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: JAN 3 1931;
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital SF iop OF THE pres

Oncology Center

Stanley Order, M.D., Sc.D.

Director Radiation Oncology

Professor of Oncology and Radiological Sciences

December 31, 1980

Dr. Joshua Lederberg
President

Rockefeller University

York Avenue and E. 66th Street
New York, New York 10021

Dear Dr. Lederberg,

I read with interest your comments concerning new research in the
cancer field in "Cancer Letter", Vol. 6, #50, p.3. The conclusions that you
came to are matched by reality, i.e., creative research has difficulty being
funded by the National Cancer Institute Site Review System as it is presently
being administered. I believe there are constructive steps which could be taken
to improve the situation. I hope that you will consider these possibilities.

There should be a separate granting structure for "New Research".
The Site Review Method utilized would be carried out by a conmittee with
the requirement that each member of the committee themself, | has contributed
"new research". Neither "Funded Research" nor academic rank would be considered
adequate for committee or site review participation. The Committee would be
multidisciplinary both in its scientific support as well as its clinical
support. A limited number of grants could be considered perhaps no greater than
20. Funding would be restricted to 3 years. After initial approval of a grant,
review of further support would be through the usual grant structure. A new
grant would be given for the innovative research only once by the "New Research"
Committee, however the same investigator or team of investigators could apply if
other "new research" was requested for support. It would seem that same
approach like this would significantly benefit cancer research. Thank you for
your consideration.

 

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