Fox Chase Deputy Director: ‘Let every opportunity for change be one for progress’

Elizabeth R. Plimack, MD, MS, was recently named deputy director of Fox Chase Cancer Center and will oversee clinical and translational research plans as part of her goal to support new cancer care initiatives at the center.

Healio spoke with Plimack, who also serves as chief of the division of genitourinary medical oncology and professor in the department of hematology/oncology at Fox Chase, about the highlights and challenges she’s faced along the way to her new position and what she looks forward to accomplishing the most.

Healio: What made you choose oncology and how did you come to focus on genitourinary cancer?

Plimack: Oncology to me was the greatest unmet need in medicine at the time I was training and choosing a specialty back in the early 2000s. We were generally using chemotherapy, and two of the biggest developments in the industry were PET scanning and antiemetics. These did help, but in terms of treatment, we still only had a couple of options for the cancers I treat. Also, my fascination and interest in clinical trials, in how they work and run, and having had experience working as a data manager for the clinical trials group at New York University, fueled my interest in pursuing oncology.

Initially, I did like other specialties, and I had my doubts about oncology. My fellow residents said, “But it’s such a hard disease to treat and a lot of patients die.” Then a mentor reminded me that, in medicine, we’re treating people with illness most of the time. There’s preventive care, of course, but once we start to specialize, we’re generally treating illnesses. That ended up flipping the concept for me and becoming one of the most valuable reasons why I love oncology — that we’re caring for patients who are trusting us at a vulnerable point in lives. I feel like I can help them both with the new therapies that have come around, with clinical trials and by trying to be a better, more empathetic and supportive physician throughout my career.

Healio: What have been some highlights of your work at Fox Chase Cancer Center up to this point?

Plimack: I have been very fortunate to have been here for the last 13 years. There have been a lot of changes in oncology and in health care in Philadelphia over that time, so there have been a lot of ups and downs. I feel like I gained experience learning how to never let a crisis go to waste and to let every opportunity for change be one for progress. I value those lessons that working during this era has brought all of us.

One highlight is that our genitourinary (GU) research group has really grown. We have worked well together across surgery, radiation oncology and medical oncology, among other groups. We have a dedicated group of faculties, of advanced practice clinicians, nurses and research staff, and that energy is something I value so much coming to work every day. That energy has propelled our success in terms of research and in the clinic. We’re proud of the clinical care we deliver, the research initiatives that we’ve spearheaded here and the system that we’ve set up to integrate multidisciplinary care and research.

Healio: What excites you about the new position? Any specific projects in mind?

Plimack: There are a couple things, including our new leadership. I've worked with Robert G. Uzzo, MD, MBA, FACS, closely for many years, I have confidence in his leadership abilities, I've shared his vision over time and I'm grateful that he's leading Fox Chase as the CEO.

My position reports to Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, the director of Fox Chase. He and I have not had the opportunity to work closely until now, but I’m excited for his vision, for our joint-translational efforts and for using all the gifts Fox Chase has to advance and grow science and cancer care.

As for initiatives, our GU group works really well together because of the culture we created, but also because we have certain key roles and positions filled that help facilitate our ability to write grants, write trials and move concepts forward into actual initiatives. We are hoping to take that model and roll it out so that we can develop integrated disease site-focused teams across the other disease sites here at Fox Chase. We’ve been very good at having programmatic initiatives that are scientifically based — epigenetics, molecular therapeutics, areas that span all diseases — but it is my vision as I enter this role to integrate disease-focused teams and really build collaboration.

Healio: What are some challenges you’ve faced in your career, and how did you overcome them?

Plimack: Change is hard to think about. Being able to articulate something that is difficult or a different way of doing things and then garnering support for that has been challenging and I’ve developed different sets of skills when thinking about how to do that. I’ve learned a lot of those skills by being involved with effective organizations nationally. Leading in those organizations and seeing how each different one functions has provided me a lot of tools in terms of addressing issues head on and developing new initiatives.

One of the hardest challenges I have overcome was that, when I arrived at Fox Chase as a junior faculty, my mentor developed an illness and had to step down. Growing into the role I have now held for a number of years — the chair for the division of GU oncology — was something I had not planned to do so early in my career, and initially the absence of direct mentorship was daunting. Ultimately, I ended up sourcing indirect mentorship from a variety of other people both at Fox Chase and beyond. That was a helpful model that I’ve encouraged other folks who I’ve mentored to use. Developing a mentorship web or network, rather than relying on just one person to advise you is actually a great way to grow your science and your clinical practice.

Healio: What’s next for you?

Plimack: I want to begin expanding my focus beyond GU cancers. I’m excited to understand other disease sites, how they work here at Fox Chase, how the national scene exists for gastrointestinal cancers or thoracic cancers and what the key questions are in those fields. I look forward to raising up all the different groups doing good work here at Fox Chase and to support those with new initiatives.

For more information:

Elizabeth R. Plimack, MD, MS, can be reached at elizabeth.plimack@fccc.edu.