Dr. W. Marston Linehan, Chief of Urologic Oncology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently spoke to the advocacy group that gathered in Washington, DC, for ACKC’s annual Campaign for Research Funding. Dr. Linehan spoke to the group in layman’s terms regarding the recent advances in kidney cancer research (see video below).

He described the strong sense of hope and excitement for major breakthroughs that may be coming as researchers are making significant progress regarding many diseases.

Linehan pioneered the study of the genetic basis of kidney cancer. His team identified the genes for the common forms of kidney cancer and described the pathways of these kidney cancer genes. As Chief, Dr. Linehan oversees the Branch’s clinical/translational research program, which emphasizes new approaches to the therapies of genitourinary cancers, diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of solid GU tumors, and the development of innovative surgical and adjunctive approaches to the treatment of patients with primary and metastatic urologic cancer.

Listen to Dr. Linehan’s remarks in this video.

Video by Robert Todd. A lyrical filmmaker as well as a sound and visual artist, Rob Todd is son of Ken and Pat Todd who were among the first board members of ACKC. Rob teaches filmmaking in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College in Boston. This film was shot on a farm in rural Massachusetts. Ken Todd died of kidney cancer in 2004.