New players, new strategies, new resolve raise NIH budget to new level

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

How’s this for a paradox: The better cancer centers become at keeping patients alive, the more expensive cancer care becomes. This brutal tradeoff hits harder in rural areas, where the cancer burden is higher and the investigator and clinical trial representation is lower.

June 26, 2026

Vol.52 No.25

By Paul Goldberg and Claire Marie Porter

Regulatory News

To keep the early clinical trial enterprise in the U.S., HHS pledges to simplify regulatory requirements

HHS earlier this week rolled out a cluster of initiatives related to simplifying clinical trials, presenting these measures as a government-wide effort to maintain America’s leadership in early-stage drug development.

Joe Fraumeni, founder of molecular epidemiology, dies at 93
“It’s hard to imagine a world without the presence of this gentle scientific giant.”

The world of cancer research has lost one of its brightest and gentlest stars, Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., MD, the founding director of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics within the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health.

June 26, 2026

Vol.52 No.25

By Stephen J. Chanock

Obituary

Karen Huntsman’s vision gave shape to the Huntsman Cancer Institute

Some lives leave their mark not only on the people who loved them, but also on the very places where others come to seek hope. Karen Haight Huntsman’s was such a life.

Robert Mayer tells us about pancreatic cancer’s hopeless past as new data shows promise

When Robert Mayer was only a few years out of residency, in the 1970s, he signed on as an investigator of the NCI-supported Gastrointestinal Tumor Study Group, which conducted research into colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers.

FDA advisory panel recommends first-of-its-kind mRNA flu vaccine for older adults

An FDA advisory panel has recommended approval of Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine, mFlusiva, for adults ages 50-64, and adults 65 and older, if a specific condition is met.

June 26, 2026

Vol.52 No.25

By Claire Marie Porter

New players, new strategies, new resolve raise NIH budget to new level

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

To keep the early clinical trial enterprise in the U.S., HHS pledges to simplify regulatory requirements

Joe Fraumeni, founder of molecular epidemiology, dies at 93
“It’s hard to imagine a world without the presence of this gentle scientific giant.”

Karen Huntsman’s vision gave shape to the Huntsman Cancer Institute

Robert Mayer tells us about pancreatic cancer’s hopeless past as new data shows promise

FDA advisory panel recommends first-of-its-kind mRNA flu vaccine for older adults

Renew today!

Subscriber content

Never miss an issue!

Login

New players, new strategies, new resolve raise NIH budget to new level

YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

To keep the early clinical trial enterprise in the U.S., HHS pledges to simplify regulatory requirements

Joe Fraumeni, founder of molecular epidemiology, dies at 93“It’s hard to imagine a world without the presence of this gentle scientific giant.”

Karen Huntsman’s vision gave shape to the Huntsman Cancer Institute

Robert Mayer tells us about pancreatic cancer’s hopeless past as new data shows promise

FDA advisory panel recommends first-of-its-kind mRNA flu vaccine for older adults

Never miss an issue!

Login

The Directors: Directors of two Midwestern cancer centers tell us about the challenging healthcare economics in rural areas
“Institutions are feeling crunched in so many different directions”

Joe Fraumeni, founder of molecular epidemiology, dies at 93
“It’s hard to imagine a world without the presence of this gentle scientific giant.”