Beyond Cancer Spotlight: Jordan Nare

Jordan Nare, RN-BSN (She/Her) is an Oncology Nurse Navigator for Dr. Misako Nagasaka and has been at the CFCCC now for almost 2 years. Learn more about how her positive experience as a patient has inspired her passion for growing in the field of nursing and working together with her team to make UCI the place to go for patient care.

BEE Scene: Speaker Series

Dr. John Carpten, 24th Annual Allen and Lee-Hwa Chao Lectureship Honoree and director of City of Hope’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, met with medical students and T32 trainees to share more about his lived experience during his visit on Feb. 22 to kick off the BEE Scene: Speaker Series.

Nora Alvarez

Assistant Research Data Coordinator

nealvare@hs.uci.edu | (714) 456-3484

Nora has been a valuable co-worker of the CFCCC since 2011 as a Principal Admitting Worker, diligently working to ensure the maintenance of proper billing procedures and obtaining authorization for the critical care our patients require. Nora has transitioned to a role with the Clinical Trials Unit and we look forward to her contribution in furthering the goals of oncology research. Welcome, Nora!

Dorothy Huttar Chang

Assistant Director, Clinical Trials Unit

dorothc@hs.uci.edu | (714) 509-2199

Dorothy has 8 years of experience in clinical research, also serving in various roles in the UCI CFCCC Stern Center. She is a self-motivated and enthusiastic individual and also a strong leader. She will oversee Teams A (Neuro Oncology), C (Thoracic), F (Genitourinary), H (Head & Neck, Melanoma, Sarcoma, and Follow-Up), and I (Breast). She will serve as Interim Clinical Research Manager for both Genitourinary and Breast until Managers can be identified. Please join us in congratulating Dorothy in this new role!

Blake Johnson

Assistant Director, Clinical Trials Unit

blakej@hs.uci.edu | (714) 456-3476

Blake brings 13 years of experience in clinical research, serving the last ten years in various roles at the UCI CFCCC Stern Center Clinical Trials Unit. He is well respected by our investigators, clinicians, and colleagues for his commitment to patient care and research.  He will oversee Teams B (Malignant Heme), D (Gastrointestinal), E (Gynecology Oncology), G (Hepatobiliary Pancreas), and the Biospecimen Lab. He will serve as Interim Clinical Research Manager for both Malignant Heme and Gyn Onc until Managers can be identified. Please join us in congratulating Blake in this new role!

Luisa Mejia Aguilar

Sr. Clinical Research Coordinator

lmejiaag@hs.uci.edu | (714) 509-2739

Luisa has an impressive educational background with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Science from UC Irvine, coupled with over five years of experience in research. Before her tenure with the CTU, she was a Research Coordinator in the Pediatrics department at UC Irvine. During her last two years at the CTU, Luisa has demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills and managed a broad range of responsibilities, all while ensuring meticulous attention to detail. Luisa serves on Team D, with a focus on GI disease sites. We are confident that Luisa will continue to bring her dedication and excellence to her new role as a Senior CRC!

Daniel Rivas, MA

Director of the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE)

ivasd5@hs.uci.edu | (714) 456-5408

Daniel has an impressive background in project and operations leadership with over 20 years of experience helping non-profits, health care, and government groups crafting effective strategies to engage communities and fostering lasting relationships with community partners, including in his most recent role at Blue Shield of California. We look forward to his leadership in advancing our community outreach efforts.

Claudine Soriano, MBA

Assistant Director, Clinical Research Business Operations

cpsorian@hs.uci.edu | (714) 456-6056

Claudine brings 17 years of experience in clinical research finance and business operations. In the four years she has been at the CFCCC the clinical research portfolio has seen exponential growth with close to a 60% increase in the number of active trials since 2020. She has led instrumental and innovative changes ensuring that all work is appropriately compensated for by our industry partners. Claudine brings a natural entrepreneurial spirit - understanding the requirements of innovation, collaboration, and inclusivity in order to solve problems and move business forward. As we move forward, her main goals will be to do more strategic visioning for reducing the activation timeline to our institutional goal. Please join us in congratulating Claudine in this promotion!

Cassandra Smith

Clinical Research Coordinator

cassanjs@hs.uci.edu | (714) 509-2496

We are delighted to welcome Cassandra, a seasoned Clinical Research Coordinator who has 3 years of invaluable experience to our team. With her adeptness in supporting trial investigators in screening, evaluating potential study participants eligibility, maintaining meticulous documentation including case report forms and ensuring compliance with research protocols and regulatory standards will continue to enhance our team’s growth. We look forward to achieving continued milestones together with the addition of Cassandra on board in our Clinical Trials Unit where she will be managing our Lung/Thoracic Trials.

Erica Stanley

Senior Finance Analyst

eastanle@hs.uci.edu | (714) 456-8238

Erica joined the CFCCC as a temporary employee last spring and has since shown a great passion for finance in the CFCCC and has contributed to innovation in reporting and budget management. Erica will be focusing on non-restricted fund management and budget management. Erica has worked within the healthcare industry for over 18 years and before joining UCI she was a supervisor of the Cash Management team at Kaiser in the NW region and a business consultant with their Employer and Broker services department within the CA region. We are very excited to have Erica permanently on board!

UCI Health named a top hospital by Newsweek

UCI Health has been recognized by Newsweek as one of the World’s Best Hospitals 2024. The health system is also being recognized as a global leader for infection prevention.



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National Cancer Prevention Month with Dr. Alexandre Chan, Dr. Shawn Griffin, and Dr. Mahtab Jafari

February is National Cancer Prevention Month. This annual observance serves as a reminder to live a healthy lifestyle and make choices that can help to minimize your risk of cancer and highlights the contributions of healthcare professionals and researchers who are making important strides in cancer prevention studies and practices.



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UC Irvine co-led study that uses artificial intelligence to identify unwanted variations in blood samples by 95%

A new study led by co-corresponding authors, Min Zhang, MD, PhD, and Dabao Zhang, PhD, professors of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, Irvine’s Program in Public Health, used artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze ‘big data’ sets of biological samples to reduce unwanted variations by more than 95%.  



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