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Breast cancer specialists to lead National Comprehensive Cancer Network board of directors
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Two breast cancer specialists have been appointed to leadership positions on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s board of directors.
Ronald Walters, MD, will serve as board chair. Ruth O’Regan, MD, will serve as vice chair.
“Defining and advancing high-quality, high-value, patient-centered cancer care globally requires input and oversight from experts across the cancer care continuum. Our board of directors — representing all 28 of the top academic cancer centers that make up our alliance — provides essential leadership and guidance on how NCCN can best help people with cancer to live better lives,” Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO of NCCN, said in a press release. “We are incredibly honored to have these two internationally-respected physicians providing strong leadership and stewardship of our mission and vision going forward.”
Walters is associate head for Institute for Cancer Care Innovation and an oncologist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has been a member of NCCN’s board since 2012 and has served on the executive committee since 2016.
His areas of focus include health care reform and system changes to address increasing costs and improve quality.
“NCCN's mission aligns perfectly with my personal efforts to make sure people with cancer everywhere receive high-quality care,” Walters said in the release. “I'm honored to take on an even larger role in ensuring providers can utilize NCCN guidelines and best practice standards to elevate care worldwide.”
O’Regan is division head of hematology and oncology and associate director for clinical research at University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. Her research has focused on identifying new treatments for triple-negative breast cancer.
“Working closely with NCCN gives me opportunities to further impact cancer care by helping the organization to share reliable information that keeps clinicians everywhere up to date on the latest life-saving research,” O’Regan said in the release. “The NCCN guidelines are the most frequently updated medical guidelines in any medical discipline, and they're all available for free online. I look forward to helping NCCN continue to enhance everything they have to offer the oncology community.”