Washington, D.C. – May 17, 2010 – “The cancer community applauds President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Harold Varmus as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Varmus’ scientific leadership and experience would be an enormous asset for our national cancer research program. His background as director at the National Institutes of Health from 1993-1999, his Nobel prize for studies of the genetic basis of cancer, and most recently his leadership of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center would give him a rich and unique perspective as the government’s top official in charge of discovering scientific breakthroughs in the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer.
“Dr. Varmus is also a former American Cancer Society Research Professor. These prestigious grants are offered to a limited number of investigators in mid-career who have made seminal contributions that have changed the direction of cancer research. He was also the principal investigator of a multi-year research project grant; mentored a number of post-doctoral fellows; and served as a member of one of the Society's peer review committees reviewing and determining the merits of projects for research funding.
“This is a critical time for the NCI, which received a boost in funding last year after several years when funding failed to keep up with the increasing cost of research. We must sustain this investment to meet President Obama’s commitment to double NCI’s funding over the next eight years and to ultimately eliminate death and suffering from cancer. With Dr. Varmus as its leader, I am confident that NCI will be in good hands and that we will continue to save more lives and create a world with more birthdays.”
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing nearly $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
