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President Biden will nominate oncologist Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Cancer Institute, to lead the National Institutes of Health, three people familiar with the White House’s plans told STAT.

Bertagnolli last fall became the first woman to direct NCI, the largest of the NIH’s 27 departments, amid the president’s efforts to relaunch the Cancer Moonshot with the goal of halving cancer deaths and vastly curbing new cases.

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Roughly two months into her tenure, the 63-year-old announced that she had begun treatment for early-stage breast cancer but would continue leading the agency.

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