Patient Insights Board Member
Anne Marie Mercurio was treated for invasive breast cancer in 2006. Anne Marie was appointed to serve as co-chair of the Patient Advocate Committee at SWOG Cancer Research Network (NCI NCTN) and is an inaugural member of its Digital Engagement Committee. She serves on several advisory boards and executive committees at a various NCI designated cancer centers and a number of non-profit organizations across the country.
She reviewers grants for NCI cancer centers and has done reviews for research proposals using other funding Mechanisms. She also reviews manuscripts submitted to the BMJ. In addition to be a patient, Anne Marie was the primary caregiver to her mom who was a metastatic breast cancer patient. That experience has helped her identify areas that require attention to address communication gaps that exist for both patients and caregivers to facilitate shared-decision making that focuses on the needs of the patient with the help of their caregiver(s).
Anne Marie’s focus in the advocacy realm is on clinical trials across the entire spectrum. She works with PI’s in labs across the country to help frame research questions, define realistic and inclusive eligibility criteria, and facilitate accrual across diverse patient populations. She is invested in finding ways to incorporate digital tools and wearables into trial protocols to best capture real world evidence. Anne Marie has been working with the Patient Cloud Design Team at Medidata to bring the voice of the patient to the design team. She believes engaging patients early and often will lead to better trial design and quicker accrual.