PHILADELPHIA The American Association for Cancer Research, the
world’s oldest and largest cancer research organization,
congratulates Harold E. Varmus, M.D., on his nomination by
President Barack Obama to serve as the 14th director of the
National Cancer Institute (NCI).
“Dr. Varmus will bring to the NCI an unrivaled
appreciation for how basic science serves as the foundation for
understanding healthy function as well as disease
conditions,” said Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D., president of
the AACR. “His visionary leadership will allow NCI to
continue leading the way in programs aimed at preventing disease,
improving health and reducing suffering from cancer.”
“This is a great day for cancer research. It is hard to
imagine someone more qualified for this position,” added
Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., past president of the AACR. “Dr. Varmus
has a tremendous wealth of experience, an abundance of good ideas
and almost unlimited energy. The AACR looks forward to working with
Dr. Varmus in the months and years to come.”
“Cancer research is advancing at a staggering pace. Dr.
Varmus’ extraordinary vision and leadership will be vitally
important in our efforts to further reduce cancer incidence and
mortality,” added Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief
executive officer of the AACR. “As Dr. Varmus takes the helm
of the NCI, the AACR is confident that we will accelerate the pace
of discovery research and translational research, and thereby bring
hope and improved survival to cancer patients
everywhere.”
Varmus, a Nobel Laureate and former head of the National
Institutes of Health, most recently served as president and chief
executive officer of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,
New York.
He, along with J. Michael Bishop, M.D., and colleagues
demonstrated the cellular origins of the oncogene of a chicken
retrovirus, which led to the isolation of many cellular genes that
normally control growth and development and are frequently mutated
in human cancer. For this work, they won the 1989 Nobel Prize for
Physiology or Medicine.
Varmus is also recognized for his studies of the replication
cycles of retroviruses and hepatitis B viruses, the functions of
genes implicated in cancer, and the development of mouse models of
human cancer.
Varmus was named by President Clinton to serve as the director
of the National Institutes of Health, a position he held from 1993
to 1999. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as co-chair of
the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology. Additionally, Varmus served on the World Health
Organization’s Commission on Macroeconomics and Health from
2000 to 2002; is a co-founder and chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Public Library of Science, a publisher of open
access journals in the biomedical sciences; and chaired the
Scientific Board of the Grand Challenges in Global Health at the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2003 to 2008 where he now
chairs the Foundation’s Global Health Advisory Committee. He
is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute
of Medicine. He has received the National Medal of Science, the
Vannevar Bush Award and several honorary degrees and other
prizes.
Varmus will succeed John E. Niederhuber, M.D., director of the
NCI since 2006. In addition to his leadership at the NCI, over the
course of his career, Niederhuber has supported the advancement of
cancer research as a professor, cancer center director, National
Cancer Advisory Board chair, external advisor to the NCI, grant
reviewer and laboratory investigator.
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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is
to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the
world’s oldest and largest professional organization
dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes
31,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care
professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United
States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full
spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate
progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer
through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds
innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowship and
career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more
than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and
developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year
present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer
research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major
peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical
Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics;
Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention
Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for
cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians
and scientists. CR provides a forum for sharing essential,
evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer
research, survivorship and advocacy.
Media Contact:
Michele Leiberman
(267) 646-0622