A Sri Lanka-born, United States Johns Hopkins scientist Dr. Ashani Weeraratna, PhD, a leading cancer researcher who specializes in melanoma and the effects of aging on cancer, has been appointed by US President Joe Biden to serve as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board. The White House announced the appointment on September 15.

The National Cancer Advisory Board advises and assists the director of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health on the activities of the national cancer program. Individuals are selected from among leading representatives in health and science, along with leaders in public policy, law, health policy, economics, management, and the environment. Among its activities, the National Cancer Advisory Board reviews grant applications for research, training, health care information, and programs for cancer patients and their families.

Dr. Weeraratna is the E.V. McCollum Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, co-leader of the Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and a professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2019.

Source – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health