Saint Mary’s Radiation Oncologist Selected as API for GRCOP

Gilbert Padula, MD, Becomes Associate Principal Investigator

February 10, 2010, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. - Gilbert Padula, MD, was named as Associate Principal Investigator for the Grand Rapids Clinical Oncology Program (GRCOP) by members of the organization on January 1, 2010. The associate physician investigator will be trained and mentored to become the principal investigator, a position that is currently held by Martin Bury, MD, of Cancer & Hematology Center of Western Michigan.

Nationally recognized as one of the best consortia of hospitals in the nation for its outstanding patient participation rates, GRCOP is composed of seven area hospitals, including Saint Mary's Health Care, and also the Van Andel Research Institute. As a radiation oncologist at The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary's and associate professor at Michigan State University, Padula's new appointment is evidence of his dedication to improving the lives of cancer patients within our community.

GRCOP grants West Michigan patients access to the same clinical trials as patients of MD Anderson and Sloan Kettering, placing them in the same research pools with patients on a national and even international scale.

"About 150 patients from Saint Mary's currently participate in clinical trials through GRCOP," says Padula. He hopes to see that number increase while he serves as associate principal investigator.

"GRCOP is a great way for the community physicians to collaborate, and work together by jointly enrolling their patients," said Padula. "This serves in our patients' best interest when doctors work together. Locally, they have all the advantages with great clinical research and personalized care."

The Grand Rapids Clinical Oncology Program (GRCOP) is a community cancer research and education program offering national cancer prevention and treatment clinical trials for people who are at risk for developing cancer or who have been diagnosed with cancer. GRCOP is made possible through funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI).