Trump likely to nominate Anthony Letai as NCI director
President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Anthony Letai, a Harvard Medical School oncologist and Dana‑Farber researcher, to lead the $7.2 billion National Cancer Institute; the White House reportedly planned to announce the pick on 29 September. Cancer‑research leaders have publicly welcomed the likely appointment, citing Letai’s basic‑science credentials, his role in developing the leukemia drug venetoclax, and his advocacy for functional precision‑medicine assays amid recent NCI funding turmoil and proposed budget cuts.
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Researchers are relieved at Trump’s likely pick for National Cancer Institute
New information:
- Anthony Letai, a Harvard/Dana‑Farber oncologist and basic scientist, is reported as the likely nominee to be director of the National Cancer Institute.
- The NCI directs roughly $7.2 billion in cancer research funding; Science notes grant funding shares have recently fallen (standard grants funding fell from 1-in-10 to 1-in-25) and a proposed 2026 budget would cut NCI by ~37% (Congress has passed bills likely to avert that cut).
- Letai’s research led to the leukemia drug venetoclax and he founded the Society for Functional Precision Medicine to advance tumor drug‑response assays; leading cancer scientists (Monica Bertagnolli, Norman Sharpless, Elaine Fuchs) are quoted praising him.