In this episode, Farshid Dayyani, MD, PhD, medical director of the Stern Center for Clinical Trials and Research and associate director for translational science at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center shares his path to UCI Health and how the cancer center’s clinical trials program has grown over the past decade.

From expanding participation in industry-sponsored studies to developing a robust portfolio of investigator-initiated trials, he discusses what it takes to build a sustainable clinical trials infrastructure, balance patient care with research responsibilities, and support junior faculty as clinical investigators.

The conversation explores how patients and referring physicians access trials, the ethics and design of modern oncology studies, and the evolving role of liquid biopsy and molecular residual disease testing in cancer care. Dayyani also reflects on the scale and complexity of running a large clinical trials enterprise, the importance of team-based execution, and why meaningful research starts by listening to the patients you serve.

Topics discussed:

• Building and scaling a comprehensive clinical trials program within an academic medical center.
• Balancing patient care responsibilities with the demands of clinical research.
• The role of industry-sponsored, cooperative group, and investigator-initiated trials.
• How patients and referring physicians identify and access clinical trials at UCI Health.
• Ethical design of oncology trials and addressing common patient concerns about participation.
• The growing role of liquid biopsy and molecular residual disease testing in cancer care.
• Supporting and mentoring junior faculty as clinical investigators.
• The infrastructure and collaboration required to run high-quality clinical trials at scale.
• How regional demographics and disease prevalence shape trial design and enrollment.