Niederhuber Named COO of NCI as von Eschenbach Serves as Acting FDA Commissioner

October 3, 2005—John Niederhuber, M.D., will serve as the chief operating officer (COO) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the Institute in the absence of Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., who is serving as Acting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner.

Dr. von Eschenbach was named acting head of FDA September 23, after the resignation of Commissioner Lester M. Crawford, D.V.M., Ph.D. At that point, Dr. von Eschenbach was to serve concurrently as NCI chief and Acting FDA Commissioner. With the news of Dr. Niederhuber’s appointment, Dr. von Eschenbach has taken a temporary leave of absence from NCI. At the present time, it is unclear how long Dr. von Eschenbach will serve as acting commissioner at FDA and whether he is being considered for the permanent job.

Dr. Niederhuber is a former chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) and was recently named NCI deputy director for translational and clinical sciences. A surgical oncologist, he was director of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1997 to 2002. Dr. Niederhuber pioneered the development of an implanted drug delivery system to provide continuous hepatic arterial infusion for colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases. A former NCI-funded investigator, Dr. Niederhuber’s research interests are in tumor immunology and cellular signaling pathways involved in abnormal cell growth.

Dr. von Eschenbach plans to recuse himself from all FDA issues that involve NCI so as to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. He said that this recusal would include the approval of “applications affecting drugs, devices, and biologics submitted by NCI or where an NCI employee was a principal investigator; FDA oversight/observation of adverse event reporting in NCI clinical protocols; and other matters involving NCI as a party in which FDA is exercising its regulatory authority.”

If you have questions, or need more information, please contact ASH Government Affairs Manager Jeff Coughlin at (202) 776-0544.