New ASCO president aims to improve access, return ‘humanity’ to cancer care
As Robin T. Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, prepares to begin her term as ASCO president, she hopes to leverage one of the profession’s greatest resources — people.
“We want to work with everybody, because together we are stronger than cancer,” Zon told Healio. “I stand ready to help you — our members, our patients and our field — in conquering cancer by improving access to quality care, advancing our profession and returning humanity to clinical care.”
Zon — who will begin her term as ASCO president in June — is physician emeritus at Michiana Hematology Oncology in Indiana and consultant with Cincinnati Cancer Advisors. She previously served as medical director of oncology research at Memorial Hospital, as well as NCI community clinical oncology program associate and principal investigator for Northern Indiana Cancer Research Consortium.
Zon has been a society member and volunteer since 1997. She served on several committees and the board of directors, chaired the ASCO Pathways Task Force, co-chaired the ASCO Telemedicine Standards expert committee and was named ASCO’s Advocate of the Year in 2017.
Healio spoke with Zon about her presidential theme — Driving Knowledge to Action — her commitment to ensuring equitable care for patients around the world, and what she described as the increasingly attainable dream of “ending cancer as we know it.”
Healio: How do you feel about assuming the ASCO presidency?
Zon: I am eager to take on this role to lead the membership in its mission, to improve patient-centered cancer care while addressing equity and diversity, and to support clinical practice. I want to advocate for policies that make sense, and to support high-quality care both domestically and globally. It’s a very complex time in oncology and the pace of scientific progress is accelerating. When I came out of my fellowship, we only used a few drugs. Now, the treatment landscape is so immense, it’s hard to keep track of all the indications. These paradigm-shifting advances are now available to more patients than ever, but not all patients are benefiting equally, so there is so much opportunity — especially through the National Cancer Plan and the Cancer Moonshot — for really ending cancer as we know it. We all need to contribute to get there.
Healio: How has your career prepared you for this role?
Zon: I’ve been very fortunate in my professional career because it has truly intersected with all aspects of the field. My career has included research experience, policy and advocacy, business leadership and patient care.
Prior to medical school, I worked in basic and translational research, and then worked in business leadership developing diagnostic products. That experience helped me develop a strong business acumen.
As a community practice leader, I’ve served in many executive roles. This gave me experience managing the delivery of care against the tensions of health care reform. Many of the reimbursement changes, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), and other economic, regulatory and political challenges happened during my time at Michiana Hematology Oncology.
From a research standpoint, we were leaders in the NCI Community Clinical Oncology Program. We were a top 10 performer, and I was in leadership for 14 years — 10 of those as a principal investigator and 4 as an assistant investigator, which is where I helped develop the Cancer Prevention and Control Program.
Healio: Can you outline your goals for your presidency?
Zon: Some initiatives ASCO participates in to advance the Cancer Moonshot and the National Cancer Plan are especially near and dear to my heart. One of them is ASCO Certified, a program that helps recognize oncology practices that meet evidence-based quality standards to deliver patient-centered care. CMS’ MACRA statute recommends that over time, we all transform into a value-based model or alternative payment model. ASCO began developing a health care delivery model that would promote value. ASCO Certified has been evaluated and piloted, and we now have certified practices. We’re very excited about that.
Rural access also is very important to me. Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, our past president and now NIH director, was instrumental in promoting this. There was a call from our members about the difficulties they were experiencing in delivering care to rural communities, so ASCO developed a multiyear pilot program that aims to increase high-quality care in rural Montana. It enables patients to get care in their own communities using a hub-and-spoke model of care delivery. We hope to learn lessons from this effort and apply those principles globally. The reality is, no matter what country you are in, there are going to be pockets of underserved areas. We clearly need to do better.
I also want to focus on data standards — specifically ASCO’s mCODE initiative, which is intended to assemble a core set of structured data elements for oncology electronic health records. Our EHRs don’t talk to each other, so both patients and providers are frustrated. This system is meant to better define the standards for communication. It’s a collaboration between ASCO, the MITRE Corporation, the Alliance for Clinical Trials, and the Oncology Foundation, and there are 60 health care organizations involved in testing.
Another major priority is diversity and equity. ASCO has always been engaged in diversifying clinical trial participation, as well as diversifying the oncology workforce.
ASCO and Association of Cancer Care Centers released the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) research site self-assessment. This helps research teams look internally to identify potential opportunities and specific strategies to improve EDI in their own clinical trials. We have found that 80% of participants in this self-assessment say the tool has helped them identify opportunities to diversify their enrollment.
Healio: Are you prioritizing anything related to the oncology workforce?
Zon: We have several projects underway. ASCO’s Oncology Summer Internship Program is a paid internship designed to introduce second-year medical students from underrepresented populations to the field of oncology. We also have a rotation we offer to medical students from underrepresented populations in the U.S. We’re trying to get the medical students early on, while they are making their decisions about residencies and fellowship.
Healio: How will you implement your presidential theme, Driving Practice to Action?
Zon: Pillars I’ve identified to support my theme include emerging technologies, empowering advocacy and embracing community. Ultimately, though, my goals will be aligned with ASCO’s mission of conquering cancer through research, education and the promotion of high-quality, equitable care.
Healio: How can oncologists help advance ASCO’s goals make your term a success?
Zon: I recognize the opportunities, but also the distractions we all face in clinical practice and research. For now, I’m encouraging practicing oncologists to get involved in some capacity, and there are many ways to do so. Taking a survey is meaningful because it gives us an opportunity to hear concerns and enables us to advocate for them in the best way possible. I would encourage providers to sign up for alerts on ASCO’s ACT Network, which informs members of ASCO priority issues and assists members in writing to their lawmakers. Providing feedback on guidelines when it’s requested is extremely valuable. I also encourage providers to become participants in ASCO Certified.
From a global perspective, the ASCO Breakthrough meetings in Japan — which had been stalled by the pandemic — resumed in 2023. I would encourage international members to attend those meetings, as well as comment on resource-stratified guidelines. We also are developing regional councils worldwide. ASCO recognizes that the needs of our members are quite diverse. We want to listen to what these councils tell us and, in turn, provide them with tools and resources to develop programs customized to their needs.
Healio: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Zon: I’m honored to have the opportunity to lead this incredible organization. Between myself and ASCO leadership, we will work to drive knowledge to action for everyone in the global community. We want to elevate not only our members but, ultimately, their benefactors — the patients — to provide them with the best care possible.
For more information:
Robin T. Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, can be reached at ASCO, 2318 Mill Road, Suite 800, Alexandria, VA 22314; email: docrzon@aol.com.
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