20140919 – The Cancer Letter

publication date: Sep. 19, 2014

MD Anderson Cancer Center President Ronald DePinho declined to meet with the investigation committee dispatched by the American Association of University Professors to his institution Thursday.

“We will not personally meet with representatives of a non-governing entity conducting an unauthorized investigation with a pre-determined outcome.” DePinho wrote in a Sept. 17 email to MD Anderson faculty and staff.

Past Coverage of the MD Anderson Tenure Dispute

	Officials: Poisoning Unrelated to MD Anderson; Critics Allege Dysfunction in Handling of Affair Images of the gleaming buildings and the distinctive logo of MD Anderson Cancer Center have been flashing on television screens and appearing on pages of respectable newspapers and scandal sheets alike. The reason has nothing to do with the Moon Shots aimed at curing cancers. Rather, the name of the venerable cancer center is being dragged through the mud because one of its doctors stands accused of trying to poison another.
	Sept. 9 NCAB Meeting Varmus: Expect Another CR For Funding The NIH Through Mid-December NCI Director Harold Varmus said Congress is moving slowly on appropriations bills, and a continuing resolution lasting until December is the best that can be expected in the short term. “Depending on the outcome of the election in November, there may be an interest among the Republicans that if they regain the Senate that this should be postponed until after they’re back in charge in both sides of the bicameral legislature,” Varmus said at the Sept. 9 meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board.
	AACR 2014 Cancer Progress Report: More Federal Funds Needed The American Association for Cancer Research published its 2014 Cancer Progress Report Sept. 16, highlighting the need for greater federal investments in biomedical research. The report is a “comprehensive educational tool that chronicles the progress that has been made against cancer…and calls on the administration and Congress to prioritize the growth of the NIH and NCI budgets,” according to AACR.
	Funding Opportunities AACR Accepting Submissions for Two Dream Team Grants The American Association for Cancer Research is accepting submissions of ideas to two dream team grants: one offering $20 million for lung cancer research, and one for $6 million for ovarian cancer research. Funding for the lung cancer research grant will be provided by Stand Up To Cancer, the American Cancer Society and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The ovarian cancer research grant provides funding over three years, and is sponsored by Stand Up To Cancer, the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
	In Brief David Tweardy named head of internal medicine at MD Anderson Dan Glickman named to ACS Cancer Action Network board of directors Memorial Sloan Kettering begins construction on 285,000-square-foot outpatient center in Middletown, N.J. Boehringer Ingelheim and CureVac announce collaboration. Soligenix Inc. reaches phase III protocol agreement with FDA Sutro Biopharma and Merck KGaA form ADC collaboration Denovo Biopharma acquires enzastaurin rights from Eli Lilly & Co. Leukemia and Lymphoma Society partners with OncoPep