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ROCKVILLE, MD – The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) President Dr. Olalekan Ajayi, PharmD, MBA, today released the following statement of support for the appointment of W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD to be the next Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI):
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ROCKVILLE, MD — The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) President Dr. Olalekan Ajayi, PharmD, MBA, today released the following statement of support for the appointment of W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD to be the next Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI):
“The oncology community across the country applauds the appointment of Dr. Rathmell to lead the NCI. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a dedication to patient care, research, and training the next generation of cancer care professionals and scientists. ACCC enthusiastically looks forward to working with Dr. Rathmell and the NCI as they carry out their important scientific work, including many important clinical trials.
We stand ready to help the NCI continue to broaden the reach of its clinical trials into the community setting and to diverse populations. ACCC’s membership of over 34,000 multidisciplinary cancer care practitioners and 1,700 cancer care programs and practices is committed to helping Dr. Rathmell and the NCI work toward prevention and a cure for cancer, and a world where survivors prosper and lead healthy lives.”
President Biden announced his intention on November 17, 2023 to appoint W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD as the 17th Director of the NCI. Dr. Rathmell currently serves as the Hugh Jackson Morgan Chair in Medicine, Chair of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville.
An internationally recognized expert in kidney cancer, Dr. Rathmell is both a medical oncologist and a translational scientist. Her research laboratory has done groundbreaking work in the molecular biology of kidney cancer, which has led to better ways to detect and treat cancers using molecular biomarkers.
Dr. Rathmell has also been dedicated to training the next generation of physician-scientists. When she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2022, her mentorship of physician-scientists was recognized, together with her many research achievements. She also served on NCI’s Board of Scientific Advisors and as a member of the Cancer Genome Atlas.[i]
[i] Bertagnolli, M., “Intent to Appoint Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell as Director of the National Cancer Institute.” https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/intent-appoint-dr-w-kimryn-rathmell-director-national-cancer-institute. (Accessed November 30, 2023.)