Lead Principal Investigator

Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD
Samuel Volchenboum, MD, PhD
  • Dean of Master’s Education
  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director, Pediatric Cancer Data Commons
  • Associate Director, Institute for Translational Medicine
  • Associate Chief Research Informatics Officer
  • University of Chicago
  • Learn More About Dr. Volchenboum

Executive Summary

The GEARBOx platform (Genomic Eligibility Algorithm for Better Outcomes) was conceived and developed at the University of Chicago in partnership with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Data for the Common Good (D4CG) program. Fueled by generous support from ICI, GEARBOx has evolved to become a transformative, patient-centric platform for efficiently and accurately matching children with cancer to the clinical trials most appropriate for their unique diagnostic and molecular profiles. 

GEARBOx overcomes the fundamental barriers of clinical trial matching, including the complexity and variability of eligibility criteria presented in free-text formats. Our platform has grown from a focused pediatric AML tool to a scalable multi-disease system, significantly broadening impact while streamlining trial identification for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult oncology patients.

Platform Overview 

GEARBOx comprises four integrated components: 

  1. Clinical Trial Matching Ecosystem: A scalable system supporting multi-disease trial matching for childhood cancers. 
  2. AI Technology Stack: Automated ingestion, parsing, and mapping of trial eligibility criteria into computable logic, using cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) approaches. 
  3. Administrative UI: Expert-driven review, annotation, and boolean logic assembly for complex eligibility criteria. 
  4. Clinician UI: Streamlined interface for entering patient data, generating match results, and reviewing trial eligibility, optimized for decision support 

Learn more about GEARBOx:

Final Report: August 2025
Annual Report: 2023-2024
Annual Report: 2022-2023
Annual Report: 2021-2022
Annual Report: 2020-2021
Annual Report: 2019-2020

GEARBOx Pediatric Site Collaborators:

Douglas Hawkins, MD
Douglas Hawkins, MD
  • Chair, Children's Oncology Group
  • Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology/Oncology Division
  • Seattle Children's Hospital
  • Learn More About Dr. Hawkins
Katherine Janeway, MD, MMSc
Katherine Janeway, MD, MMSc
  • Director of Clinical Genomics
  • Senior Physician
  • Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
  • Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center
  • Learn More About Dr. Janeway
ulie Glade Bender, MD
Julie Glade Bender, MD
Donald (Will) Parsons, MD
Donald (Will) Parsons, MD
  • Deputy Director, Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Center
  • Co-Director, Brain Tumor Program
  • Co-Director, Cancer Genetics and Genomics Program
  • Director, Center for Precision Oncology
  • Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology-Oncology
  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Learn More About Dr. Parsons
Susan Cohn, MD
Susan Cohn, MD
  • Professor of Pediatrics
  • Director, Clinical Sciences
  • University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Learn More About Dr. Cohn
E. Anders Kolb, MD
E. Anders Kolb, MD
Junne Kamihara, MD, PhD
Junne Kamihara, MD, PhD
  • Co-Director, Pediatric Cancer Genetic Risk Program
  • Co-Director, Ocular Oncology Program
  • Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
  • Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
  • Learn More About Dr. Kamihara
Elizabeth A. Mullen, MD
Elizabeth A. Mullen, MD
Anne Lindsay Frazier, M.D. Sc.M
Anne Lindsay Frazier, M.D. Sc.M
  • Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
  • Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Learn More About Dr. Frazier
Sarah E. S. Leary, MD, MS
Sarah E. S. Leary, MD, MS
  • Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine
  • Medical Director, Pediatric Brain Tumor Program, Seattle Children’s
  • Medical Director, Clinical Research, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children’s Research Institute
  • Learn More About Dr. Leary
Jamie E. Flerlage, MD, MS
Jamie E. Flerlage, MD, MS
  • Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
  • Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
  • University of Rochester Medical Center
  • Assistant Director for Clinical Research, Wilmot Cancer Center
  • Learn More About Dr. Flerlage
Allison F. O’Neill, MD
Allison F. O’Neill, MD
  • Assistant Professor, Senior Physician
  • Clinical Director, Solid Tumor Program
  • Director, Liver Tumor Center of Excellence, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Learn More About Dr. O’Neill