Reminder: Today's Community Call & 25th Cancer Center Summit
ci4cc ci4cc
Ci4CC Community,
A gentle reminder that today's regularly scheduled Cancer Center Community Call will be combined with our Tech Download Webinar and will take place next week. Please see our events page as standard: https://www.ci4cc.org/events
Our joint session will focus on Federated Data Models and their critical role as a foundational layer across the cancer data ecosystem, impacting all aspects of cancer center operations today.
This topic is closely aligned with our upcoming 25th Cancer Center Summit this May in San Diego, where we will host a dedicated session on federated data strategies. As part of this, we are issuing a call for abstracts for those interested in participating in and contributing to this session.
Please see the session abstract language below:
Architecting the Future of Interconnected Cancer Data Ecosystems
Session 2: Federated Data Models & Data Sharing in Oncology
“No single cancer center can solve cancer alone. Federated, responsibly governed data collaboration is the bridge from real-world data to real-world action, and the defining imperative of the next decade in oncology.”
In today’s oncology landscape, data strategy and governance are no longer optional enhancements, they are foundational to progress. Across both academic and community cancer centers, patient samples are routinely sent to external laboratories for genomic sequencing, specialized assays, and advanced diagnostics. While these exchanges are often framed as operational necessities, their true significance lies in something far greater: how we steward, integrate, and activate the data they generate.
The future of cancer care will not be defined by data accumulation, but by data intelligence.
Our collective ability to evaluate clinical practice, measure outcomes, understand disease biology, and uncover disparities depends on how effectively we transform fragmented data into actionable insight. Cancer informatics can no longer remain a back-office function. It must evolve into a dynamic engine of cancer intelligence—where data informs real-time clinical decisions, shapes translational research, accelerates drug development, and strengthens population health strategies.
At the center of this transformation is federated data collaboration. When designed with rigorous governance, transparent oversight, and uncompromising commitment to patient privacy, federated models enable institutions to collaborate without surrendering control of their data. This is critical in modern oncology, where the disease is increasingly understood as molecular, multimodal, and longitudinal. No single institution, regardless of scale or prestige, can capture the full complexity of the cancer journey.
To meet this challenge, we must embrace a new paradigm of partnership. Strategic collaboration between cancer centers, community practices, and life sciences organizations is not optional—it is essential. Thoughtfully architected federated ecosystems allow for large-scale analysis of treatment response, toxicity, resistance mechanisms, and health disparities, while preserving data integrity and provenance. This is how we move responsibly from Real-World Data (RWD) to Real-World Evidence (RWE), and ultimately to Real-World Action (RWA) that directly improves patient outcomes.
Celebrating years of leadership, the 25th Cancer Center Informatics Society (Ci4CC) Summit, Chaired by the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, convenes leaders from academia, industry, government, and patient advocacy at a pivotal moment for oncology. The field is rapidly moving beyond fragmented data collection toward the deliberate design of a connected cancer data ecosystem, one that directly advances both discovery and care.
As precision oncology increasingly depends on timely, data-driven decisions, the Summit will focus on integrating multimodal data assets into scalable learning health systems. This includes aligning wearable data, real-world datasets, patient-reported outcomes, clinical trials, cancer registries, and population-scale resources into interoperable frameworks that can deliver insight at the point of care.
Leaders from federal agencies, standards bodies, life sciences organizations, and both NCI-designated and community cancer centers will come together to define practical models for secure data sharing and national collaboration. Grounded in patient perspectives and informed by evolving policy frameworks, these discussions are not theoretical—they are aimed at establishing the standards, governance models, and partnerships required to accelerate translational impact at scale.
The implications are profound. How we access, govern, and operationalize cancer data—across institutions and in partnership with national stakeholders—will define the next decade of oncology. Effective data collaboration strengthens translational pipelines, sharpens clinical decision-making, enhances clinical trial competitiveness, and positions organizations to succeed in value-based care environments. Equally important, it advances health equity by illuminating disparities with clarity, accountability, and purpose.
This is a moment that demands leadership. Cancer centers must take an active role in shaping governance frameworks, interoperability standards, and partnership models that ensure collaboration remains ethical, secure, and patient-centered. The decisions we make today will determine whether we merely manage data or truly harness it to transform cancer care. The path forward is clear: interconnected, intelligently governed, and purpose-driven data ecosystems.
Join us this May in San Diego at the 25th Ci4CC Summit, where national leaders will not only discuss the future of cancer intelligence, but actively design it together. (agenda updates posted weekly)
Do not forget to book your hotel rooms asap: https://www.ci4cc.org/spring-2026-society-conference