WLTR reported Monday that Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Dr. Bertagnolli is a world-renowned surgical oncologist, cancer researcher, educator, and physician-leader who has the vision and leadership needed to deliver on NIH’s mission to seek fundamental knowledge and promote human health,” a White House press release stated.
“Dr. Bertagnolli has spent her career pioneering scientific discovery and pushing the boundaries of what is possible to improve cancer prevention and treatment for patients, and ensuring that patients in every community have access to quality care,” Joe Biden said in a statement.
“Dr. Bertagnolli is currently Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the first woman to serve as NCI Director,” the statement added.
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When you dig into Dr. Bertagnolli’s funding over the years, you may as well construct a Pfizer logo onto the NIH building.
“From 2015-2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her research grants,” Chief Nerd tweeted.
Chief Nerd also made The White House press release more accurate.
Biden plans to nominate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli as the new head of the NIH.
From 2015-2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her research grants. pic.twitter.com/AUGGN6XkzT
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 16, 2023
The Daily Signal reported:
President Joe Biden’s choice to lead the National Cancer Institute received $290.8 million in research funding from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer over her career as an oncologist and scientist, according to data uncovered by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.
Last week, the White House announced Biden’s appointment of Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to be the first woman to serve as director of the National Cancer Institute. Bertagnolli will be the 16th person to hold the position, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation.
The cancer institute is the largest of the 19 institutes and seven centers that make up the National Institutes of Health. The Biden administration is pushing what it calls a “cancer moonshot” initiative aimed at reducing cancer deaths by 50% over the next 25 years.
Bertagnolli is the Richard E. Wilson professor of surgery in the field of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School. She is also a surgeon at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer and Sarcoma Disease Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, also in Boston.
ADVERTISEMENTFrom 2015 through 2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her research grants, according to Open Payments, a national transparency program under the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services that collects and publishes information about financial relationships between drug and medical device companies and certain health care providers.
“The funding from Pfizer (and all other industry funding allocated to me) was not in the form of grants to me directly. This funding was in the form of contracts entered into by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology,” Bertagnolli told The Daily Signal in an email Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/_HeartofGrace_/status/1658509393992744966
Review the research funding at Open Payments:
“Does this mean Dr. Bertagnolli is personally corrupt? Not at all. But it does mean that she will probably represent the viewpoints and priorities of the pharmaceutical industry. That is how agencies are captured,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tweeted.
“Oh, and guess what else? The White House left the Pfizer connection out of its announcement of the nomination. @TheChiefNerd has helpfully depicted what the announcement should have said,” he added.
Oh, and guess what else? The White House left the Pfizer connection out of its announcement of the nomination. @TheChiefNerd has helpfully depicted what the announcement should have said.https://t.co/j2CxGonHZn
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 16, 2023
“Here is the official announcement. I’m not shocked that they totally fail to mention the Pfizer connection since, like most people, I’ve become accustomed to the government’s routine manipulation of the public. But when I am President I will set a different tone and standard. Honesty and transparency will be the new norm,” RFK Jr. added.
Here is the official announcement. I’m not shocked that they totally fail to mention the Pfizer connection since, like most people, I’ve become accustomed to the government’s routine manipulation of the public. But when I am President I will set a different tone and standard.…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 16, 2023
The National Institutes of Health.
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