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From The NCI Strategic Plan
Early in 2003, as the Director of the National Cancer Institute, I announced our Challenge to the Nation--to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by 2015. I have been extraordinarily pleased with the response of the cancer community and the desire of many to partner with us to make it happen. This Challenge has become the Vision for the Nation's Cancer Program as we all strive to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer. NCI has a clear mandate and responsibility to lead the pursuit of fundamental scientific knowledge and support the cancer community by providing the funding, infrastructure, tools, and other resources necessary to make this Vision a reality.
By maintaining a clear focus on our purpose, we will build synergy around a seamless, integrated, and continuous discovery, development, and delivery process. Our research will be targeted to those areas of pursuit that show greatest promise. New development will promote the most compelling interventions based on evidence emerging from that discovery. The delivery of evidence-based interventions will be universal. What we learn in public health and medical practice will foster our understanding of the biology of cancer and make possible increasingly more effective interventions.
This Plan sets forth a framework within which NCI can lead and work with others to address some of the most perplexing challenges of cancer. It has been conceived by NCI leadership and staff with ongoing input from our NCI advisory groups and regular interactions with the cancer research and advocacy communities.
We hope that our NCI Strategic Plan will serve as a guide for decision making both at NCI and across the cancer community. The Plan will only be of value when it is used to formulate integrated and deliberate solutions to the cancer problem. We believe that the Vision is within our grasp, and we are prepared to stretch the boundaries of science, imagination, and human will to achieve it.
Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D.
Director, National Cancer Institute
October 2004
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