Readers of The Cancer Letter and listeners of The Cancer Letter Podcast are familiar with the impact of President Donald Trump’s first nine months in office on the field of oncology. Now, the threats posed to oncology are being brought to the attention of a general audience—Jonathan Mahler, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, wrote an in-depth article about how the Trump administration’s actions have brought chaos, uncertainty, and damage to the oncology research community.

In this episode of In the Headlines, Mahler spoke with Paul Goldberg, publisher and editor of The Cancer Letter, and Jacquelyn Cobb, associate editor, about becoming immersed in the history of oncology research (going all the way back to Mary Lasker and the National Cancer Act), and the personal and professional impact of the seemingly-beaurocratic policy changes coming down from the White House.

Mahler’s article introduces a lay audience to the intricacies of the oncology research enterprise, and how this complex network of actors—including federal agencies, academic and community cancer centers, patient advocacy groups, and professional societies—was necessary to produce the drastic improvements in survival and quality of life outcomes of the last 50 years. 

Mahler has no qualms describing Trump’s actions as a deliberate attack on biomedical research. 

“The NIH and NCI, as you guys know better than anyone, are designed to be apolitical institutions,” Mahler said. “They are designed to be insulated from political attack. So, in order to undermine them, to really have to do this kind of damage to their agenda, takes some work and takes some forethought. And I think you see that when you start to look at how all of this unfolded beginning just days after the inauguration, that it was a deliberate strategy. And so, you kind of have to see it that way, and people who are working there certainly saw it that way.”

Stories mentioned in this podcast include: 

• The Directors: Ben Ho Park and Suresh Ramalingam discuss tough times, uncertainty, and resilience “If you’re going to be an oncologist, we look at the glass 5% full, not 95% empty.” 

• Reflections of a cancer scientist Maintaining the pace of novel technologies will lead to more efficient and less toxic medicines

• Nobel laureate David Baltimore dies at 87 Baltimore discovered that genetic material of tumor viruses could make DNA from their RNA genome 

• Harvey Golomb, past chair of UChicago's Department of Medicine, dies at 82

• Bonnie Addario, lung cancer survivor and advocate, dies at 77 

• NCAB approves five reissue concepts

• After stormy Senate hearing, Trump offers tepid support for RFK Jr. while Kennedy family members call for his ouster 

• Vinay Prasad regains role as FDA chief medical and scientific officer 

A transcript of this podcast is available: https://cancerletter.com/podcastc/20250917-Jonathan-Mahler/