First woman NCI director aims to advance Cancer Moonshot, tackle disparities
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Years ago, Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, made a decision that would guide her future:
If presented with an opportunity to lead a large cancer clinical trial group, she would say “yes.”
This willingness to say yes has taken Bertagnolli far in her career — in fact, her most recent “yes” was to President Joe Biden, who appointed her the 16th Director of the NCI, and the first woman to hold the position.
“I never set out to become NCI director — that was the last thing on my mind,” Bertagnolli said in an interview with Healio. “What always has been on my mind is that we have to do better for our patients with this disease, and any role I can take that will help me do that, I’m going to take.”
Alleviating unequal burdens
Bertagnolli, who is also the first clinical trials group chair to lead the NCI, brings years of clinical trials experience to her new role. She currently serves as vice president of Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups, chair of Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, president of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Foundation, and CEO of Alliance Foundation Trials, LLC.
“Clinical trials have been, for me, the way to have the biggest impact for people with cancer,” Bertagnolli said. “The problem of cancer is as serious as it has ever been, but we’ve got so much more capability than we’ve ever had before. Being a clinical trialist is about taking the best in new science and applying that to improvements in care for patients.”
Before her role at the NCI, which takes effect on Oct. 3, Bertagnolli served as the Richard E. Wilson professor of surgery in the field of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, as a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
She is especially focused on improving diversity in clinical trial enrollment and plans to make this a priority as NCI director. As the first woman to ever hold her current position, Bertagnolli acknowledged that disparities need to be addressed in all areas of health care — from clinical trial enrollees to patients in the clinic to physicians and other providers.
“There are unequal burdens that some people in our society carry,” she said. “This can be female physicians having more child care responsibilities than men, or it can be a patient coming from an underserved community and having difficulty accessing care. I’m grateful that our society is now focusing on this more than ever before and working to eliminate those disparities.”
‘Everyone can have a role’
Bertagnolli said one aspect of her new role that she’s especially excited about is the newly reinvigorated Cancer Moonshot. In February 2022, President Biden announced new goals for the initiative, which was initially launched in 2016. Among these goals are to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% in the next 25 years and to improve the experience of people living with cancer.
“I am very excited to be taking on this role during a new Moonshot,” Bertagnolli said. “The beauty of Moonshot, the reason it’s so special, is that we’re not just looking to oncologists to help — we’re looking at the entire health care community. We’re looking across all of NIH and other government agencies. We’re looking to the FDA, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. We’re looking to all medical disciplines. Everyone can have a role.”
For example, she discussed the key role that primary care physicians can play in the Cancer Moonshot effort by focusing on cancer prevention during routine patient care.
“Primary care doctors are on the frontlines of prevention, so we want to bring these partners in to prevent cancer instead of having to treat it,” she said. “I think Moonshot is about eliminating barriers and achieving the collaborations that it takes to have maximal impact.”
Recognize opportunities
When asked how she would advise a woman in oncology who is seeking to advance in her career, Bertagnolli said the first step is to recognize the opportunities.
“There is so much to do,” she said. “Everyone asks me, ‘How do I get my foot in the door?’ and I say ‘Show up. Go to an academic or public meeting, go to a session. Find the people doing the work that interests you.’
“There is going to be a job that nobody’s doing that you can claim by showing up and saying, ‘Yes, I can do that,’” she added.
For more information :
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, can be reached at the NCI, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892; Twitter: @NCIDirector.
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