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WASHINGTON — DEC. 16, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the appointment of Harvey Risch, M.D., Ph.D., as chairman of the President’s Cancer Panel. The panel, part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute, is charged with monitoring the development and execution of the activities of the National Cancer Program and reporting to the president on progress, efficacy, and opportunities for improvement in the national effort against cancer. The Panel was established by law through the National Cancer Act of 1971.

Dr. Risch is Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist in and Senior Research Scientist in Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine. As chairman of the President’s Cancer Panel, Dr. Risch plans to accelerate American innovations in cancer prevention and increase the public’s awareness of reproductive, dietary, occupational, environmental, and immune system-related factors that influence cancer etiology.

“Dr. Risch brings the expertise and resolve needed to identify the root causes of cancer in America,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “He will push this work forward, confront the factors driving cancer rates, and provide the public with science they can trust. This appointment strengthens our national fight against cancer and reflects our duty to protect Americans’ health with transparency, independence, and rigorous inquiry.”

“The field of cancer prevention is only 75 years old,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. “Great developments in our understanding of this subject should not shock us — they should be expected. Dr. Risch is a distinguished pioneer in the study of cancer epidemiology with the background to help bring the revelations to the field we’re seeking.”

“Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States,” said U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI). “Dr. Risch has the experience and leadership to guide the President’s Cancer Panel toward discoveries that can hopefully reduce those numbers. Dr. Risch brings knowledge and courage to confront the cancer epidemic with an open mind and help make America healthy again.”

“I am thankful for the opportunity President Trump has given me to transform cancer prevention in the United States,” said Dr. Risch. “This Panel has access to the best minds, cutting edge science, and vast resources required to radically advance Americans’ understanding of cancer development, diagnosis, and prevention. We are sitting on the treasure trove of knowledge necessary to demystify the causes of cancer, and we can use that knowledge to help Americans live fuller, freer lives. Cancer does not have to loom over the American people as an unknowable specter.”

Dr. Risch has dedicated his career to studying cancer etiology, prevention, early diagnosis, and epidemiological methods. His research has included studies of ovarian cancer, pancreas cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal and stomach cancer, and cancers related to the use of oral contraceptives and noncontraceptive estrogens.

Prior to his tenure at Yale, Dr. Risch received his M.D. degree from the University of California at San Diego and his Ph.D. in mathematical modeling of infectious epidemics from the University of Chicago. After serving as a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at the University of Washington, Dr. Risch taught epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Risch has authored more than 400 original peer-reviewed research papers, which have been cited by other scientific publications more than 59,000 times. He is an Editor of the International Journal of Cancer, was Associate Editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute for 25 years, and for six years was a Member of the American Journal of Epidemiology’s Board of Editors.