In The Headlines: Wafik El-Deiry on how “America First” means investing in NCI

Wafik El-Deiry, director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University, joined The Cancer Letter’s weekly podcast to discuss his recent guest editorial—and confirmed his candidacy for director of the National Cancer Institute.

“NCI is a place where, truly, innovative, unique science and translation can and need to take place,” El-Deiry said on the podcast. 

El-Deiry spoke with Paul Goldberg, editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, and Jacquelyn Cobb, associate editor, about the opportunities he sees for a new NCI director under the Trump administration, and confirmed his candidacy for the role. 

“I have been a candidate since December,” El-Deiry said.

“I think we all would like to see the NIH and the NCI shine and grow and have impact, ultimately, to help patients,” he said. “There's clearly some waste and inefficiency and things that have to be dealt with to start to move in the right direction. But there's also a need for subject matter expertise, and there's a need for strong leadership and strong advocacy for cancer, and in the field of oncology at the NCI, and I think it's urgent.”

Other stories mentioned in this podcast include:

• Wafik El-Deiry: An opportunity for Trump: Position U.S. cancer science to lead the world 

• The Directors: Tom Lynch and Skip Burris on how NIH funding cuts imperil biopharma innovation—and cost patient lives

• Grilled by Congress, Kennedy defends NIH and NCI budget cuts, freezes, and RIFs 

• Kennedy’s claims notwithstanding, NCI clinical trials are delayed, enrollments reduced

• Mace Rothenberg: First exhibit at Museum of Medicine and Biomedical Discovery to focus on the history of cancer research

A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20250521-wafik-el-deiry/