President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appointthe following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Thelma Duggin, Member, Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• Marcia Cruz-Correa, Member, National Cancer Advisory Board
• Kevin J. Cullen, Member, National Cancer Advisory Board
• Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, Member, National Cancer Advisory Board
• Jonathan M. Samet, Member, National Cancer Advisory Board
• Bill Sellers, Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

President Obamasaid, “These dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and talent to their new roles and I am proud to have them serve in this Administration.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Thelma Duggin, Appointee for Member, Board of Trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Thelma Duggin is President of the AnBryce Foundation, an organization that provides long-term academic and leadership enrichment programs to underserved youth.  Prior to joining the AnBryce Foundation, Ms. Duggin was a Senior Vice President at UnitedHealth Group (UHG).  Before joining UHG, she served as President of Americhoice of New York and Americhoice of New Jersey, Inc.  Ms. Duggin previously served as a Special Assistant to President Reagan and Director of the 50 States Project for Women, and as Coordinator of Minority Affairs to Former Secretary of Transportation, Elizabeth Dole. Ms. Duggin completed the General Management program at Harvard Business School and was a resident fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  She holds a B.S. degree from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and an honorary doctorate from Morris Brown College.

Marcia Cruz-Correa, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Marcia Cruz-Correa, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Visiting Associate Professor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.  She is the Basic and Translational Scientific Director at the UPR Comprehensive Cancer Center and a medical staff member at the VA Caribbean Health Care System in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Dr. Cruz-Correa is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. At UPR, Dr. Cruz-Correa leads a Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. She is also involved in conducting clinical research trials evaluating the role of various chemo-preventive methods. Prior to this, Dr. Cruz-Correa founded the first population-based familial colorectal cancer registry in Puerto Rico. Dr. Cruz-Correa is a council member of the Minorities in Cancer Research of the American Association of Cancer Research, previous Chair of the Diversity Committee of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), and current Chair of the Membership Committee of the ASGE.  She is President of the Puerto Rico Gastroenterology Association, and leads the Puerto Rico Colorectal Cancer Coalition. She holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, an M.D. from the University of Puerto Rico Medical School, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation and Genetic Epidemiology fromthe Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Kevin J. Cullen, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Kevin J. Cullen, M.D. is currently the Director of the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center at the University of Maryland, which under his leadership became a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center in 2008. He is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and is head of its program in oncology. Dr. Cullen was previously Professor of Medicine, Oncology and Otolaryngology at Georgetown University, where he also served as interim director of the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown. He serves on the external advisory boards of several NCI designated cancer centers.  He has chaired two working groups for the NCI and is a member of the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society. He is the author of numerous journal publications and has served on review panels for the NCI, the Veterans Administration Research Program and other organizations.  He was named one of Washington’s Best Physicians by Washingtonian Magazine and has been the recipient of the Special Achievement Award from the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society South Atlantic Division Service Award, and the Ulman Cancer Fund Hope Award. Dr. Cullen holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade is the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine & Human Genetics, Associate Dean for Global Health, and Director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago. She is also a practicing clinician and Director of the University’s Cancer Risk Clinic. In her clinical work, Dr. Olopade is an authority on cancer risk assessment, prevention, and individualized treatment based on risk factors and quality of life. She also works with educators, doctors, government officials and pharmaceutical companies to improve access to quality education and medical care in low-income communities. Dr. Olopade has received numerous professional honors and awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award, and the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, among others. She holds an M.B.B.S. from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, completed her residency in internal medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Chicago.

Jonathan M. Samet, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Jonathan M. Samet, M.D. is Professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and Director of the USC Institute for Global Health.  From 1994 to 2008, Dr. Samet was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Previously, he was Professor and Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of New Mexico.  His research has addressed health risks posed by environmental agents, including active and passive smoking, indoor and outdoor air pollution, cancer occurrence among diverse populations, and patterns of cancer care.  Dr. Samet presently chairs the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration.  He is an elected member of the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine.  Dr. Samet holds an A.B. from Harvard College, an S.M. from the Harvard School of Public Health, and an M.D. from the University of Rochester.

Bill Sellers, Appointee for Member, National Cancer Advisory Board

Dr. William Sellers is currently Vice President and Global Head of Oncology for the Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research, where he oversees small molecule and antibody-based drug discovery efforts in oncology. Dr. Sellers was formerly the Principal Investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He was also an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr. Sellers’ has won research funding from a number of organizations including the National Cancer Institute, the Damon-Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation. His research has been recognized with the Abbott Bioresearch Award, the Tisch Family Outstanding Investigator Award, and the National Institutes of Health, Physician-Scientist Award. He currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board, Caring for Carcinoid Foundation, and the Scientific Advisory Board, Mt. Sinai Medical Center. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Georgetown University and an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.