COG Standing On Our Own - Dr. Hawkins Letter

Doug Hawkins, MD, COG Chair

Standing on Our Own: A Message from Children's Oncology Group Chair, Dr. Doug Hawkins

Becoming an independent organization will fuel our mission and give us the unity of purpose and focus that will make us stronger.

Dear Children's Oncology Group Community,

Over the past 25 years, the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) has become a recognized leader in pediatric and adolescent cancer research. But since our inception, COG has existed under the administrative umbrella of other organizations — most recently the Public Health Institute (PHI). As COG’s fiscal and legal sponsor, these organizations have handled tasks like industry contracts, payments, and managing federal funds.

2026 marks the start of a new chapter for COG: we are now independent. Our leadership has created a new organization called the COG Research Foundation, LLC, which is now COG’s legal and fiscal sponsor.

As the world’s largest network of experts in pediatric oncology research, COG will continue to operate as we always have: as a member-led organization. The COG Research Foundation exists solely to support COG’s mission.

This isn’t just an administrative change. It reflects how much COG has grown, matured, and built trust over the past 25 years. Our team is bigger, we're tackling increasingly complex research challenges, and we're having a greater impact than ever before. We no longer need a sponsor. We are ready to stand on our own.

With this change comes the independence to make decisions and hold responsibilities that will most directly lead to COG’s success. It’s an important step to future-proof our organization. Moving forward, the COG Research Foundation will directly receive and manage federal funding. We’ve already received our first federal grant under this new structure to support early phase clinical research through the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN), a powerful vote of confidence from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

COG’s expert administrative team is making this transition as seamless as possible. Our staff went to sleep on December 31, 2025, as PHI employees and woke up on January 1, 2026, as COG Research Foundation, LLC employees. We have the same email addresses and computers. More than anything, we remain as committed as ever to our mission, priorities, and values.

Laying the Groundwork for the COG Research Foundation, LLC

When employees woke up as COG Research Foundation, LLC staff on January 1, 2026, it marked the culmination of nearly a year of preparation. Lee Ann DeRita, MBA, CMA, CFE, COG’s Executive Director of Administration and Finance, led the effort to build core research administration functions from the ground up.

This includes information technology, human resources, and two new departments: Financial Integrity & Resource Management (FIRM) and Contracts Management.

“By becoming our own legal and fiscal sponsor, we were able to design administrative systems entirely around what COG needs to succeed,” DeRita said. “We’re not competing with other programs or priorities — we have one mission. Everyone understands that mission, and every day our team comes to work with a single focus: running pediatric cancer clinical trials as effectively as possible.”

Becoming an independent organization will fuel our mission and give us the unity of purpose and focus that will make us stronger. I’m confident that we will continue to grow and succeed in this new chapter because our work is deeply meaningful. Every person on our team — from scientists to HR, IT, and operations — works to move us closer to curing and preventing childhood cancer, through scientific discovery and compassionate care.

Sincerely,
Doug Hawkins, MD
Group Chair, Children’s Oncology Group

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Standing on Our Own: A Message from Children's Oncology Group Chair, Dr. Doug Hawkins

read more from this newsletter edition: ISSUE 10, Spring 2026