WASHINGTON — President Biden to announce nomination on Monday Dr. Monica M. BertagnoliA cancer surgeon who was appointed director of the National Cancer Institute in October, he was appointed as the next director of the National Institutes of Health, which had been vacant for more than a year.
Dr. Bertagnoli is also a cancer patient.She announced late last year that she had given birth. received a diagnosis About early breast cancer.
In a statement shared by the White House, Biden called her “a career pioneering scientific discovery, pushing the boundaries of what is possible to improve cancer prevention and patient care. A world-class medical scientist.” To ensure that patients in all communities receive quality care. “
Dr. Bertagnoli is subject to Senate confirmation. She is the first female director of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. She will be the second woman to lead the NIH permanently.
For Biden, cancer research is deeply personal. His eldest son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. He said it was part of an effort the president set last year to reduce cancer mortality by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years. Then, to “supercharge” Cancer ‘moonshot’ program He invented and presided over it when he was Vice President.
Biden on Monday lauded Dr. Bertagnoli’s efforts to promote programs that expand access to childhood cancer research and cancer clinical trials.
The announcement of her nomination was not surprising. Many news outlets, including The New York Times, reported last month that the president plans to appoint Dr. Bertagnoli. It is not clear why the delay occurred.
For Dr. Bertagnoli, his battle with cancer is also personal. In mid-December, she announced her diagnosis and said she was “grateful for the excellent care she received” at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She worked as an oncologist before taking command of the National Cancer Institute. .
At the time, she said she had a good prognosis and had entered a clinical trial.and NPR interview In February she said she was still in treatment.
“I went in for a routine mammogram thinking it would be negative like any mammogram, but I was horribly surprised,” she said. “And now I know what it feels like,” she added. “The first thing I asked the doctor was, is there anything available for me? And there was research available for me, so I signed up.”
Dr. Bernadine P. Healy, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, is the only woman to ever head the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Ruth KirshsteinA longtime federal scientist and NIH administrator, he twice served as acting director of the agency.
If approved, Dr. Bertagnoli will succeed Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, who has led the Agency in a deputy capacity since the last Executive Director, Dr. Francis S. Collins, retired in December 2021. Become. Dr. Collins is the appointee. He served President Barack Obama’s term for over 12 years.
As Director of NIH, Dr. Bertagnoli is one of the world’s leading research institutions with 27 laboratories and centers focused on medical issues such as cancer, infectious diseases, heart and lung disease, mental health and substance abuse. will lead the His NIH, whose annual budget exceeds $47 billion, funds research around the world.
The daughter of Italian and French Basque immigrants, Dr. Bertagnoli grew up on a ranch in southwestern Wyoming, studied engineering as an undergraduate at Princeton University, and attended medical school at the University of Utah. Prior to joining the federal government, she was a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, specializing in surgical oncology.
