President Biden has announced his intent to appoint Clinical Investigator Award Committee member Monica Bertagnolli, MD, as Director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Bertagnolli will be the 16th Director, and the first woman, to head the NCI.

Dr. Bertagnolli will lead NCI through the revitalization of Cancer Moonshot, one of President Biden’s signature initiatives, which aims to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50 percent in the United States over the next 25 years and create a more supportive experience for patients and families. Dr. Bertagnolli's powerful advocacy for cancer patients and history of championing patient-focused programs will strengthen NCI’s commitment to building more inclusive models of care and research.

A surgical oncologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Richard E. Wilson professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bertagnolli has dedicated her career to the field of clinical oncology and in particular to advancing understanding of gastrointestinal cancer development. Dr. Bertagnolli has served as the chief of the division of Surgical Oncology for the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, as president and chair of the board of directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and on the board of directors of the American Cancer Society and the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Before the announcement of her appointment, Dr. Bertagnolli was serving as a member on Damon Runyon’s Clinical Investigator Award Committee and most recently helped to select five new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators this spring. We are excited to see the impact she will have on cancer patients and research at NCI.