Meeting with Director of National Cancer Institute

On Wednesday, I met with Dr. Harold Varmus, Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), to visit about the latest developments in cancer research and treatment.  On May 11, 2011, I had the opportunity to discuss medical research with Dr. Varmus and Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at a Senate Appropriations health subcommittee hearing. Click here to watch video clips of my conversation with Dr. Collins.

Established in 1937, NCI is part of the NIH and is our nation’s principal agency for cancer research and training. Dr. Varmus is a Nobel Prize recipient for his studies of the genetic basis of cancer and he served as Director of NIH from 1993 to 1999. While cancers are made up of a diverse and complex set of diseases, recent research advances are reworking the landscape of cancer research and care. This emerging landscape offers the promise of significant advances for cancer patients, enormous savings to our health care system, and great opportunity for Kansas education institutions, hospitals, laboratories, and businesses.