ASCO Remembers Clinical Trialist Dr. Daniel J. Sargent

Sep 26, 2016

ASCO and the entire oncology community mourn the passing of Daniel J. Sargent, PhD, of Mayo Clinic, Rochester, who died on September 22 after an acute illness. He was 46.

Dr. Sargent joined the Mayo Clinic staff in 1996 after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a doctorate in biostatistics. At the time of his passing, he was the Ralph S. and Beverly E. Caulkins Professor of Cancer Research and the Chair of the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic. He also served as the Primary Consulting Statistician for the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and was involved in multiple ongoing clinical trials on cancer treatment and cancer screening.

“This is a tremendous loss to Mayo Clinic, as well as the national and international cancer research community,” said Robert B. Diasio, MD, Director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. “Dan has given so much to so many. We are deeply saddened by his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family.”

Dr. Sargent was the principal investigator for the statistics and data management program at the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (ALLIANCE), a national clinical trials network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. He led multiple international groups including ACCENT in adjuvant colon cancer, the prospective IDEA in colon cancer, and the FLASH international consortia in follicular lymphoma. He authored or co-authored more than 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, editorials, and letters.

An ASCO member since 2001, Dr. Sargent served on numerous ASCO committees including the Cancer Research Committee, the Scientific Program Committee, and the Conquer Cancer Foundation Grants Selection Committee.

“Dr. Sargent was not only a giant in our field, he was a trusted and thoughtful friend,” said 2016-2017 ASCO President Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FACP, FASCO. “Importantly, he could speak intelligently about both statistics and clinical issues. His ability to build bridges was essential in the merger of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and the Cancer and Leukemia Group B into the ALLIANCE. His work has touched nearly every patient with cancer, and he will be sorely missed.”

Comments

Umut Disel, MD

Sep, 27 2016 7:21 AM

I'm very sorry from Dr. Daniel Sargent's loss. I had the opportunity to meet him during a training at Mayo- Rochester in 2011. Dr. Axel Grothey introduced him to our class and told about him "He is genius and also my best friend" . Later I realized his value for all oncology community and patients.

I fell like loosing very close relatives...

Rest in Peace Dan

Umut Dişel MD

Adana / Turkey

 

 

 


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