MENUWicha appointed to National Cancer Advisory Board
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President Barack Obama announced his selection of Max S. Wicha, M.D., as one of five new appointees to the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Wicha, the Madeline and Sidney Forbes Professor of Oncology at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, will serve on the 18-member board for six years.
“I am honored that these talented individuals have decided to serve our country. They bring their years of experience and expertise to this Administration, and I look forward to working with them,” Obama said in a statement.
The NCAB and the President’s Cancer Panel are the only advisory bodies at either the National Institutes of Health or the Department of Health and Human Services whose members are appointed by the president. The primary task of the NCAB is to advise the secretary of Health and Human Services, the director of the National Cancer Institute, and ultimately the president of the United States on a range of issues affecting the nation’s cancer program and, specifically, NCI operations. The NCAB reviews and recommends grants and cooperative agreements following technical and scientific peer review.
Wicha founded the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center -- now the Rogel Cancer Center -- and served as director for 27 years. He is a renowned cancer researcher who was part of the team that first identified cancer stem cells in a solid tumor, finding them in breast cancer. His lab continues to look at cancer stem cells to help improve treatments for metastatic breast cancer.