Former NCAB Chair Joins NCI as Senior Advisor for Translational Research
Dr. John Niederhuber, who recently stepped down as chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), has joined NCI as a special advisor to the director for Translational and Clinical Sciences. Dr. Niederhuber is a surgical oncologist and past director of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center. During his distinguished career, he pioneered a totally implanted drug delivery system to provide continuous hepatic arterial infusion for patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. He also was the first to implant venous access devices, which proved to be an exceptional benefit for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Dr. Daniel Von Hoff will serve as interim chair for the NCAB.

President's Cancer Panel Meets to Discuss Recommendations
The President's Cancer Panel held two meetings in Washington, D.C., on August 25 and 26 to follow up on specific recommendations made in its 2003-2004 annual report, Living Beyond Cancer: Finding a New Balance, which identified and addressed critical challenges faced by cancer survivors across their life spans. The Panel considered the adoption of several of the recommendations vital to the National Cancer Program, prompting them to convene these meetings to assess progress. Key stakeholders and decision makers gathered to identify the steps needed to advance the Panel's recommendations.

The Panel will hold two additional meetings on October 24 and 25 to discuss recommendations from the 2004-2005 report, Translating Research into Cancer Care: Delivering on the Promise. For additional information, visit http://pcp.cancer.gov, or call 301-451-9399.

Collins Named DCTD Associate Director
Dr. Jerry Collins was recently named associate director of NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis and will assume leadership of the division's Developmental Therapeutics Program. Dr. Collins is an internationally recognized pharmacologist who has been closely associated with NCI's new drug development effort for more than 25 years, first as an NCI intramural senior investigator and, for the past 17 years, as the director of the FDA's Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology.

Dr. Collins received his bachelor's degree from Drexel University, and his masters and doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author or co-author of more than 170 articles, and currently holds 8 patents.

NCI Launches Advocacy Teleconference Series
NCI's Office of Liaison Activities is offering an Advocacy Teleconference Series on crosscutting issues in cancer research. Members of cancer advocacy organizations, as well as cancer survivors, their families, and friends, are encouraged to participate in the teleconferences to gain information about NCI's research programs and how advocates are involved. Participation is free, and callers will be able to ask questions of panel members. On September 19, NCI Director Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach and other speakers will discuss "Eliminating Suffering and Death Due to Cancer by 2015: The Future of Cancer Research." For more information, go to http://la.cancer.gov/index.html.

HMC Holds Biannual Meeting
On August 22-23, approximately 50 grantees of the Health Maintenance Consortium (HMC) gathered in Washington, D.C., for their biannual meeting. HMC is an NIH research grant program in which NCI is one of the participating institutes. HMC's goal is to understand the long-term maintenance of behavior change, as well as to advance effective strategies for achieving sustainable health promotion and disease prevention activities. In collaboration with NIH administrators and investigators, HMC brings together behavioral health experts to help identify and discuss theories and methodologies related to the processes of behavior change.

The meeting included a panel on environmental influences on health behaviors. Grantees also agreed to work toward implementing cross-site projects that will involve identifying and sharing common data. For more information on HMC, go to http://hmcrc.srph.tamhsc.edu.

Presidential Proclamations for Cancer Awareness in September
Presidential proclamations for National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month for September have been issued. For information on these cancers, go to the following NCI Web sites:

Ovarian Cancer: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/ovarian

Prostate Cancer: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/prostate