Biden Administration Appoints New NCI Director

On November 17, the Biden Administration announced intent to appoint Dr. W. Kimryn Rathmell as Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The position was previously held by Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, the recently confirmed Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (see previous COSSA coverage). Dr. Rathmell currently serves as the Physician-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her PhD in biophysics and her M.D. from Stanford University following a Bachelor of Science in biology and chemistry from the University of Iowa. Dr. Rathmell also served as an internal medicine resident, fellow in Medical Oncology, and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, completed her post-doctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and received a Master of Management in Healthcare at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Rathmell is expected to begin her appointment in December.