NCAB Meeting Held
The National Cancer Advisory Board met on June 14 and 15. To view a videocast of the public portions of the meeting, go to http://videocast.nih.gov/PastEvents.asp

Milner Receives Career Achievement Award
Dr. John A. Milner, chief of the Nutritional Science Research Group in NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention, recently received the David Kritchevsky Career Achievement Award in Nutrition from the American Society for Nutrition. This award recognizes researchers who devote their careers to promoting interaction among and support for nutrition researchers in government, private, and academic sectors. Dr. Milner was chosen for his research on bioactive substances in garlic and cancer prevention and his studies on the nutritional biochemical aspects of selenium metabolism and carcinogenesis, as well as his professionalism in promoting nutritional science research and training.

Two DCTD Staff Retire
Dr. Michaele Christian, associate director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP), will retire at the end of June after more than 20 years at NCI. CTEP is responsible for a major program in early drug development and collaborates with over 50 pharmaceutical companies to develop new agents for cancer. CTEP also oversees NCI’s extramural cancer treatment clinical trials, coordinating 10 clinical trials cooperative groups and managing a large portfolio of cancer research grants.  Her leadership brought the program through a critical period of development. Dr. Christian played a critical role in the development of molecularly targeted agents, particularly in combinations of agents from more than one company. New initiatives during her tenure included the creation of the Cancer Trials Support Unit and the Central Institutional Review Board.

Dr. Daniel Sullivan, associate director of NCI’s Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, will also retire from NCI at the end of this month. Under Dr. Sullivan’s leadership over the past 10 years, CIP has been responsible for developing the field of molecular imaging into an important component of cancer diagnosis and therapy. These achievements include initiating a collaborative national network for cancer imaging clinical trials, developing novel imaging technologies, and creating image-guided interventional therapies.

Dr. Sullivan will leave NCI to serve as a senior science advisor for the Radiological Society of North America, where he will oversee efforts to develop imaging as a quantitative biomarker. He will also serve as a senior strategic advisor for imaging to the dean of Duke University School of Medicine, where he will help the university plan for a major reshaping of imaging facilities across the campus.

Standard Specimen Reference Sets Available
NCI’s Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) has created standard specimen reference sets (SSRS), collections of high-quality, well-characterized sera that can be used for discovery and early validation of potential cancer biomarkers. EDRN has developed SSRS for prostate, ovarian, breast, and lung cancer, in the context of screening high-risk individuals. EDRN is developing another SSRS for prostate cancer, as well as sets for breast, pancreatic, gastrointestinal, bladder, and lung cancers in other screening contexts.

SSRS are deposited at NCI Frederick and advertised in appropriate journals. Details on all SSRS are available on the EDRN Web site at http://edrn.nci.nih.gov/resources/sample-reference-sets.

NCI Divisions Update Web Sites
The following three NCI divisions recently updated their Web sites: the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, the Division of Cancer Prevention, and the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis.

Meeting on Cancer and Inflammation Set for October
The Center of Excellence in Immunology in NCI’s CCR is sponsoring a meeting October 9 and 10 on cancer and inflammation in the Masur Auditorium on the NIH campus. The conference will feature international leaders in the field and provide a forum for discussion and debate on recent developments. Topics will include innate resistance and cancer, colon and prostate cancers, skin cancers, cancers with an infectious pathogenesis, and the inflammatory tumor microenvironment. Registration is free and can
be completed online at http://web.ncifcrf.gov/events/cancerandinflammation/. For more information, contact Karen Kochersberger at kkochersberger@ncifcrf.gov or 301-228-4027.