Filling big shoes in the race to prevent cancer
Dr. John Potter, a highly renowned epidemiologist and head of Fred Hutchinson's Cancer Prevention Research Program, will assume the directorship of our Public Health Sciences Division this November. Turnover in our divisional leadership has been relatively infrequent, so the appointment of a new division director is a landmark event.
During his distinguished career, John has made major contributions to the understanding of factors that can affect cancer risk, including diet, lifestyle and genetics (story on page 3). The PHS Division is home to the nation's oldest and largest program devoted to cancer-prevention research-an important endeavor, considering that many cancers may be avoidable by changes in lifestyle. Using large populations of people as their "laboratory," public-health researchers look for links between cancer and its possible triggers, from diet and lifestyle to environmental and genetic factors. Identifying such cancer causes can lead to better cancer-detection methods and new ways to help people minimize their risk of getting the disease.
Dr. Ross Prentice brought the PHS Division to its current state of international excellence. The director since 1983, Ross guided PHS through tremendous growth and accomplishment. When Ross decided to step down to focus on his own research, we embarked on an international search for his replacement. We invited many of the most distinguished leaders in the field to visit the center and consult on the future directions for the division and the choice of the new division head.
Choosing a division director is a critical endeavor. The leaders of our four scientific divisions are ultimately responsible for the recruitment, mentoring and oversight of all faculty and many of the staff at Fred Hutchinson. Moreover, the division heads, along with Chief Operating Officer Peggy Means and me, are responsible for vetting all major decisions about the center. After a yearlong search, the committee unanimously recommended our own John Potter to head the PHS Division. The input of leaders in the field made it clear that John was the obvious choice.
John is world-renowned for his broad and productive research agenda, and his advice is valued internationally. This change in leadership comes at a critical time in the development of the PHS Division when it will be making new recruitments, capitalizing on advances in genomic technology, moving into a new building and expanding its laboratory space. It is a time of deep appreciation for the strengths fostered in the division by Ross Prentice and of great excitement over what John Potter will bring for the future. Ross' shoes will be challenging to fill, but John has pretty big feet himself.
