Dr. Tony Kerlavage Reflects on His Time at NCI

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Dr. Tony Kerlavage Reflects on His Time at NCI

After serving as CBIIT’s director for seven years and spending 13 years at NCI, Dr. Kerlavage plans to retire at the end of May 2024. Read this blog to learn about his experience as the director, advice for the future director, and plans for retirement.

Five years ago, I officially became the director of NCI CBIIT, after serving two years as acting director. I remember saying how it was a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on so many people. I’m very proud of our achievements in strengthening the organization during this time. Our work has not only improved the organization but also positively affected the lives of cancer patients.

I’m most proud of how my colleagues and I evolved CBIIT’s focus and activities to enable NCI’s scientific mission. My approach had always been to collaborate with colleagues from various NCI divisions, offices, and centers (DOCs). In doing this, we understood each other’s specific needs and ensured that our work together aligned with those needs. This wasn’t always CBIIT’s approach though, and while the change started before I became director, creating the necessary collaborations across the institute and developing the projects to support our scientific partners took consistent and intentional focus.

CBIIT has been working closely with the other NCI DOCs for years, supporting individual projects and concerted efforts in major programs (such as the NCI Cancer Research Data Commons[CRDC]), data sharing, and NCI Intramural Research Program data management. In hindsight, I might have tried to initiate this outreach and move these relationships forward more broadly and even more quickly. I also would have ensured that we invested more time and some dedicated funding in innovation.

To Article: https://datascience.cancer.gov/news-events/blog/dr-tony-kerlavage-reflects-his-time-nci-cbiit

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