Ellen Dornelas, PhD, has been appointed as Director of Clinical Research for the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute.
Dornelas has more than 20 years of experience in overseeing recruitment of patients from a community hospital setting into clinical trials and has successfully developed collaborative research partnerships between Hartford HealthCare and multiple academic medical centers.
She has served on Hartford Hospital’s Research Committee for 15 years and holds a faculty appointment as associate professor at University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She also has served as a member of the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute’s leadership team and served as Director of Quality of Life Programs since 2012.
As Director of Clinical Research, Dornelas will oversee and coordinate the Institute’s clinical research and protocols programs which extend across many of the cancer centers within the Institute. She will work collaboratively and proactively with clinical research experts and specialists at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center as part of HHCCI’s membership in the MSK Cancer Alliance.
One of the cornerstones of HHCCI’s membership is the access it provides patients to the hundreds of active clinical research trials and protocols at MSK. Dornelas will play a crucial role in coordinating the effective and safe delivery of MSK trials to patients. She also will ensure that the clinical research program within the Institute has the proper resources and direction to continue making great strides in developing effective treatments and broadening the scientific understanding of this disease.
“As someone who has played an integral role in the formation and evolution of our Institute, Ellen has vast experience and a deep understanding of the complexities that go into creating a robust clinical research program,” said Donna Handley, vice president of operations for HHCCI. “I am confident that she will take our research program to an even higher level while ensuring that patients in our communities have greater access to promising trials and protocols.”