E-Insight

November 2004

NCI Director Speaks at Animal Cancer Center

Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the recently named director of the National Cancer Institute, held a special seminar on Oct. 5 at the Flint Animal Cancer Center . The topic of Dr. von Eschenbach's seminar was "Progress with a Purpose: Eliminating the Suffering and Death Due to Cancer by 2015."

Dr. von Eschenbach was in Colorado with Lance Armstrong and the Relay for Hope Team for the dedication of the Anschutz Cancer Center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver . His four-hour visit to the Animal Cancer Center , coordinated by Dr. Hank Gardner and Marty Ritz, included a tour and his lecture, which he presented before an audience of approximately 120 people.

Dr. von Eschenbach, the twelth NCI director since the creation of the institute in 1938, joined NCI from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he was Director of the Genitourinary Cancer Center and of the Prostate Cancer Research Program. While at M.D. Anderson, he also served as Vice President for Academic Affairs, Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer.

Born in Philadelphia , Dr. von Eschenbach earned his medical degree from Georgetown University in Washington , D.C. , in 1967. He completed two residencies in both general surgery and urology at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. von Eschenbach has contributed more than 200 books, articles and chapters to the scientific literature. He was a founding member and leader of the National Dialogue on Cancer, and prior to his appointment as NCI director, he was president-elect of the American Cancer Society.