Louis M. Weiner Appointed to NCI Board of Scientific Counselors

Posted in News Release

WASHINGTON — Louis M. Weiner, M.D., director of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors for Clinical Sciences and Epidemiology for the National Cancer Institute.

The Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) evaluates the performance of intramural scientists and the quality of their research programs, which represent an integral part of the overall NIH mission. The BSC serves as the only formally constituted group of outside scientists to review the NCI’s entire intramural program in a systematic fashion and to provide advice directly to the scientific director, according to the NCI.

“It is our belief that rigorous review is vital to maintaining the excellence of any scientific program,” wrote Harold Varmus, M.D., and Michael M. Gottesman, M.D., in their letter inviting Weiner to serve on the BSC. Varmus is director of the National Cancer Institute and Gottesman is deputy director for intramural research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “The Boards are extremely important in contributing to the continued excellence of the scientific research being done at the NIH. In addition to quite specific evaluation of individual scientists and tenure actions under consideration, we also solicit your ideas and suggestions about administration of the the NCI’s intramural program, allocation of resources, specific projects including new areas of development, and ways to encourage higher risk, high pay-off projects in the intramural program.”

“It is an honor to be asked to assess the work of the NCI intramural program as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors,” said Weiner. “Thef NCI has long been the home to some of the world’s finest cancer scientists, and the intramural program has a special niche in the world of cancer research. Helping the NCI to sustain this heritage of extraordinary accomplishment is both satisfying and humbling. I look forward to my five years of service, and am excited by the prospect of being involved in exciting science that has the power to transform lives.”
Weiner’s term began in September and ends in July 2017.

About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Georgetown Lombardi is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.

About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis — or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university’s sponsored research funding.