Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., has been the 17th director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she oversaw the work of the world’s largest funder of biomedical research. She previously served as the 16th director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute, the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in Surgical Oncology at Harvard Medical School, and a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Throughout her career, Dr. Bertagnolli has been at the forefront of the field of clinical and translational oncology. Her laboratory focused on advancing our understanding of the genetic drivers of gastrointestinal cancer and the role of inflammation as a promoter of cancer growth. She has also championed collaborative initiatives to promote a learning healthcare system by transforming the data infrastructure for clinical and translational research. She is a past president and chair of the board of directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and served on the board of directors of the American Cancer Society and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. In 2021, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, having previously served on the National Academies Cancer Policy Forum.
