Talk:National Cancer Institute

Comments from Quietvillager
I work for the National Cancer Institute and want to correct some factual inaccuracies on this page. The reference to NCI as a "a federally funded research and development center" is misleading, for the following reasons:


 * Federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) is a name used to refer to specialized research centers supported by the federal government. See NSF information on FFRDC.
 * NCI is 1 of 27 Institutes and Centers that comprise the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NCI funds one of the FFRDCs - NCI at Frederick which is the only FFRDC for the Department of Health and Human Services. But NCI activities extend beyond support of the FFRDC.

Also, the page does not describe some of the key areas of research that NCI supports. It focuses on two aspects - drug development and quality assurance for the use of radiaton therapy on clinical trials. This is also misleading.

I would suggest that the page be structured to describe the key areas of research supported by NCI.

Cancer biology and genomic research, translational and clinical research, epidemiologic research, cancer control and prevention research, health services research

In addition, NCI funds and supports the cancer research and care delvery infrastructure through bioinformatics and biospecimens and repositories platforms, NCI-designated cancer centers and  community cancer centers programs, SBIR and technology transfer programs. --Quietvillager (talk) 14:14, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Comments from Realvillager
A Criticism section is very much needed. If someone wants to start: www.naturalnews.com/032700_National_Cancer_Institute_Dr_Samuel_Epstein.html  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.0.167.193 (talk) 15:50, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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Update of factual information
A couple of facts are outdated on this page and should be updated.

Disclosure: I am an employee of the National Cancer Institute, so in keeping with Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines, I am proposing the changes on the Talk page rather than making them myself.

This page about the National Cancer Institute should be updated to reflect current leadership and the accurate number of NCI-designated Cancer Centers. Please see my suggested edits below.

Paragraph 2 of intro text suggestion.
Change:

On June 10, 2017, President Donald Trump announced his appointment of Dr. Norman Edward “Ned” Sharpless, M.D., as director of the National Cancer Institute. On October 17 of that year, Dr. Sharpless was sworn in as the NCI's 15th director.[2][3]

To:

On October 17, 2017, Dr. Norman Edward “Ned” Sharpless, M.D., was sworn in as the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Sharpless held the position until April 2019, when he became the acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs. [source: Kaplan, Sheila, "National Cancer Chief, Ned Sharpless, Named F.D.A.’s Acting Commissioner," New York Times, March 12, 2019.] On April 8, 2019, Douglas R. Lowy became the NCI Acting Director, a role he previously served in from April 2015 to October 2017. [source: Affairs, HHS Public (2019-03-12). "Current NCI Deputy Director @NCIDrDoug will serve as Acting Director of @theNCI". @SpoxHHS.]

'''I made this change on August 14, 2019. As disclosed above, I am an employee of the NCI editing Wikipedia in an official capacity. I am implementing this change in the interest of keeping this Wikipedia page up-to-date. This edit is sourced and strictly factual in nature.''' DarylM at NCI (talk) 22:03, 14 August 2019 (UTC)

Paragraph 4 of intro text:
Change:

The NCI supports a nationwide network of 69 NCI-designated Cancer Centers with a dedicated focus on cancer research and treatment[8] and maintains the National Clinical Trials Network.[9] To:

The NCI supports a nationwide network of 70 NCI-designated Cancer Centers with a dedicated focus on cancer research and treatment[8] and maintains the National Clinical Trials Network.[9]

Note: I made this change on 7/26/19 DarylM at NCI (talk) 22:41, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Leadership Section Table:
Change:

Harold Varmus 2010–2015	Co-winner of the Nobel Prize for studies of the genetic basis of cancer.[33] He was director of the National Institutes of Health from 1993 to 1999.

Douglas R. Lowy (Acting) April 2015 – October 2017	Serving as NCI's deputy director since September 2010.[34]

Norman E. Sharpless 17 October 2017—	15th Director of the NCI.[2][3]

To:

Harold Varmus 2010–2015	Co-winner of the Nobel Prize for studies of the genetic basis of cancer.[33] He was director of the National Institutes of Health from 1993 to 1999.

Norman E. Sharpless October 2017–April 2019	15th Director of the NCI.[2][3]  Transitioned to acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs in April 2019.

Douglas R. Lowy (Acting) April 8, 2019 – 	Previously served as Acting Director April 2015 through October 2017. Serving as NCI's deputy director since September 2010.[34]

- I made this change on 7 August 2019. DarylM at NCI (talk) 14:38, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

These suggestions are strictly factual and should not be controversial. Thanks for considering them. DarylM at NCI (talk) 20:53, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

Request to update NCI logos
NCI recently adopted a new logo and the agency's communications office would like the page to display the new logo, which is now available on Wikimedia Commons in both and.

Disclosure: I am an employee of NCI and wish to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Thus, I am requesting help from the Wikipedia community to change the logo on the page about the National Cancer Institute to reflect the current design.

DarylM at NCI (talk) 20:51, 15 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I updated it here at English Wikipedia and also in the Wikidata item. Thanks for sharing.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  21:14, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

@ Blue Raspberry, thank you! DarylM at NCI (talk) 21:58, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Outdated Leadership Information
This page does not reflect the most recent changes in NCI leadership. On November 1, 2019, Norman "Ned" Sharpless resumed his position as NCI director following his temporary reassignment as acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs. This Wikipedia page should note that change.

I’d like to suggest the following changes be made to the Introduction section, the Leadership table, and the top-right infobox.

Current Wording: On October 17, 2017, Norman Edward “Ned” Sharpless, M.D., was sworn in as the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Sharpless held the position until April 2019, when he became the acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs.[6] On April 8, 2019, Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., became the NCI Acting Director, a role he previously served in from April 2015 to October 2017.[7]

Proposed Wording: On October 17, 2017, Norman Sharpless, M.D., was sworn in as the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute. In April 2019, Dr. Sharpless left NCI temporarily to serve as the acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs. [6] He returned to the institute in November 2019 and resumed the role of NCI Director. From April to November 2019, Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., served as the NCI Acting Director, a role he previously served in from April 2015 to October 2017. [7]

For the Leadership table, I suggest deleting the row for Douglas Lowy as acting director and changing the second column of the row for Norman Sharpless to “October 2017–” and the third column to:

“15th Director of the NCI. [36][37]  From April until November 2019, Dr. Sharpless served as acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs. During that time, NCI Deputy Director Douglas R. Lowy, M.D., served as Acting NCI Director, a role he previously served from April 2015 to October 2017. [38] ”

The Infobox should show Norman Sharpless as the Agency executive.

DarylM at NCI (talk) 19:53, 25 November 2019 (UTC) edited 23:28, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Reply 25-NOV-2019
Thank you!
 * The requested prose cannot be inserted because it contains numbers manually placed within brackets (e.g., [6], [7]). These bracketed numbers are not linked to any reference provided on the talk page. Please note that all references used in a proposed addition to an article need to have their full citations included with the request.
 * Additionally, all references provided with the request should be formatted using whichever style is already in use with the article. The proposal supplied URL's when the article uses Citation Style 1.
 * When ready to proceed with the requested information, kindly change the  template's answer parameter to read from yes to no.

Regards, Spintendo  23:09, 25 November 2019 (UTC)

Reply 03-DEC-2019
Regards, Spintendo  07:03, 4 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you for providing the needed clarifications, and for doing so according to the guidelines at WP:REDACTED, it is much appreciated.
 * 1) ✅/❌ The proposed wording for the lead section could not be implemented because that section of text has been moved to the History section. As the information concerned recent leadership changes at the institute, it was questionable whether or not that information - with its transitory nature — belonged in the lead section, which ostensibly exists to provide a summary of the article's main points.
 * 2) ❌ The claim regarding Lowy serving as acting director could not be added/moved along with the other text from point 1 above, because the reference for that information was not included with the request.
 * 3) ❌ The leadership table could not be altered because the properly formatted wiki-markup for that proposed table has not been included with the request.
 * 4) ✅ The infobox's chief1_name and chief1_position parameters were updated.

Update agency leadership request
DarylM at NCI (talk) 20:22, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Specific text to be added or removed: For Agency Infobox, change agency executive field Head 1 to Douglas R. Lowy and Head Position 1 to Acting Director
 * Reason for the change: Change in leadership of the institute
 * References supporting change: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/monica-bertagnolli-md-takes-helm-nih
 * This request has been completed. Spintendo  03:53, 10 November 2023 (UTC)

Remove Notable NCI Faculty and Notable People sections
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cancer_Institute#Notable_NCI_faculty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cancer_Institute#Notable_people
 * Specific text to be removed:
 * Reason for the change: The entries in these sections seem outdated and arbitrary. Unclear what makes faculty or people "notable" in this context

DarylM at NCI (talk) 17:03, 25 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I believe you are asking for the removal of these sections altogether is that correct? CNMall41 (talk) 05:42, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
 * That is correct. These two sections seem outdated and arbitrary.
 * DarylM at NCI (talk) 15:10, 1 April 2024 (UTC)
 * would it not be better to update instead of remove? Or perhaps have a "notable alumni" section? Encoded   Talk 💬 17:48, 6 April 2024 (UTC)
 * NCI has thousands of employees, both past and present. What criteria makes some of them "notable?" I have no objection to someone updating and maintaining the sections, but as they stand now, there seems no objective criteria for designating a staff person or alumni as notable and several of the people currently included have little connection to the institute. As an employee of NCI, it would be a conflict for me to edit this section. In lieu of someone without a conflict of interest adopting the sections in question, I think they should be removed.
 * DarylM at NCI (talk) 18:51, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Unresponsive requester  v/r - Seawolf35 T--C 21:05, 27 April 2024 (UTC)