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Jennifer Guida: I Had the Privilege to Lead Pioneering Work at the NCI Focused on Cancer Survivorship, Healthy Aging, and Resilience

Jennifer Guida/LinkedIn

Jul 9, 2025, 20:28

Jennifer Guida: I Had the Privilege to Lead Pioneering Work at the NCI Focused on Cancer Survivorship, Healthy Aging, and Resilience

Jennifer Guida, Program Director at NCI, shared on LinkedIn:

“I was recently featured in CNN’s coverage on cuts to the National Cancer Institute and I want to take a moment to highlight why this matters far beyond a headline.

Over the last decade, I had the privilege to lead pioneering work at the NCI focused on cancer survivorship, healthy aging, and resilience. We launched national initiatives, convened expert think tanks, published in top journals like Nature Cancer and JAMA Oncology, and helped secure over $100 million in federal research investments – all aimed at one goal:

Extending not just how long cancer survivors live, but how well they live.

Our work helped illuminate how cancer and its treatments can accelerate aging causing frailty, disability, cognitive decline, and more, often decades earlier than expected. These insights are shaping how we care for the 18+ million survivors in the U.S. today and the millions more to come.

Cuts to the NCI don’t just threaten research, they threaten the pipeline of hope for survivors, caregivers, and families seeking answers.

This isn’t just a budget story.
It’s a health equity story.
It’s a science and innovation story.
It’s a story about whether we choose to prioritize long, healthy lives for everyone affected by cancer.

I’m proud to speak up – even knowing it may put a target on my back or complicate future job opportunities. Science, truth, and the well-being of millions are worth that risk.

To the brilliant researchers, clinicians, patients, and advocates I’ve had the honor to work alongside – thank you. And to anyone reading this: please help share this message. Visibility fuels progress.

Read the story here.

Kudos to Rachana Pradhan for her excellent work bringing this important story to life.”