Studies Show Benefits of Patient

Transformational life sciences executive Stacy Chick works with both public and private companies to optimize their pharmaceutical, technological, and diagnostic capabilities. Previously the chief commercial officer of Inivata Inc., Stacy Chick is a board member of OurBrainBank, a company leveraging the power of mobile technology to find effective treatments for glioblastoma.

OurBrainBank’s key tool is a mobile application where patients share information about their symptoms and care progress. This data is shared with caregivers, clinicians, and medical researchers, giving them critical insight that is ultimately used in augmenting treatments.

For a long time, the patient experience was not considered a significant factor in cancer treatment. This changed after research showed a strong positive correlation between patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and treatment progress.

In one study published in JAMA in 2017, researchers monitored 750 patients with a range of cancers from 2007 to 2011 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. During treatment, half the patients followed a standard care program while the other half had to take an online survey, answering questions about their symptoms every week. Where patient responses suggested discomfort, caregivers followed up. Researchers found that patients in the second group lived five months longer on average than those from the first group, a significant outcome in cancer treatment.

In another study carried out from 2007 to 2015 at Cancer Care Ontario, researchers compared the survival rates of patients who answered a 16-question survey at least once during their routine care visits with those who never took the survey. After analyzing over 120,000 patient pairs matched by sex, age, and cancer type, they found that patients who participated in the survey were less than 50 percent as likely to have passed away during the study period. These studies make a strong argument for using PROs in patient care.

OurBrainBank App Aims to Improve Glioblastoma Treatment

A commercial health care executive with more than three decades of experience, Stacy Chick currently serves as chief commercial officer with Inivata Inc., after joining the firm as a consultant and leading commercialization strategy for InVisionFirst®-Lung. A volunteer at Emory Winship Cancer Center and a patient advocate in glioblastoma as well as rare blood cancers, Stacy Chick also serves as a board member with OurBrainBank.

An innovative approach to fighting cancer, OurBrainBank leverages cutting-edge technology to improve treatment outcomes for glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. The free app invites patients to track symptoms on a daily basis, ideally for a minimum of 100 days, in order to give BrainBank-approved researchers from Columbia University in New York and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston an improved understanding of the disease and the experiences of people living with it. Additionally, the aggregated data helps inform new trials and improve treatment methods.

The app involves testing neurological symptoms through balance and comparison games, as well as monitoring health data such as blood sugar, weight, and blood pressure.

Inivata Announces Commercialization Partnership with NeoGenomics

Healthcare and life sciences executive Stacy Chick is the chief commercial officer of Inivata, Inc. In her role at the molecular oncology diagnostics firm, Stacy Chick leads product sales, marketing, and commercialization efforts. She was part of the team that delivered the collaboration between Inivata and NeoGenomics, Inc.

On May 26, 2020, Inivata announced a strategic partnership with NeoGenomics, a leading cancer diagnostics and services company, for the commercialization the of InVisionFirst(R) Lung liquid biopsy test. NeoGenomics can rapidly deploy InVisionFirst(R) Lung across its network, helping patients with lung cancer who need highly sensitive liquid biopsy tests within a short time.

NeoGenomics will also initiate opportunities for collaboration between Inivata and biopharmaceutical companies. Additionally, NeoGenomics will accelerate the rolling out of other Inivata products, such as the recently launched RaDar for detecting residual disease and recurrence.

NeoGenomics will invest $25 million in Inivata, taking a minority equity stake with the option of buying the company as a whole. The investment will be used to accelerate Inivata’s pipeline of liquid biopsy products.

Advancing Women in Healthcare through Leadership Project

Atlanta resident Stacy Chick is the chief commercial officer at Inivata, Inc. In addition to her work with Inivata, Inc., Stacy Chick is involved with the Atlanta chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA). Stacy Cick has been involved with HBA Metro and Atlanta chapters since its inception and served as an Executive Steering Committee member in 2006-2008.

HBA is an international non-profit comprised of professionals across the industry. Established in the late 1970s, the HBA developed from a need for women to organize and exchange industry information. Its mission is four-pronged, focusing on gender parity, networking, and effective business practices.

One of the ways this mission is carried out is through the HBA Leadership Project for MLRC (medical, legal, regulatory, and compliance) activities which focuses on four pillars. The first objective is to create a collaborative community of women (professionals) within healthcare. The project also focuses on a core strategy within HBA to exchange information among female healthcare professionals.

Other strategies include providing women with tools that will help them with career advancement (i.e. career coaching and mentoring). Finally, the project’s objectives include sharing and integrating insights from developmental programs.

Those visiting the HBA Leadership Project’s website can find more resources. In addition to articles, visitors can view podcasts on related topics.