curing cancer will help expand the quality of Hope Foundation’s research and potentially save thousands of lives.”

The Hope Foundation administers more peer-reviewed, competitive grant programs than other National Cancer Institute National Clinical Trials Network group foundations.

At Baptist, Dr. Osarogiagbon also spearheads the Mid-South Miracle initiative, a multifaceted initiative comprising seven components for significantly reducing lung cancer deaths in the Mid-South. A community oncologist, Osarogiagbon serves as primary investigator for the Baptist Memorial Health Care/Mid-South Minority Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), and he has led the NCORP site principal investigator sessions at SWOG’s recent group meetings.

SWOG Cancer Research Network is a global cancer research community that designs and conducts publicly funded clinical trials. Founded in 1956, SWOG trials have saved more than 3 million years of life by testing new treatments, new prevention strategies and new ways to care for those who survive cancer. SWOG has members in 47 states and six other countries as part of the NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network.

Baptist Cancer Center provides world-class cancer care close to home throughout Baptist Memorial Health Care’s tristate service area of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The center takes an interdisciplinary approach to patient care and offers treatment, research, support services, community education and the area's first genetic counseling and testing program for cancer. In addition, BCC has the Mid-South's first adult myelosuppression unit, which provides specialized care for patients who have received chemotherapy that interferes with blood cell production or stops bone marrow activity. In 2019, BCC was awarded a second $9 million research grant from the National Cancer Institute to continue building out clinical research infrastructure to expand lifesaving, leading-edge treatment across the Mid-South, including overcoming disparities in cancer care under the Minority-Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program, known as NCORP. BCC recently announced a multifaceted initiative called the Mid-South Miracle aimed at reducing lung cancer deaths in the Mid-South 25% by 2030. For more information, please visit baptistcancercenter.com or follow us on Facebook.