Anthony G. Letai, accompanied by his wife Jean, was sworn in by HHS Secretary Kennedy as the 18th NCI Director on Sept. 29.Anthony G. Letai, a physician-scientist at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has been officially named the 18th director of the National Cancer Institute.
Anthony G. Letai, a physician-scientist at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute whose research is focused on apoptosis and functional diagnostics, has been tapped by the Trump administration to become the 18th director of the National Cancer Institute.
NCI has released the names of the members of the newly formed ad hoc Working Group on Extramural Research Concepts and Programs. The group will perform the peer review functions of the now-defunct Board of Scientific Advisors.
At the Sept. 4 meeting of the National Cancer Advisory Board, NCI Principal Deputy Director Douglas R. Lowy provided an overview of how NCI is weathering the maelstrom of executive orders, policy changes, and funding uncertainties that has come down on federal agencies and research institutes since Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
NCI is temporarily reducing its paylines as the federal government is being funded at FY2024 levels via a continuing resolution that extends until Dec. 20, delaying the budgeting process for most federal agencies in the new fiscal year.
NCI Director Kimryn Rathmell has released her professional judgment budget proposal, requesting nearly $11.5 billion—the same amount as last year’s proposal prepared by her predecessor, Monica Bertagnolli.
After a year of lean appropriations, NCI is looking at what threatens to be a budgetary cataclysm—a potential 10-11% cut to the Labor-HHS spending bill in fiscal year 2025.
With NCI funding expected to remain flat through fiscal year 2025, health professionals and leaders in oncology should use this time to amp up institutional efforts to collaborate and rebuild trust in science, NCI Director Kimryn Rathmell said.
Addressing the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors, Institute Director Kimryn Rathmell announced two key initiatives—the Cancer Screening Research Network and the Virtual Clinical Trials Office—designed to achieve large reductions in cancer mortality and support the cancer research enterprise.
As the likelihood of a flat budget increases for the 2024 fiscal year, NCI will have difficulty maintaining its current programs, the institute’s new director Kimryn Rathmell said in her inaugural NCI director’s report to members of the National Cancer Advisory Board Feb. 8.
