President George W. Bush has appointed Kenneth Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Members of the board provide advice to the president, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the director of the National Cancer Institute, with respect to the activities and policies carried out by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The advisory board consists of 18 members appointed for six-year terms. Dr. Cowan’s term will run until March 2008.
“It’s a tremendous honor for Ken to be appointed by President Bush to the board,” UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said. “This appointment recognizes what people think of Dr. Cowan’s perspective in the overall shaping of cancer policy, as well as his accomplishments in the field. He will have a tremendous opportunity to help shape cancer policies in the National Cancer Institute and beyond.”
Dr. Cowan said he was excited to begin his term on the advisory board.
“This is certainly a great privilege and opportunity, and is one that I will take very seriously,” Dr. Cowan said. “I look forward to assisting President Bush, Secretary (Tommy) Thompson, and the NCI in developing plans and policies for cancer research.”
Dr. Cowan’s research and clinical interests focus on the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. His research focuses on the mechanisms of drug resistance, the biology of breast cancer and breast cancer genetics. His clinical trials have focused on the identification of therapies to treat and prevent breast cancer.
Before taking his position at Eppley in 1999, Dr. Cowan spent 21 years at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. For 11 years, he served as chief of the Medical Breast Cancer Section, Medicine Branch.
Dr. Cowan is the second UNMC faculty member to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board. James O. Armitage, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine, was appointed to the board in 2000.