Dinah Singer Named New Director of NCI's Division of Cancer Biology

National Cancer Institute
Monday, 19 July 1999

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) today named Dinah S. Singer, Ph.D., a well-recognized researcher in studies of transcriptional control in the immune system, as director of its Division of Cancer Biology. In this position, Singer will oversee the administration of over $600 million of NCI-funded grants. Singer will take up her position at the beginning of September. She will be leaving her job as Senior Scientific Officer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Maryland, where she has served since 1998.

Singer has been associated with NCI since 1975 when she joined the Laboratory of Biochemistry, eventually becoming chief of the Molecular Regulation Section of the Experimental Immunology Branch of the Intramural Program.

"Singer brings many impressive skills and great experience to this important job," said NCI Director Richard Klausner, M.D. "Her service on numerous Advisory Boards at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and throughout the biomedical research community have encompassed areas such as technology transfer, education, and women scientists, which should serve her well in her new capacity."

The Division of Cancer Biology (DCB) manages grant and contract supported programs in basic and applied research on cancer cell biology, including research on carcinogenesis and cancer immunology. In addition to investigating basic cellular mechanisms, DCB funded grant research includes examination of the role of biological, chemical, and physical agents in the initiation, promotion or inhibition of cancer as well as the biological and health effects of exposures to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.

In addition to managing a multimillion dollar budget, Singer will oversee a staff of approximately 62 people in seven different branches who are responsible for administering extramural grants and contracts (given to institutions outside of NIH) and in assisting individual investigators in presenting their ideas for research in the most effective way. She will also serve as a member of the NCI Executive Committee as well as advising the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors, the National Cancer Advisory Board, and the President's Cancer Panel, of advances and changes within DCB.

Singer received her M.Phil and Ph.D., at Columbia University, N.Y. After her post-doctoral fellowship in NCI's Laboratory of Biochemistry, she became a senior investigator in the Immunology Branch and then the Experimental Immunology Branch of NCI. She has served as deputy editor of the Journal of Immunology, as associate editor of Immunity, and belongs to the American Association of Immunologists.

For more information, or to contact National Cancer Institute, see their website at: www.cancer.gov