The nation's cancer chief appointed acting commissioner of the FDA



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Director of the National Cancer Institute, Norman "Ned" Sharpless, will become Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, succeeding Scott Gottlieb, who will leave next month, said Tuesday the Secretary of Health and Social Services, Alex Azar.

Sharpless, 52, an accomplished researcher, oncologist and administrator, has been the director of the Cancer Institute for about 18 months and has received good reviews from cancer advocates, patient groups and academic researchers.

Sharpless had a cordial relationship with Gottlieb, who supported his appointment as FDA. And he became a regular player in the evening basketball games hosted by FDA officials. Gottlieb announced last week that he was resigning to spend more time with his wife and three young children living in Connecticut.

Azar announced the appointment of Sharpless at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. "We will continue Dr. Gottlieb's vision," he said. "His agenda is my agenda. My calendar is his agenda.

Part of Sharpless's call is that he could start the FDA pretty quickly. It is also possible that he will be appointed permanent commissioner later. It has never been confirmed by the Senate – which is not required for the NCI position or for the FDA interim leader. But, as a presidential candidate, he has been thoroughly scrutinized and divested of his financial assets that could pose a conflict of interest.

Azar said the search process for a permanent replacement in Gottlieb was ongoing.

During her relatively brief tenure at the Cancer Institute, Sharpless advocated for increased data sharing, analysis, and aggregation to develop new knowledge and treatments for cancer. He also insisted that clinical trials be modernized and to increase funding for university researchers across the country, even when it meant cutting internal programs.

Sharpless was director of the Center's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina before holding the high-level position at NCI, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. He would be the second director of the cancer institute to move to the FDA; Andrew von Eschenbach was the first to move to the agency in 2005. Sharpless also founded two biotechnology companies.

"Ned has already proven to be an extraordinary leader throughout his career and at the helm of the NCI," said Ellen Sigal, chair of the advocacy group Friends of Cancer Research. "His dynamic style, his deep scientific knowledge and his passion for helping patients make him an ideal steward at this pivotal time for science and public health."

Azar also announced that Douglas Lowy, deputy director of the Cancer Institute, would be acting director of the NCI – a position he also held under the Obama administration. Lowy is known for his award-winning research that culminated in the development of a vaccine against human papillomavirus, which causes cancer of the cervix, anus, throat, and many other cancers.

In a separate statement, Sharpless said, "With his deep scientific knowledge and expertise, he will be a strong leader for the FDA," he added. opioid crisis, the modernization of food security and the treatment of the rapid increase of electronic cigarette consumption by young people. "

Sharpless said in an interview with the Washington Post last year that his frustration with inadequate cancer treatment in the late 1990s had fueled his interest in basic research. He has become a geneticist and molecular biologist, specialized in cell division and aging, and practicing oncologist.

A native of Greensboro, NB, he studied bachelor's and medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her cancer center, her lab has conducted extensive research into the role of the p16 tumor suppressor gene in aging and cancer.

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