State Council on Cancer Control

History

The Maryland State Council on Cancer Control (Council) is a 25 member body appointed by the Governor with members selected from State agencies and administrations involved in cancer screening, prevention and treatment services, as well as members representing the general public, the business community, and the health and scientific disciplines concerned with cancer control. The Maryland Department of Health provides the Council with the necessary staff and resources. In addition to leaders from the major academic medical institutions in Maryland cancer community and national organizations, the Council has 15 members representing the general public; the business community, and health and scientific disciplines concerned with cancer control. At least one member of the Council is a known cancer survivor; one is a member of the Maryland State Senate and another is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. The Council was established by an Executive Order on June 26, 1991. The mission of The Council was reaffirmed with updated Executive Orders in 1997, 2002, and 2016.

Council

Council Mission

Educate and advise government officials, public and private organizations, and the general public to reduce and control cancer incidence, mortality, and morbidity among Marylanders.

Current Council Chair

Dr. Taofeek Owonikoko Headshot.png Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, is the Marlene and Steward Greenegaum Distinguished Professor in Oncology and the Executive Director of the University of Maryland's NCI-designated Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also holds the role of Senior Associate Dean of Cancer Programs at the University of Maryland's School of Medicine and the Associate Vice President of Cancer Programs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Additionally, Dr. Owonikoko serves as the Chair of the Maryland State Council on Cancer Control. A translational physician-scientist, board-certified in Medical Oncology, Hematology, and Internal Medicine, he has a clinical focus on the management of patients with lung cancer. His research interests span the spectrum of preclinical experimental therapeutics, biomarker discovery, and translation of promising laboratory findings into lung cancer clinical trials.

He is currently an elected member of the Board of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Treasurer of ASCO. He recently was invited to join the Lung Cancer Research Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board. He serves as an Editorial Board Member for several highly regarded academic journals including Cancer, Journal of Thoracic Disease, and Translational Lung Cancer Research. Dr. Owonikoko is a member of the American College of Physicians, American Society for Hematology, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Lastly, he has been an NIH Study Section Member for the past twelve years and is a chartered member for the NIH Clinical Oncology Study section.

Dr. Owonikoko has authored/co-authored more than 250+ peer-reviewed original manuscripts including reports of original research in leading journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Cell, Science, Nature, JCO, Lancet Oncology, Cancer Discovery, and Cancer Cell. His work has been broadly cited with more than >60,700 citations and an h-index of 93. He has received peer-reviewed extramural grant funding in support of his research from the US National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, private foundations, and pharmaceutical partners.