Claire Marie Porter is a reporter with The Cancer Letter. She joined the publication in 2024.
Before joining The Cancer Letter, Claire was a freelance health and science journalist with bylines in The Atlantic, Scientific American, The Washington Post, Undark Magazine, Popular Science, WIRED among other publications. She graduated with an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University in 2020, where she received honors for her thesis "The Deadly Itch" on Intrahepatic Cholestasis of pregnancy.
She was a 2020 Society of Environmental Journalists grant recipient, and completed internships with Next City and National Public Radio.
She graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s degree in English in 2013.
Before joining The Cancer Letter, Claire was a freelance health and science journalist with bylines in The Atlantic, Scientific American, The Washington Post, Undark Magazine, Popular Science, WIRED among other publications. She graduated with an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University in 2020, where she received honors for her thesis "The Deadly Itch" on Intrahepatic Cholestasis of pregnancy.
She was a 2020 Society of Environmental Journalists grant recipient, and completed internships with Next City and National Public Radio.
She graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s degree in English in 2013.
Latest Stories
The Directors
In recent months, several directors of cancer centers, appearing on The Directors, a segment of The Cancer Letter Podcast, mentioned that their institutions are increasingly providing small grants—typically in the range of $50,000—to scientists to enable them to keep their labs open.
Cancer Policy
At the Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 22, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hinted at how he intends to reform the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a highly respected, independent organization that weighs evidence to make recommendations on screening for diseases.
Cancer Policy
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before two Senate committees on April 22 as part of a final “blitz” of congressional budget hearings.
Cancer Policy
President Trump has nominated Erica Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general in his first administration, to serve as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cancer Policy
FDA announced that it has achieved its first-year goals in implementing its roadmap to reduce animal testing in preclinical studies.
Regulatory News
Boca Raton resident Gabriela Sanchez recently found herself stepping into a mobile outreach vehicle operated by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Conversation with The Cancer Letter
Over the course of his first six months as NCI director, Anthony Letai has contended with federal budget turbulence, a record-setting government shutdown, and concerns about the flow of over research dollars.
Cancer Policy
President’s budget request would cap indirect costs and fully fund all NIH research projects upfront
NCI has emerged relatively unscathed in the president’s FY 2027 budget request that would slash $15.8 billion from HHS funding, cut NIH overall by about 10%, eliminate three NIH institutes and centers, and move the Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and its circa $1 billion budget out of NIH.
News Analysis
Recently, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a video montage featuring himself shirtless in jeans, working out with Kid Rock. The duo is in a blue-lit grotto with a cold plunge and sauna. Set to Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” and intercut with a selection of patriotic imagery, the video ends with the two men in a hot tub, chugging what appears to be milk.
Cancer Policy
President Donald Trump has imposed a 100% tariff on drugmakers that have not struck a deal with the president to lower the U.S. drug prices of patented pharmaceutical products and ingredients.
Cancer Policy
ImmunityBio and its owner and executive chairman Patrick Soon-Shiong received a warning letter from FDA for making false and misleading claims about a cancer treatment in television ads and on a podcast.
Cancer Policy
FDA, with support from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is scrapping a proposed rule that would have banned people under 18 from using tanning beds.
Cancer Policy
FDA has published a draft guidance to incentivize drug developers to use and validate new approach methodologies, or NAMS, as part of a broader effort to move away from animal testing.
NCI
A public-private effort, spearheaded by NCI Director Anthony Letai, and led by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, is working to speed up the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines.
Cancer Policy
FDA has created a new adverse event reporting system that will consolidate several systems it has for reporting different types of adverse events.
Regulatory News
Amid deepening controversy, Vinay Prasad, FDA’s top clinician and scientist, and director of its Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, will be leaving the agency.
Cancer Policy
FDA has approved leucovorin calcium tablets (Wellcovorin), expanding its use for the treatment of cerebral folate deficiency in adult and pediatric patients.
Cancer Policy
Mount Sinai hospital has formed a committee to investigate the ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Eva Dubin a Swedish physician and philanthropist who founded the Dubin Breast Center at the Tisch Cancer Institute whose name is featured prominently in the Epstein files.
The Directors
“We’ve always argued that money comes and goes, but if you lose a generation of scientists—you can’t buy them back,” said Kelvin Lee, director of the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Cancer Policy
Former members of the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force are sounding alarm about an apparent plan by HHS to eliminate the highly respected and influential 16-member expert panel.
Cancer Policy
HHS leadership has announced they will be pursuing steps to “crack down on fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.”
News Analysis
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has taken a second big job.
Cancer Policy
For decades, FDA commissioners sought to insulate the agency’s professional staff from political interference with regulatory decisions.
Regulatory News
In the latest episode of Vinay Prasad’s extraordinary adventures at FDA, the agency (i.e. Dr. Prasad himself) has issued a Refusal-to-File letter to an mRNA-based influenza vaccine application.
Cancer Policy
FDA has approved drug labeling changes to six menopausal hormone therapy products, also known as hormone replacement therapy.
NCI
The new ad hoc working group of the National Cancer Advisory Board will play a key role in shaping NCI’s extramural priorities, NCI Director Anthony Letai said at the group’s inaugural meeting Feb. 6.
Cancer Policy
FDA has launched a venture in onshoring domestic drug development called the Precheck Pilot Program.
The Directors
As NCI paylines drop to 4%, cancer centers are tapping into their institutional funds to provide “bridge funding,” typically in $50,000 to $100,000 increments, to enable investigators to keep their labs open until better times return—next year God willing.
Cancer Policy
The reviews of two drugs granted priority review via FDA’s new priority voucher program, Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) Pilot Program, have been delayed.
Clinical
A story is told that after first obtaining approval for marketing Premarin in 1942, Wyeth Laboratories didn’t lock up the secret recipe for making the hormonal drug in a company safe, to be guarded by patent lawyers.
Cancer Policy
OpenAI has launched a ChatGPT health feature in the U.S. that is currently available only to a small group of users for refinement.
Cancer Policy
A federal court has ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to restore nearly $12 million in funding that was cut from American Academy of Pediatrics funding last month.
Cancer Policy
Last year, the Trump administration began dismantling, RIFing, and stamping out programs and staff deemed ideological or politically motivated, halting application processes, and stripping funding opportunities.
Cancer Policy
The House of Representatives has passed an extension of Obamacare subsidies, sending the bill on to the Senate.
Cancer Policy
FDA has granted sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT), a trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 directed antibody-drug conjugate, a priority voucher via the agency’s Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) Pilot Program.
Cancer Policy
FDA has released a congressionally mandated report evaluating the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in cosmetic products.
The Directors
As trust in scientific and regulatory institutions frays and the meaning of “gold standard science” is increasingly contested, cancer research faces a credibility test of its own.
Cancer Policy
Harvey A. Risch, professor emeritus and senior research scientist at Yale School of Public Health, was named chair of the President’s Cancer Panel.
Cancer Policy
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.
Regulatory News
FDA has withdrawn a proposed rule that called for standardized testing for detecting and identifying asbestos in talc-containing cosmetic products.
Cancer Policy
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.
Clinical Roundup
The American Cancer Society is introducing two key changes for cervical cancer screening guidelines.
Cancer Policy
Ralph Lee Abraham, a Louisiana surgeon general who implemented controversial policies and held views that have drawn significant criticism from public health experts, has quietly been installed as the second-highest official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Free
The nagging pain in Mia Sandino’s right knee set in in September 2018, and throughout her freshman year at the University of Washington, she tried to ignore it. “I was being a very naive and invincible-feeling 19-year-old,” Sandino told The Cancer Letter. “I didn’t put two and two together that this area of the knee that...
Cancer Policy
An NIH employee who has been publicly critical of the Trump administration’s health policies said she was placed on “nondisciplinary” administrative leave when she returned to work Nov. 13 after the government reopened.
Cancer Policy
Natalie Phelps, a 43-year-old mother of two, died Nov. 9 from colorectal cancer.
Regulatory News
Top FDA officials said the agency is in the process of removing the black box safety warnings from all forms of menopausal hormone therapy, including creams, pills, and other treatments prescribed to ease the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.
Cancer Policy
Cornell University has come to an agreement with the Trump administration that will unfreeze the university’s more than $250 million in interrupted federal research funding and “protect Cornell’s students from violations of federal civil rights laws, including from discrimination based on race, sex, or national origin, and promote America’s hardworking farming and rural communities” following accusations of antisemitism and discrimination in admissions.
Regulatory News
George F. Tidmarsh has resigned from his job as director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in the aftermath of a lawsuit by a former associate and a probe into what an HHS spokesperson described as “serious concerns about his personal conduct.”
Cancer Policy
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force has postponed its November meeting due to the federal government shutdown.
Cancer Policy
The federal government shutdown is entering its fifth week, and funding delays are now directly affecting the healthcare system.
Cancer Policy
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, often called “the voice of the CDC,” now has an rival publication.
Cancer Policy
Last week, President Donald Trump announced a deal with pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA and its U.S. subsidiary, EMD Serono, to sharply reduce the cost of some fertility drugs used for in-vitro fertilization, in exchange for a three-year reprieve on some of the tariffs levied on pharmaceutical imports (The Cancer Letter, Oct. 24, 2025).
Cancer Policy
Earlier this year, FDA announced that it would be initiating a voucher program aimed at accelerating review time for applications that are deemed to be advancing U.S. “national priorities” (The Cancer Letter, June 20, 2025).
Cancer Policy
With the start of open enrollment less than one week away, millions of Americans are getting their first look at the sharp increases many will pay next year if Congress fails to extend the enhanced premium tax credits that have expanded healthcare access to over 13 million people since 2021.
Cancer Policy
President Donald Trump has announced a deal with pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA and its U.S. subsidiary, EMD Serono, to sharply reduce the cost of certain fertility drugs used for in-vitro fertilization, or IVF.
Regulatory News
Bowing to the growing animal rights movement, FDA and NIH have made policy changes to discourage animal testing, instead favoring alternative research models.
Cancer Policy
Millions of Americans with Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance will face higher costs next year if Congress doesn’t extend enhanced premium tax credits that have made the plans more affordable for low- and middle-income enrollees.
The Directors
With major leadership changes, grant disruptions and terminations, and a stoked distrust in science, Steven Artandi, the director of Stanford Cancer Center, worries that young investigators will feel disenchanted by the U.S. research atmosphere and take their work and study elsewhere.
Cancer Policy
A report by the American Society of Clinical Oncology points to a growing challenge in cancer care access driven by a widening gap between the number of available oncologists and increasing patient demand.
Cancer Policy
President Donald Trump had threatened pharmaceutical companies with a 100% tariff, with an ultimatum set for Oct. 1.
Cancer Policy
Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced that he has signed off on a slew of recommendations that change the childhood vaccination schedule.
Cancer Policy
United for Medical Research conducted a report surveying patients and researchers on why NIH, and NIH funding matters to them.
NCI
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.
Capitol Hill
On Oct. 1, for the first time in six years, the U.S. government shut down after Congress was unable to reach a deal to fund federal agencies for Fiscal Year 2026.
Cancer Policy
President Trump has signed an executive order to use artificial intelligence to accelerate research in pediatric cancers.
Cancer Policy
President Donald Trump has announced a multipronged effort aimed at lowering drug costs in the United States, including the creation of “TrumpRx,” a direct-to-consumer website where Americans can buy medicine at discounted prices and a sweeping deal with Pfizer to reduce the prices of many of its products.
Regulatory News
FDA has initiated the approval of leucovorin calcium tablets, rushing them to market as part of a push from the Trump administration to identify potential treatments for autism spectrum disorder.
Cancer Policy
In a press conference on Sept. 22, President Donald Trump, flanked by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, touted that Tylenol use while pregnant is “probably” the cause of autism.
NCI
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.
Cancer Policy
Ousted from her position as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention less than a month after her confirmation, Susan Monarez has now had the chance to tell her side of the story before Congress.
Cancer Policy
At a two-day meeting, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 to change the current recommendations that allow children under age 4 to receive the MMRV vaccine, a combination shot for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (or varicella).
Cancer Policy
The American Association for Cancer Research released the results of a national survey measuring voters’ attitudes about federal funding for medical research, which found very high levels of support for federal funding for medical and cancer research across the electorate.
The Directors
In the face of the unknown, two cancer center leaders discuss planning for the future, recovering from setbacks, and holding on to what they still have.
Cancer Policy
A fraught Senate Finance Committee hearing, where HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clashed with Republicans and Democrats alike, has led to some fallout.
Cancer Policy
The Trump administration earlier this week released its strategy on children’s health.
Cancer Policy
Vinay Prasad has regained his role as FDA’s chief medical and scientific officer, according to an update on the agency’s website.
Cancer Policy
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has voted along party lines passing a bill that maintains current funding levels for NIH and NCI as part of its Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies spending bill.
Capitol Hill
A Senate hearing that the administration hoped would be a routine check-in on the president’s 2026 MAHA-driven healthcare agenda erupted into a political firestorm as senators jumped at their first opportunity to confront HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the chaos engulfing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cancer Policy
At the end of July, after just a few months as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Vinay Prasad resigned.
Free
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said it will no longer be accepting federal funding.
Free
The Department of Health and Human Services has announced the start of a reduction in its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
In a move that will have direct impact on approval of cancer drugs, George Francis Tidmarsh, an oncologist and a longtime pharmaceutical executive, was named director of the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Cancer Policy
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer is demanding Vinay Prasad’s ouster from FDA, calling him a “saboteur” and “trojan [sic] horse” of the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.
Cancer Policy
It has been more than three months since the Trump Administration froze Columbia University’s NIH funds in an attempt to crack down on “antisemitism.”
Cancer Policy
NIH has announced that it will no longer be issuing Notices of Funding Opportunities exclusively supporting animal models.
Cancer Policy
President Trump said he would impose tariffs on pharmaceutical products and semiconductors as soon as Aug. 1.
Cancer Policy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published a proposed rule, which it says aligns with Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Cancer Policy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers, or ASCs, for calendar year 2026.
Clinical
Nearly half of cancer patients and survivors in the United States face medical debt so crushing that it has sparked a relatively new focus within oncology: financial toxicity.
Free
Since early May, a group of current and former NIH employees have gathered every Saturday at the Medical Center Metro station in Bethesda, MD, to mourn what they describe as the loss of scientific progress under the Trump administration.
Cancer Policy
The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday passed President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping legislation that makes the biggest cuts to Medicaid since the program began in the 1960s.
Cancer Policy
Researchers funded by NIH will now be required to make their scientific papers available to read for free as soon as they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Cancer Policy
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has started his own podcast called “The Director’s Desk,” where, according to the description on YouTube, he plans to host weekly conversations on scientific careers, leadership, and innovation at NIH.
Capitol Hill
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to defend the HHS fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, and faced criticism from several Democratic lawmakers on what they described as a lack of transparency and scientific rigor in the agency’s recent decisions.
Cancer Policy
Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, the acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research wrote in an email to colleagues that she will be retiring from the agency in July.
Cancer Policy
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a key Senate health leader, June 23 called for the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to be delayed, citing concerns over the committee members’ lack of directly relevant experience and their potential bias against some vaccines.
Cancer Policy
In the fiscal year 2026 budget request, the Trump administration proposes “forward funding,” or multiyear funding, of awards.
Cancer Policy
A federal judge has called the Trump’s administration’s cancellation of NIH grants “illegal,” striking it down.
