DRIVE Meeting

A DRIVE for Clinical Trial Excellence

Friday, March 6th 2026

The Westin, Indianapolis

Our 2025 Speakers

Six people sitting on a stage panel facing a man at a podium with a microphone, in a conference setting with blue curtain backdrop.

  • Hematology Oncology of Indiana, a Division of American Oncology Network

    • Partner

    Indy Hematology Education Inc.

    • President and CEO

    Marian University: Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine

    • Clinical Professor of Medicine

    Ruemu E. Birhiray, MD is an attending physician in medical oncology, hematology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at Hematology-Oncology of Indiana, and at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. After completing his internal medicine residency at Columbus Hospital in Chicago where he also served as Chief Medical Resident in 1994, he was a postgraduate fellow in bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland where his research included gene therapy and adoptive cellular immunotherapy strategies in bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Birhiray’s professional experience has also included serving as an attending physician, and Director of bone marrow transplantation and a member of Marshfield Clinic, Wisconsin and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin from 1998 to 2001. Additionally Dr. Birhiray was appointed an Associate Professor of bone marrow transplantation at Rush University, Chicago, Illinois in 2001, prior to joining Hematology Oncology of Indiana. Subsequently, Dr. Birhiray, served as and director of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Institutional Principal Investigator for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project of the National Cancer Institute at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Indianapolis. Currently, he is also, Clinical Professor, Marian University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, and an Editorial Board Member of The Journal of Blood Transfusion and Hematopathology. Projects for which Dr. Birhiray is principal investigator include reduced intensity allogeneic transplantation in hematologic malignancies, and a trial of Interferon A, CHOP, and rituximab therapy in advanced-stage follicular lymphoma, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Additional collaborations have included major phase III clinical trials. Additionally Dr. Birhiray founded the Clinical research program at Hematology Oncology of Indiana. His awards include, “Intern of the year” from Columbus Hospital, Hope award from the Indiana Wellness community and named “best physician” by the Indianapolis monthly magazine and “top doctor” by Castle Connelly. In 2002, Dr. Birhiray founded and has served as Chair of the annual “Indy Hematology Review”, a nationally respected program providing education for hematologists and oncologists nationally and regionally, and he is also President and CEO of Indy Hematology Education, Inc. A member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Medical Association, Dr Birhiray has published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leukemia, Gene Therapy and Therapeutic Apheresis, Journal of Blood Transfusion and Hematopathology, Human Immunology, Familial Cancer, Annals of Pharmacotherapy, American Journal of Health System Pharmacists, Pharmacotherapy, in addition to multiple abstracts. Dr. Birhiray is married to Donna Marie (nee Baynard) since 1995, and they are blessed with 3 children, a daughter, Maya, born in 1999, and a son, Dirin, born in 2003, and an older daughter Meaghan who was born in 1990.

  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the HMS Center for Bioethics

    • Faculty Member

    Harvard Medical School

    • Assistant Professor of Medicine

    Andrew Hantel, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and faculty member in the Divisions of Leukemia and Population Sciences at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the HMS Center for Bioethics. He received his MD from Loyola University Chicago; trained in internal medicine, adult hematology/oncology, and medical ethics at the University of Chicago; and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cancer population sciences at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Dr. Hantel's lab leverages health services and care delivery methods to address ethical dilemmas in cancer discovery and delivery. His current work focuses on equity in the contexts of research participation, artificial intelligence, and climate change.

  • Indy Hematology Education, Inc.

    • Medical Science Liaison

    Indiana University School of Medicine

    • First Year Medical Student

    Maya N. Birhiray holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Health Sciences from Purdue University—West Lafayette and a Master of Science in Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology from the Indiana University School of Medicine. Maya continues to pursue her medical education as a first year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine. Serving as a Medical Science Liaison for Indy Hematology Education Inc. (IHE), Maya collaborates with IHE faculty and external organizations to plan and execute impactful educational events.

    In addition to her liaison responsibilities, Maya is the co-author and creator of IHE’s DRIVE initiative, which aims to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity within cancer clinical research. Through this work, she is committed to fostering a more equitable healthcare environment and enhancing educational opportunities for all.

  • Indy Hematology Education, Inc.

    • Medical Science Liaison

    Samuel Ranger, MS supports oncology education initiatives with a focus on equity, inclusion, and community-centered care. His professional interests include increasing diversity in clinical trials, advancing patient advocacy, and ensuring accessible, evidence-based cancer education for both providers and patients. Samuel holds both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in biology and is based in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and exploring national parks.

  • University of Nebraska Medical Center: Division of Hematology/Oncology

    • Professor of Medicine

    • Associate Vice Chair of Research, Department of Internal Medicine

    • Medical Director of the Clinical Research Center (CRC)

    • Medical Director of Cellular Therapies

    Dr. Lunning is a Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He serves the Department of Internal Medicine as the Associate Vice Chair of Research. He recently was appointed as an Assistant Vice Chancellor of Clinical Research and elected to serve on the Nebraska Medicine Medical Executive Committee as an at-large member.

    He received his medical degree from Des Moines University in 2006. Dr. Lunning completed his internal medicine residency at UNMC where he served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed his Hematology/Oncology fellowship and served as the Hematology Chief Fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

    Dr. Lunning returned to UNMC in 2013 and has been active in clinical research, research mentoring, education, and patient care and was the recipient of the Distinguish Scientist Award in 2019.

    Dr. Lunning has served on several National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s guidelines committees including the Immunotherapy Toxicity & T-cell lymphoma panels. He has served as an invited member of ASCO’s Cancer Education Committee on the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He is the co-organizer of the Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.

  • Indiana University School of Medicine

    • Professor of Medicine

    • Vera Bradley Professor of Oncology

    • Professor of Medical & Molecular Genetics

    • Program Leader - Precision Genomics

    Dr. Schneider is a medical oncologist with clinical expertise in breast cancer and precision oncology and has aligned research interests in therapeutic individualization and disparities.

    He is the founding director of the IU Health Precision Genomics Program, which has performed comprehensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) on more than 10,000 advanced cancer patients with intent to direct therapy options. He serves as the vice president of precision oncology for the IU Health system to best coordinate implementation and oversight of operations across sites. This program has served as a blueprint for several other successful precision medicine programs across the United States.

    He was named as an inaugural member of the prestigious Komen Scientific Advisory Council and led a multi-institutional project with the support of a Susan G. Komen Promise Award. This work included comprehensive genomic evaluation across three randomized Phase III adjuvant breast cancer trials for which he made several sentinel observations.

    He uncovered a higher likelihood of therapy-associated toxicity for patients of African descent (using ancestral classification) and found that germline genetic variants might further refine risk for one of the most clinically important toxicities, taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy. This work led to the development and conduct of EAZ171 (PI Schneider), one of the first NCI-cooperative group trials to focus accrual on Black patients with breast cancer with the goal of overcoming disparities by personalizing therapy in the curative setting. EAZ171 demonstrated personalization of therapy minimizes toxicity and dose reductions (Schneider et al, JCO 2024).

  • University of Pennsylvania: Perelman School of Medicine

    • Advisory Dean, Dr. Helen O. Dickens House

    • Ruth C. and Raymond G. Perelman Professor of Medicine

    • Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology

    Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE is the Ruth C. and Raymond G. Perelman Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion for the Department of Medicine and the Associate Director of Diversity and Outreach for the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Guerra leads Community Outreach and Engagement for the Abramson Cancer Center. In this role, she leads partnerships with community organizations to design, implement, and evaluate research and interventions to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in cancer screening research and clinical trials at the center.

    Dr. Guerra is the PI of several studies aimed at increasing the participation of Black and Hispanic patients in cancer clinical trials, including the development and evaluation of the Abramson Cancer Center Clinical Trials Ambassador Program which provides peer-to-peer education to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (funded by Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation and Genentech). She is a PI for a multi-site implementation study of the Lazarex Foundation’s Improving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials (IMPACT), a patient financial reimbursement program for cancer clinical trial related travel expenses being conducted at the ACC, MD Anderson and UT Southwestern cancer centers. Dr. Guerra also co-led a national initiative by ASCO and ACCC that produced the first unconscious bias training for cancer researchers, Just Ask, and a site self-assessment instrument to support equity, diversity, and inclusion in clinical trials. Dr. Guerra is currently determining the impact of the Just Ask unconscious bias training in the recommendation of trials by breast cancer research teams.

  • The Ohio State University

    • Professor, Joint Faculty

      Marion N. Rowley Chair in Cancer Research Epidemiology

    James Cancer Hospital

    • Deputy Director for Population Sciences and Community Outreach

    • Professor in the College of Medicine

    Electra D. Paskett became the Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University in 2002. She is the director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the College of Medicine, a professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health and the associate director for population sciences and program leader of the Cancer Control Program in Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Paskett is also director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity at the James Cancer Hospital. Her research program is nationally recognized for studying cancer health disparities. It has four major areas of focus and has evolved to employ a "team science approach" to understanding and intervening in these problems, which include energy balance and cancer prevention; promoting the use of early-detection exams; improving access to diagnostic and treatment services; and lymphedema prevention.

  • University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center

    • Data Scientist

    Eastern Kentucky University

    • Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics

    Data Visualization Specialist with the Community Impact Office at Markey Cancer Center. Build applications in ArcGIS, R and Tableau. Develop data solutions in R, Python and SAS.