The Trump administration is expected to appoint Anthony Letai, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist/hematologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, as the new head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), according to reports
The appointment is expected to be announced as early as Monday.
The NCI has been without a director since January, when Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, stepped down on the day of President Trump's inauguration. Since then, NCI Principal Deputy Director Douglas Lowy, MD, has been serving as acting director.
Letai received his MD and PhD from the University of Chicago. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Dana-Farber, and his postdoctoral research training in the laboratory of Stanley J. Korsmeyer, MD.
Letai's clinical and research interest is in leukemia and he heads his own lab at Dana-Farber, with a focus on BCL-2 -- a protein that helps control apoptosis, or programmed cell death.
The lab's research helped initiate studies of the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (Venclexta) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma, eventually resulting in multiple FDA approvals.
He is also the founder and president of the Society for Functional Precision Medicine, a nonprofit with the mission of facilitating the implementation of functional assays into clinical care.
Letai will be heading an agency that has been hit with staff cuts, grant and contract cancellations, and the potential for future steep budget cuts.
The Trump administration's budget request for the NCI for fiscal year 2026 is $4,530.8 million, a decrease of $2,690.4 million or 37.3% from fiscal year 2025.
The ultimate budget will depend on congressional action, and the NCI -- currently funded at $7.2 billion -- would receive funding increases in both the House and Senate appropriation bills, with the House providing $7.3 billion in 2026, and the Senate proposing $7.4 billion.
Cancer research leaders are reacting favorably to news of Letai's expected appointment.
"Tony's passion to carry out research at the interface of basic and clinical science has been Tony's signature throughout his postdoctoral and independent scientific career at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute," said Elaine Fuchs, PhD, of the Rockefeller University in New York City, under whom Letai earned his PhD. "During this time, he has focused on how cancer cells evade death and how to harness this vulnerability to advance cancer diagnoses and therapeutics."
"Tony will make an outstanding NCI director," Fuchs told MedPage Today. "He brings to the job a brilliant mind and a commitment to rigorous cancer research. His outstanding leadership skills, impeccable integrity, and wonderful sense of humor will be strong assets in guiding the NCI along the right path."
"Tony Letai is a great choice to run the National Cancer Institute," Norman E. Sharpless, MD, who headed the NCI from 2017 to 2022 and is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, told MedPage Today in an email. "He's a gifted scientist, clinician, and academic leader. He well understands both the challenges and strengths of modern American biomedical research. He will be an excellent advocate for the NCI in Congress, helping our elected officials understand that support for cancer research is an excellent use of federal monies."
Previous Director Rathmell said she was "really delighted."
"Dr. Letai is an excellent choice -- a tremendous scientist, a skilled clinician, and a foundationally good person," she added. "He will be a strong leader to guide the scientific mission at a time when the possibilities are phenomenal, but the stakes are high. He is the kind of person who can inspire confidence in the community, communicate the value in scientific advancement that drives improvements in health, and motivate the best and brightest to pursue careers in cancer. He will have my fullest support."
https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/117671
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