The Directors: Mary Beckerle and Neli Ulrich on delivering cancer care across five states

Mary Beckerle, a whitewater kayaker, has advice for all the folks in the cancer field: never catastrophize, never panic. 

“Back in the day, I used to whitewater kayak, and you’ve got your paddle, and you’re in the water.

“And when you hit that rapid, the one thing you know you have to do is take that paddle and dig it into that wave and pull yourself through with gusto and with determination. And you can’t respond to this chop by just holding your paddle up in the air and going, ‘Uh-oh,’ or you lose every ounce of potential to shape the situation,” said Beckerle, who is also a cell biologist and CEO of Huntsman Cancer Institute. 

Beckerle appeared on The Cancer Letter Podcast with Cornelia Ulrich, chief scientific officer and executive director at Huntsman, and Karen Knudsen, CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and former CEO of the American Cancer Society.

Beckerle is stepping down as CEO at Huntsman on Sept. 1. She and Ulrich have been working hard to explain the value of science, NIH, and the contribution NCI-designated cancer centers make to the health of the nation.

“This has probably been one of my biggest jobs over the past six months—to communicate and be out there and help bridge that gap that has been maybe artificially raised by some people about science and policy,” said Ulrich.

“And really, I mean, what Mary said is so true. No matter where we go, people care about cancer, and no matter whether they are ‘red or blue,’ their families are affected by cancer. And we have had that strong bipartisan support and we continue to foster that.”

Beckerle and Ulrich spoke to Paul Goldberg on The Directors, a monthly series on The Cancer Letter Podcast which focuses on the problems that keep directors of cancer centers up at night.

Knudsen, appearing on the podcast as a discussant, said she thinks Beckerle and Ulrich’s “winning strategy,” is their “people first, but science forward,” approach.

“What you heard from both of them was a sense of urgency to take this innovation that’s happening in cancer prevention, detection, and cures, and push that science to people and enhance their ability to gain access to these breakthroughs,” Knudsen said.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology sponsored this episode. ASCO plays no part in the editorial direction of this podcast.

A transcript of this episode is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20250808_1/