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The press release below was prepared by University of Utah Health. View the original.
Monica Bertagnolli, MD, former chair of Huntsman Cancer Institute’s external advisory board and a 1985 graduate of the University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, was nominated May 15th as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.
If confirmed as NIH director by the U.S. Senate, she would oversee the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, which has a budget of more than $47 billion and is composed of 27 separate institutes and centers.
A cancer surgeon, Bertagnolli became the first female director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in October 2022. She was also the first woman to lead the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s surgical-oncology division in Boston. She would be the second female director of the NIH.
Prior to becoming director of the NCI, Bertagnolli served as chair of the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s external advisory board. In that position, she played a key role on advising Huntsman Cancer Institute on strategy for its cancer research efforts and particularly the institute’s enhanced commitment to the Mountain West.
“Dr. Bertagnolli has been closely connected to Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah for many years,” says Cornelia Ulrich, PhD, chief scientific officer and executive director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Huntsman Cancer Institute. “As a member of our external advisory board she has provided invaluable insight on the needs of the rural and frontier populations in the Mountain West – the area that Huntsman Cancer Institute is dedicated to serve.”
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About Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) is the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming. With a legacy of innovative cancer research, groundbreaking discoveries, and world-class patient care, we are transforming the way cancer is understood, prevented, diagnosed, treated, and survived. Huntsman Cancer Institute focuses on delivering a cancer-free frontier to all communities in the area we serve. We have more than 300 open clinical trials and 250 research teams studying cancer at any given time. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center. Our scientists are world-renowned for understanding how cancer begins and using that knowledge to develop innovative approaches to treat each patient’s unique disease. Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.