Fraumeni Steps Down as Director of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics || NCI Cancer Bulletin for August 7, 2012 - National Cancer Institute

NCI Cancer Bulletin for August 7, 2012 - National Cancer Institute
Fraumeni Steps Down as Director of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics

Fraumeni Steps Down as Director of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics

Dr. Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr.

Dr. Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., the founding director of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), stepped down from the position last month, after marking 50 years at NCI. He will remain at NCI as a senior investigator and advisor.

Dr. Fraumeni received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, an M.D. from Duke University, and an M.Sc. in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. After completing a medical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, he joined NCI in 1962 as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service.

Through his years of leadership at NCI, Dr. Fraumeni developed an epidemiologic and interdisciplinary research program to identify the environmental and genetic determinants of cancer and the means of cancer prevention. Among his many research accomplishments was the discovery with Dr. Frederick P. Li of a familial constellation of multiple cancers, now known as Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which led to collaborative studies that uncovered inherited mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene.

Another seminal contribution was his creation of maps depicting geographic variation in cancer mortality at the county level. This allowed Dr. Fraumeni and his colleagues to develop a way to identify several environmental and lifestyle exposures driving the distinctive patterns of certain malignancies.

While building the intramural research and fellowship programs in epidemiology at NCI, Dr. Fraumeni emphasized collaborative research that incorporates new and emerging molecular technologies into population and family-based studies. These studies are helping to dissect the genetic and environmental components of cancer, along with their effects on the origins and progression of cancer.

Dr. Fraumeni has authored more than 850 scientific publications, including the textbook Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, co-edited by Dr. David Schottenfeld. Dr. Fraumeni has received numerous honors, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Margaret A. Tucker, director of the Human Genetics Program in DCEG, is serving as acting director until a permanent director is selected.