Julie Principe, a longtime registered nurse and administrator with Lifespan Corp., began 2022 in a new position. Effective Jan. 1, Principe was promoted to the role of vice president of the Lifespan Cancer Institute.
Principe has been on staff at the institute for the past six years, overseeing the Rhode Island Hospital cancer center locations in Providence and East Greenwich. During her 20 years with Lifespan, Principe has also served as nurse manager for surgical and ambulatory units and inpatient psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital.
PBN: Your position as vice president of the Lifespan Cancer Institute became official on Jan. 1, but you’ve been working at the institute since 2016. Do you have any goals for 2022 as the institute’s new vice president?
PRINCIPE: I have big shoes to fill following the departure of my predecessor, Sue Korber. One of my top priorities, as it is for our cancer institute, is to ensure that all patients can easily access the outstanding services we have to offer.
We want patients – no matter who they are or where they live — to be able to receive the care they need as soon as they need it. We do that well now, but we always strive to improve. I also plan to focus on initiatives to enhance patient experience, maintain our engagement in the community and address social determinants of health.
PBN: How is the process to obtain National Cancer Institute designation going? What are some of the main requirements, and when do you expect Lifespan Cancer Institute to potentially earn the designation?
PRINCIPE: Our cancer research colleagues at Brown University are a key partner and we continue to work very closely with them on this initiative. The Lifespan Cancer Institute’s stature as a top cancer program continues to grow. Earning NCI designation will demonstrate that we have been recognized for achieving rigorous standards for multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art research focused on better approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer. It’s a lengthy process, but we are confident we will join this select group.
PBN: Lifespan Cancer Institute recently opened a clinic in Lincoln. Are there plans for any additional locations or expansion of services?
PRINCIPE: We were very excited to open the Lincoln clinic, offering a wide range of adult and pediatric services, including doctor’s appointments, laboratory testing and infusion chemotherapy. Around that same time, in late 2020, we also expanded our East Greenwich location to include radiotherapy.
These projects are all aimed at bringing our world-class care closer to where people live, making it easier on them and their families as they deal with a cancer diagnosis. We are absolutely going to continue to expand our footprint to provide the same high level of care once available only at our Providence locations.
PBN: You also find time to work with Lifespan workforce development to reach potential employees who need assistance to get trained and ready for a job. Why is this important to you?
PRINCIPE: I think it is extremely important and valuable to provide job opportunities to all our Rhode Island communities, especially underrepresented populations. We need to fill an unusually large number of vacancies right now and cultivating a diverse workforce is essential to our culture. That’s why we offer free education, financial support and on-the-job learning to guide youths and adults into good jobs in health care.
I was given opportunities early in my career when I was a struggling single mom. So when our workforce development team asks me to help promote our program, I don’t give it a second thought. I want to pay it forward.
PBN: Are there any current or upcoming clinical trials at Lifespan Cancer Institute that are noteworthy?
PRINCIPE: We have a very active and rapidly growing clinical trials program. In just five years, the number of trial participants has nearly quadrupled to 835. What that means is that we can offer more treatment options to patients without them having to head for big cities – options that offer the potential for improved results over standard therapies or hope for cancers that have not previously been treatable.
In 2020, Lifespan Oncology Clinical Research treated the first pediatric patient in the world with a drug called 9-ING-41. We are now the lead enrolling site for the Phase I clinical trial of this drug for both adult and pediatric participants with a variety of cancers.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
