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  • Press Release

    AAMC Statement on Norman “Ned” Sharpless Stepping Down as Director of National Cancer Institute

    Media Contacts

    John Buarotti, Sr. Public Relations Specialist

    AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Scientific Officer Ross McKinney, Jr., MD, issued the following statement in response to the announcement that Norman “Ned” Sharpless, MD, will step down from his role as director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at the end of the month:

    “The AAMC commends Dr. Sharpless for his nearly five years of service as director of the National Cancer Institute. During his tenure, he has led the roughly $7 billion biomedical research institute to collaborate and embrace new ways of working to solve some of the toughest problems in cancer. He has provided exceptional leadership at the NCI, working diligently with researchers, patient advocates, academic institutions, and policymakers to advance scientific discovery in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, and to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of cutting the number of cancer deaths in the United States in half in the next 25 years.

    The NCI will continue to play a crucial role in President Biden’s mission of “ending cancer as we know it,” both through the Cancer Moonshot initiative and in supporting the foundational discovery necessary to strengthen cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for people everywhere. The AAMC looks forward to continuing to work with the NCI and the entire NIH to create a healthier future for all.”


    The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) is a nonprofit association dedicated to improving the health of people everywhere through medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations. Its members are all 159 U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education; 13 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 500 academic health systems and teaching hospitals, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 70 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC leads and serves America’s medical schools, academic health systems and teaching hospitals, and the millions of individuals across academic medicine, including more than 201,000 full-time faculty members, 97,000 medical students, 158,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences. Following a 2022 merger, the Alliance of Academic Health Centers International broadened participation in the AAMC by 70 international academic health centers throughout five regional offices across the globe. Learn more at aamc.org.