Until recently, past ONS President Deborah Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, served as interim director of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Office of Cancer Survivorship (OCS), a part of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). As an oncology nurse, Mayer brought a special perspective to the office’s mission to better understand and meet the unique needs of the growing number of U.S. cancer survivors.

On September 24, 2020, NCI appointed Emily S. Tonorezos, MD, MPH, to permanently fill the position. Tonorezos previously served as director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s adult long-term follow-up program for survivors of childhood and young adult cancers in New York, NY.  

“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Tonorezos to NCI,” DCCPS Director Robert Croyle, PhD, said. “NCI is fully committed to strengthening research on cancer survivors, and the OCS director is uniquely positioned to provide key leadership in this important area. I also want to give special thanks to Dr. Deborah Mayer for her terrific service as interim director since the retirement of Dr. Julia Rowland.” 

Tonorezos’s research focuses on cardiometabolic effects of cancer therapy, childhood and young adult cancer survivorship, diet and nutrition, and survivorship care coordination. She serves on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Childhood Cancer and Disability; the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Cancer Survivorship Committee, Adolescent and Young Adult Task Force, and Clinical Guideline Committee; and the Children’s Oncology Group’s Metabolic Syndrome Guideline Committee. Additionally, she co-leads the International Guideline Harmonization Group for the metabolic syndrome and recently spearheaded an international effort to develop recommendations for adult survivors of heritable retinoblastoma. 

“I’m thrilled that Dr. Tonorezos will be leading our survivorship program,” Croyle said. “An exceptional clinician-scientist, she has all of the energy, scientific vision, and collaborative skills required to succeed in this challenging role.”