Angelo de Claro was named acting director of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence, following Richard Pazdur’s departure from that position—and the agency (The Cancer Letter, Dec. 5, 2025).
Harvey A. Risch, professor emeritus and senior research scientist at Yale School of Public Health, was named chair of the President’s Cancer Panel.
Wafik S. El-Deiry, director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University, shared a message with his colleagues on Dec. 15—the Monday following a mass shooting that took place, killing two and injuring nine, according to reports.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has agreed to pay $15 million to the U.S. government in a settlement to resolve allegations that, between 2014 and 2024, Dana-Farber violated the False Claims Act by “using fraudulent images in grant applications and research articles to induce the NIH to pay millions of dollars to support research at Dana-Farber.”
The U.S. Senate didn’t take up the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act after two Senate members—Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)— voted “Nay,” blocking it.
In a joint letter, 148 members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are urging the Department of Education topreserve nursing as a “professional” degree—a categorization that gives students greater access to federal loans.
HHS has cut millions of dollars in grants to the American Academy of Pediatrics, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Harvey A. Risch, professor emeritus and senior research scientist at Yale School of Public Health, said he was named chair of the President’s Cancer Panel. Risch will succeed Elizabeth M. Jaffee, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in January 2023.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids A Chance Act, a bill to accelerate pediatric cancer treatments and expand access to life-saving therapies for children battling rare diseases.
Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, said a recent decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ to change its recommendation for when children should receive the hepatitis B vaccine is another sign of the ACIP’s diminished credibility as a scientific authority.
