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September 28, 1977 The Blue Sheet - 11 - UPTON LAUNCHES PROBE OF NCI EFFORT ON ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES OF CANCER; CAUSE & PREVENTION CHIEF MOVES UP TO CANCER INSTITUTE DIRECTOR's OFFICE - The environmental carcinogenesis program at NCI will be the first area tackled by new NCI director Arthur Upton. He has convened a Director's Task Force on Carcinogenesis to study the institute's research initiatives into the environmental causes of cancer. Meanwhile, the director of NCI's Div. of Cancer Cause and Prevention has been transferred to Upton's office - a move than could signal other staff changes in the carcinogenesis program. _.0 The director's task force, chaired by Alan Rabson, director of the Div. of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis, held its first meeting Sept. 27. On the agenda were a discussion of the group's purpose and direction and an orientation to NCI's carcinogenesis grants program, by Thaddeus Domanski, chief of the cause and prevention branch of NCI's Div. o£ Cancer Research Resources and Centers. Subsequent meetings are scheduled for consecutive Tuesday afternoons through Nov. 8. Members of the task force, selected by Upton and Rabson, are: John Bailar, editor, Journal of NCI; Bruce Chabner, biochemical pharmacology section head, Div. of Cancer Treatment; Pietro Guillino, pathophysiology lab chief, Div. of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis;. George Khoury, virus tumor biology section acting head, Div. of Cancer Cause and Prevention, and. Kurt Kohn, molecular pharmacology lab chief, Div. of Cancer Treatment. Also, Elizabeth Neufeld, human biochemical genetics section chief,. NIAMDD; Ira Pastan, molecular biology lab chief, Div. of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis; Joseph Rall, intramural research direc- tor, NIAMDD; Edward Scolnick, molecular virology section head, Div. of Cancer Cause and Prevention; Herbert Taylor, biochemistry pharmacology lab chief, NIAMDD, and.. Thomas Waldmann, metabolism branch chief, Div. of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis. .' Weekly Breakfast Meetings Set For Four Govt. Agencies Doing Carcinogenesis Research Upton's speed in assembling the carcinogenesis group indicates a willingness to move quickly in assessing NCI's efforts in this politically visible field. Also, according to one observer, it might portend a methodological, house-cleaning approach to the NCI operations in anticipation of the extension of the Natl. Cancer Act next year - beginning in Upton's own area of expertise. "Upton was the dean of a medical school for five years," the source noted. "You can't survive in that position without being on the ball." Another change in the carcinogenesis program is the transfer of James Peters, director of the Div. of Cancer Cause and Prevention, to a new slot in Upton's office. Effective Oct. 1, Peters will serve as Asst. Director for Special Programs. His new role, he says, will be to coordinate several areas in which Upton has expressed an interest, including but not limited to cancer prevention and manpower training in carcinogenesis. Greg O'Conor, associate director for internati. affairs, will serve as acting director of Peters' div. while a search cmte. looks for a permanent new chief. Upton is also exploring NCI's relationship with the four environmental regulatory agencies - the Environmental Protection Agency, FDA, Occupational Safety,and Health Administration, and Consumer ~ Product Safety Commission. Taking a cue from the regulators, who are now breakfasting together weekly to coordinate cancer control efforts, Upton is planning a weekly breakfast meeting for the heads of the four institutions engaged in carcinogenesis research - NCI, NIH, Natl. Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and Natl. Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. TIMN 0141778