NCI Head Steps Down -

Dr. Richard D. Klausner

WASHINGTON-Dr. Richard D. Klausner, head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), stepped down from his post last month in order to become president of a new philanthropic institute founded by AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case and his wife. An acting director is expected to be named soon.

"The NCI is a jewel that I have had the honor to lead, and it is a family comprised of the most dedicated and effective public servants that I can imagine," Dr. Klausner said in his Sept. 7 letter to President Bush explaining his decision to resign.

Dr. Klausner has served for more than six years as the director of NCI, the largest institute at the National Institutes of Health. During his tenure he has acted as a spokesman for the war on cancer and has been credited with expanding research across the clinical, epidemiological and basic sciences spectrum.

He will leave NCI to become president of the Case Institute of Health, Science and Technology, a new enterprise launched by the Case Foundation. The institute will generate ideas and develop partnerships in the areas of science, medicine and technology. For example, the institute is slated to work on Web-based projects to improve science and technology education and awareness. Also, the group plans to work on Translational Science Partnerships in order to accelerate the rapid testing of molecularly targeted approaches for diseases.

In his letter to President Bush, Dr. Klausner said he was excited for the opportunity to continue to work on science and technology issues, but to do so outside of government in a new institution.

However, he will continue to work at NCI and head a research laboratory as a "special volunteer." "We are clearly at a time of great scientific opportunity, and I firmly believe that NCI and the nation's cancer research program are in a fantastic position to capitalize on those opportunities and to translate the results into reducing the terrible burden of cancer for all of our people and indeed, for all humankind," Dr. Klausner said.

Dr. Klausner was praised by many people both inside and outside NIH in the wake of his resignation last month, including Department of Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson and NIH acting director Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein.

"Rick Klausner is a true superstar in the biomedical research community and one of its most respected leaders," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Among his many talents is his extraordinary vision, a quality that seems perfectly matched to the lofty goals of the Case Institute. He will be sorely missed at the NIH."

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