Cory Wiegert has been named chief executive officer (CEO) of CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO. Mr. Wiegert, a proven expert in building and successfully launching innovative technology solutions, will begin his new role on August 13, 2018, overseeing the continued expansion and implementation of the CancerLinQ^® platform.

“Mr. Wiegert has exactly the right experience to oversee the next phase of CancerLinQ, given his track record of successfully implementing innovative technology solutions and transforming industries,” said ASCO CEO and CancerLinQ LLC Board of Governors chair Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO. “His arrival comes at a pivotal time, as we are quickly building on and improving CancerLinQ’s core quality improvement platform for oncologists and data analytics services for the broader cancer community.”

CancerLinQ is a big data initiative that collects and analyzes data from patients with cancer at practices nationwide, drawing from electronic health records, to inform and improve the quality of cancer care. The effort has two major components: 1) the CancerLinQ quality improvement and data-sharing platform for oncology practices, and 2) CancerLinQ Discovery^®, which provides access to high-quality, de-identified datasets derived from the patient data to academic researchers, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, industry, and others in the oncology community.

The CancerLinQ database contains more than a million patient records, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive data sets of its kind. In addition, CancerLinQ LLC has established a number of collaborations with government and nonprofit entities—including the American Society of Radiation Oncology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the National Cancer Institute—as well as industry through its collaborators AstraZeneca, Tempus, and Concerto HealthAI.

CancerLinQ is overseen by ASCO and steered by an active and independent nine-member Board of Governors. The Board’s volunteer members are leaders in cancer care and research, technology, genomics, finance and business, and have all played active roles in the development and roll-out of CancerLinQ to date. CancerLinQ’s Board of Governors also led the search and selection process for its new CEO.

As CEO, Mr. Wiegert will be tasked with implementing ASCO’s vision and the priorities of CancerLinQ’s Board of Governors. This includes developing new solutions to help oncology practices improve the day-to-day care they provide their patients and continuing to serve CancerLinQ collaborators. Mr. Wiegert replaces Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, who was serving as interim CEO of CancerLinQ. Dr. Schilsky will continue his role as ASCO’s chief medical officer.

“I am honored to lead this ambitious initiative and contribute to helping as many patients as possible,” said Mr. Wiegert. “I look forward to working with the cancer and health IT communities to fully deliver on the promise of CancerLinQ to rapidly improve the quality of cancer care.”

Mr. Wiegert has 20 years of experience conceiving, developing, and launching new software and data analytics products, including several roles with IBM Incorporated. In his most recent position as vice president of product management for IBM Watson Health, he led the successful launch of major projects, including IBM’s first cloud-based offerings in health care and the creation of new solutions from the integration of several major acquisitions.

Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Wiegert held positions with Sterling Commerce, Siebel Systems, Inc., Centura Software Corporation, and Safety-Kleen.

CancerLinQ is supported in part through ASCO's Conquer Cancer Foundation, whose generous donors have helped make the system possible. Major supporters include Amgen; Astellas; AstraZeneca; Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Cancer Treatment Centers of America^®; Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation; Genentech BioOncology™; HELSINN; Janssen Oncology; Lilly; Raj Mantena, RPh; Novartis Oncology; Pfizer Oncology; Thomas G. Roberts, Jr., MD, and Susan M. DaSilva; and Susan G. Komen^®.

CancerLinQ^® and CancerLinQ Discovery^® are projects of CancerLinQ LLC. For more information on how to participate or partner with CancerLinQ, please visit CancerLinQ.org.