Greenwald Promoted Within PHS
The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) recently promoted Dr. Peter Greenwald, director of NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention, to Rear Admiral (Upper Half, designating two stars), Assistant Surgeon General. While he will continue to work in the field of cancer prevention, his promotion will provide opportunities to advance the common goals of PHS and NIH.

Looking Ahead: NCI's Plan and Budget for FY 2008
The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research: A Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2008 describes NCI's strategies and progress to reduce the impact of cancer on the lives of all Americans. The budget request represents the institute's professional judgment about FY 2008 resources needed to maintain the present level of operations and provide for minimal growth, as well as expand carefully considered existing initiatives to advance the speed of reaching our goal.

NCI is mandated by legislation to prepare and submit an annual budget estimate directly to the President for review and transmittal to Congress. The actual FY 2008 budget will be determined by Congress during the spring and fall of 2007.

This document can be found at http://plan.cancer.gov. Hard copies can be ordered via e-mail at cisocc@pop.nci.nih.gov, phone at 1-800-4-CANCER, fax at 301-339-7968, or online at www.cancer.gov.

Deadline for Comments on Translational Research
NCI's Translational Research Working Group (TRWG), a 63-person panel established in 2005, was charged with evaluating the current status of the institute's investments in translational research and charting a vision for its future.

TRWG is currently seeking public input to improve translational research at NCI and is welcoming comments on the proposed initiatives and their associated implementation concepts. This input will be considered as TRWG develops final recommendations, which will be offered to the National Cancer Advisory Board in early 2007.

To comment, visit http://www.cancer.gov/trwg. The deadline for feedback is November 3.

Two More TCGA Pilot Project Components Are Announced
NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announced two more components of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Pilot Project, a 3-year, $100 million collaboration to test the feasibility of using large-scale genome analysis technologies to identify important genetic changes involved in lung, brain, and ovarian cancers.

Awards have been made to seven institutions in five states to establish Cancer Genome Characterization Centers (CGCCs). CGCCs will work as a network, with each center using advanced genome analysis technologies to identify major changes in the genomes of the cancers chosen for the TCGA Pilot Project. NCI awarded a total of $11.7 million per year to support the CGCCs.

Additionally, a Data Coordinating Center (DCC) for the TCGA Pilot Project will be developed. The DCC will track data produced by components of TCGA and make TCGA data publicly accessible through databases supported by NCI's caBIG™ and the National Library of Medicine's National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Scientists to Compete for 2007 NIH Director's Pioneer Awards
The 2007 NIH Director's Pioneer Award competition was launched on October 12. The program, which is part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, supports scientists who take innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research. Each Pioneer Award provides $2.5 million in direct costs over 5 years.

"We hope this opportunity stimulates even more investigators to send us their boldest, most imaginative concepts," said NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni.

Scientists from all career levels and research disciplines may apply for the Pioneer Award with the provision that they are interested in exploring biomedical issues. The application period is December 1, 2006, to January 16, 2007.

More information on the Pioneer Awards, including application instructions, can be found at http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/pioneer.