President Donald Trump has selected Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD, director of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, to lead the NCI. The news was met with widespread approval among cancer researchers, who view Sharpless as a strong communicator who can ably represent the needs of the cancer community in the face of proposed funding cuts.

President Donald Trump has selected Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD, an accomplished cancer researcher, clinician, and administrator, to lead the NCI. Sharpless, who has directed the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center since 2014, succeeds Doug Lowy, MD, who has served as acting director for the past 2 years.

The appointment, which does not require congressional approval, drew praise from cancer researchers who view Sharpless as well equipped to lead the NCI through challenging times, given the Trump administration's proposal to cut the NIH budget by 20% in fiscal year 2018. Highly respected as a clinician and researcher, Sharpless is also known as an effective communicator, says Judy Garber, MD, MPH, a member of the NCI Cancer Advisory Board, and director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.

“As director, part of his job is to represent the NCI to Congress, to convince them that their ongoing investment in cancer research is productive and important,” says Garber. “He not only has a broad understanding of the many aspects of the cancer community but can also communicate effectively with nonscientists.”

graphic

Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD

A professor at UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, Sharpless completed his internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care, both in Boston. As a clinician, he specializes in treating patients with leukemia, while his research focuses on how normal cells age and become malignant.

He has authored more than 150 journal articles, reviews, and book chapters, holds 10 patents, and cofounded two North Carolina–based biotechnology companies: G1 Therapeutics and HealthSpan DX. The former is developing experimental CDK4/6 inhibitors for a variety of cancers, as well as an oral selective estrogen receptor degrader for breast cancer. The latter is developing a blood test to determine a patient's “molecular age” by measuring p16 expression.

“We are at an inflection point where researchers are making unprecedented discoveries and turning them into new cancer treatments, but realizing these possibilities requires a strong NCI to ensure that adequate resources are available and to evaluate where we are having successes,” says Bruce Clurman, MD, PhD, executive vice president and deputy director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. “Dr. Sharpless has the right perspective and experience to make these critical components happen.”–Janet Colwell

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://cancerdiscovery.aacrjournals.org/content/early/by/section.

©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.
2017
American Association for Cancer Research.