NOTES >> NCI Cancer Bulletin for September 20, 2011 - National Cancer Institute

 

Appointments Announced for Two New NCI Centers, Division of Cancer Prevention

This fall, three leaders in cancer research will begin their tenures at NCI's new Center for Cancer Genomics, the new Center for Global Health, and the Division of Cancer Prevention.

Dr. Barbara Wold

Dr. Barbara Wold, a renowned geneticist, director of the Beckman Institute and professor of Molecular Biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), began leading the Center for Cancer Genomics on September 1. During her year of leave from Caltech, Dr. Wold will help build the new center, whose flagship program is The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and incorporate many other NCI-sponsored genomics initiatives.

Dr. Ted Trimble

Dr. Ted Trimble has spent several months organizing the Center for Global Health and will be its first permanent director. Dr. Trimble is well known to NCI from his long tenure in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, and he will work with parties within and outside of NIH to integrate cancer into the field of global health.

Dr. Barry Kramer

Beginning in October, Dr. Barry Kramer will become the new director of NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP). Dr. Kramer is a leading expert in cancer prevention, serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and NCI's Physician Data Query (PDQ) Screening and Prevention Editorial Board. He is a member of NCI's PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board and formerly headed the NIH Office of Disease Prevention.

NCI's Norm Coleman Wins Service to America Medal

Dr. Norm Coleman (Photo by Sam Kittner)

Dr. Norm Coleman, associate director of NCI's Radiation Research Program, received the 2011 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for Homeland Security at a ceremony in Washington, DC, last week. Dr. Coleman was awarded the medal for developing a plan to deal with the health consequences of a radiological or nuclear incident in the United States and for helping the Japanese government respond to radiation from the Fukushima power plants damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The emergency response plans that Dr. Coleman and his team use are built from the best available science.
The team works with NCI and the Centers for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. They rely on advanced development support from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. This builds on the concept of "dual-utility" so that investments in cancer research and emergency response benefit one another.

The Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, awards Service to America Medals annually to outstanding federal employees who have made a significant contribution to the United States. The Homeland Security Medal is given to a federal employee who has met a critical national need in areas including emergency preparedness and response, border enforcement, transportation security, intelligence, and law enforcement.

To see a video of Dr. Coleman discussing his work, click here.

Director's Consumer Liaison Group Meets this Week

The NCI Director's Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG) will meet September 21–23 in Washington, DC. The agenda includes presentations on how scientific advances are changing clinical cancer research, clinical trial design, and the co-development of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

The DCLG provides advice to the NCI director on promoting research outcomes that are in the best interest of cancer patients. DCLG activities focus on identifying new approaches, promoting innovation, recognizing unforeseen risks or barriers, and identifying unintended consequences that could result from NCI decisions or actions. DCLG also provides insight into enhancing input, optimizing outreach, and promoting strong collaborations, all with respect to nonscientist stakeholders.

NCI, HHS Launch Mobile Services to Help Smokers Quit

As part of a series of new e-health initiatives guided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Text4Health Task Force, NCI is launching the SmokefreeTXT program, a mobile service designed to help teens and adults quit smoking. Teens and adults can enroll in this program online.

NCI is also launching QuitNowTXT, a library of interactive text messages to help U.S. adult smokers quit. The QuitNowTXT text messages offer tips, motivation, encouragement, and fact-based information.

These tobacco control message libraries, along with other libraries (smoking cessation for pregnant women, early childhood health, emergency response, etc.) will be available to the public on healthdata.gov in the future.

HHS announced the SmokefreeTXT text messaging service and the availability of the QuitNowTXT library at the United Nations Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases on September 19.

NCI Cancer Bulletin for September 20, 2011 - National Cancer Institute