Monica Bertagnolli, MD, started her new role as the 16th director of the National Cancer Institute on Oct. 3.
Dr. Bertagnolli was appointed by President Joe Biden in August and is the first woman to hold the position. She succeeds Normal Sharpless, MD, who stepped down in April.
Dr. Bertagnolli joins the NCI from Harvard Medical School, where she served as professor of surgery in the field of surgical oncology. She was a surgeon at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment and Sarcoma Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.