Biden to name Monica Bertagnolli as National Cancer Institute director

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Harvard Medical School surgeon Dr. Monica Bertagnolli is poised to become the first woman to lead the National Cancer Institute after President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he plans to appoint her to the position.

Bertagnolli currently serves as the Richard E. Wilson professor of surgery in the field of surgical oncology at Harvard as well as a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

She is also a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the top cancer hospitals in the world.

"I look forward to working with Dr. Bertagnolli to advance the president's call to end cancer as we know it. Dr. Bertagnolli's decades of cancer research expertise around patient-centered care and her work to create more inclusive clinical trials will be instrumental as we accelerate the rate of research and innovation to fight cancer," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

"Cancer knows no bounds and neither should our efforts to prevent cancer deaths. Together, we will reignite and advance the president's Cancer Moonshot initiative to save lives."

The White House said Bertagnolli is expected to join the institute at a time of renewed attention to the Cancer Moonshot initiative, one of President Biden's signature initiatives. Biden called for the goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50% in the United States over the next 25 years.

"Dr. Bertagnolli lends to this effort one of the most powerful voices in the country for cancer patients, particularly for those in rural and remote communities, with a history of advancing patient-focused programs that incorporate learnings directly from patient experiences to build more inclusive models of care," the White House said in a statement.