Holiday Hours

With the exception of Inova hospitals, Inova Emergency Care and Inova-GoHealth Urgent Care, all Inova outpatient offices will be closed for the Christmas and New Year's Day holidays – Wednesday, Dec. 25 and Wednesday, Jan. 1.

Some Inova care sites have additional closures for the holidays, which will be noted on the relevant location pages. 

Phase 1 research team

New options and hope

Inova Schar Cancer provides world-class care through our multidisciplinary approach and innovative research. We’re proud to be among the leading hospitals in the world to provide Phase I clinical trials that test groundbreaking treatments. These trials offer new options and hope for people with complex cancers and those who haven’t had success with standard therapies.

About the Phase I program

The doctors in our Phase I Program match patients to the best clinical trial for their needs. We do not use a placebo, so every patient receives the therapy that’s best for them. Our program includes:

  • Expert team: Our Phase I Program features leading researchers and board-certified medical oncologists with decades of experience in cancer treatment. Specialized nurses and research coordinators support patients throughout the trials and provide regular updates to referring physicians.
  • Novel therapies: The Phase I clinical trials in our clinic offer latest innovations in cancer care. These promising new treatments are offered at only a few cancer centers worldwide.
  • Precision medicine: Many of our Phase I trials feature therapies that are customized for a person’s genetics. With this approach, we treat both rare and common tumors with personalized care that addresses the patient’s unique needs.
  • Safety: Our team follows patients closely to ensure their well-being throughout the trial. We monitor the treatment’s efficacy and manage any side effects.
  • Focus on diversity: Through our clinic, we reach out to people with various ethnic, financial and medical backgrounds in our community. We’re studying how these therapies work in a diverse group of people, advancing cancer care in our community and across the world.

  • Phase I studies are offered to patients with advanced cancer who have progressed through standard of care treatment without success. These new therapies show enough data to justify their use within a Phase I clinical trial as an upfront therapy. Early phase genomically driven clinical trials are available to patients whose tumors harbor genetic mutations or aberrations.
  • The Phase I program at Inova will be offered to patients being treated by a medical oncologist or radiation oncologist at Inova Schar Cancer. 
  • Patients being treated at Inova Schar Cancer by another provider with a close relationship to Inova may be treated by palliative care services. 
  • With our portfolio of approximately 19 therapeutic Phase I trials that are open or in the pipeline, our oncologists can offer many options to patients who are interested in novel therapies.
  • By incorporating patients’ oncologic history and preferences for therapy, as well as the tumor’s molecular and immunologic characteristics, we can offer patients with both rare and common tumors more personalized therapy.
  • Providers can place a Phase I clinic referral in Epic through REF 276 AMB REFERRAL TO CLINICAL TRIAL
  • For urgent requests, please send a pool message to Inova Schar Cancer Phase I providers
     
  • The leading researchers and cancer experts at Inova Schar Cancer’s Phase I program are one team devoted to your best possible outcome
  • Initial Phase I clinic appointments are scheduled for 60 minutes and involve an in-depth physical assessment as well as an evaluation of how well the patient fits the eligibility criteria for currently active clinical trials
  • All physicians who are part of the Phase I clinic are certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and are subspecialists in medical oncology
  • Our group also includes nurses and research coordinators who assist in caring for our patients and coordinate our research projects
  • Patients participating in a Phase I clinical trial are cared for by Phase I physicians and research nurses for the duration of the study, and our team keeps the patient’s regular medical oncologist informed with regular status updates
  • The clinical trials conducted in the Phase I clinic are research studies that test new treatments to see how safe they are and how well they work
  • These treatments are the most promising ones being developed for individuals with cancer and are only initially offered at a few cancer centers worldwide
  • The trials conducted in this clinic do not use a placebo

 

Our location

The Phase I program is located at Inova Schar Cancer in Fairfax on the fifth floor. For additional questions, please call us at 571-472-4724.

We look forward to hearing from you.
 

Meet our Phase I team

Nagla Abdel Karim, MD

Nagla Abdel Karim, MD

Director of Developmental Therapeutics
Janakiraman Subramanian, MD

Janakiraman Subramanian, MD

Early Developmental Therapeutics Program Faculty
Raymond Wadlow, MD

Raymond Wadlow, MD

Early Developmental Therapeutics Program Faculty
Safae Chouraichi, PharmD

Safae Chouraichi, PharmD

Manager of Research Pharmacy
Stephanie Van Bebber

Stephanie Van Bebber

Senior Director of Clinical Trials