Prevent Cancer Foundation board member Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., FACS named next director of the National Cancer Institute
PARA PUBLICACIÓN INMEDIATA
Kyra Meister
703-836-1746
kyra.meister@preventcancer.org
Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., FACS
Alejandría, Virginia – The Biden administration has selected distinguished surgical oncologist and Prevent Cancer Foundation® board member Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., FACS, as the next director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Bertagnolli will replace the agency’s former director Ned Sharpless, who stepped down in April after a nearly five-year tenure. Dr. Bertagnolli is the first woman to be selected for this role, in which she will be responsible for the largest agency in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focused on funding cancer research in the U.S.
Dr. Bertagnolli has served on the Foundation’s board since the beginning of 2022. As a relatively junior researcher, Dr. Bertagnolli received funding from the Prevent Cancer Foundation to support young researchers in her lab. She is also a member of the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Board. In this role, alongside other leaders in the fields of cancer prevention and early detection, Dr. Bertagnolli serves as a resource to continually update and review the information the Foundation uses to educate the public.
Currently, Dr. Bertagnolli is the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in the Field of Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease Centers at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, where she collaborates with colleagues in medical oncology, radiation oncology and pathology to treat cancer patients in a tertiary care setting.
Dr. Bertagnolli has a background in laboratory work focusing upon understanding the role of the inflammatory response in epithelial tumor formation. She previously led gastrointestinal correlative science initiatives within the NCI-funded Cancer Cooperative Groups and served as the Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center. Dr. Bertagnolli has had numerous leadership roles in multi-institutional cancer clinical research consortia, currently serving as the group chair of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a nation-wide NCI-funded clinical trials group. She is also the chief executive officer of Alliance Foundation Trials, LLC, a not-for-profit corporation that conducts international cancer clinical trials.
“We are thrilled for Monica as she accepts this appointment, which recognizes her decades-long commitment to leadership and innovation in the field,” said Carolyn “Bo” Aldigé, Founder of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. “We have cherished Monica’s service on our board and longtime relationship with the Foundation over the years and look forward to her impending arrival in the greater Washington area as she brings her expertise in patient work and vast experience in clinical trials to the work of the National Cancer Institute.”
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Acerca de la Fundación Prevent Cancer®
La Fundación para Prevenir el Cáncer® es la única organización sin fines de lucro de EE. UU. centrada únicamente en salvar vidas en todas las poblaciones mediante la prevención y la detección temprana del cáncer. A través de la investigación, la educación, la divulgación y la promoción, hemos ayudado a innumerables personas a evitar un diagnóstico de cáncer o a detectarlo lo suficientemente temprano como para recibir un tratamiento exitoso.
La Fundación está avanzando para afrontar el desafío de reducir las muertes por cáncer en 40% para 2035. Para lograrlo, nos comprometemos a invertir $20 millones en tecnologías innovadoras para detectar el cáncer tempranamente y avanzar en la detección de múltiples cánceres, $10 millones para ampliar la detección del cáncer y la vacunación. acceso a comunidades médicamente desatendidas, y $10 millones para educar al público sobre las opciones de detección y vacunación.
Para mayor información por favor visite www.preventcancer.org.