
Cancer Research at Risk: Paul Nghiem Speaks at AG Town Hall



Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD, Chair of the UW Department of Dermatology, and Director of the MC3 Institute, was invited to speak at the Community Impact Town Hall hosted by Washington Attorney General (AG) Nick Brown, California AG Rob Bonta, and Oregon AG Dan Rayfield, on Monday, June 2, 2025.
Dr. Nghiem gave a vivid account of how delays in federal funding threaten critical cancer research. "I care for people with Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive skin cancer that took the life of Jimmy Buffett," Dr. Nghiem shared.

Thanks to research funded by the National Institutes of Health, “We have seen a tenfold increase in the chance our patients [with advanced disease] will survive by using new immune therapies, but for many, the cancer still comes back and we run out of treatment options. That's why our team developed new approaches, including a way to reprogram a patient's own immune cells to fight the cancer more effectively” he said.

Following a two-year effort and a 700-page application, Dr. Nghiem's grant proposal was named a top funding priority by the National Cancer Institute. Despite a $1.2 million state grant to help bring new therapies to patients, everything is now stalled because the federal matching funds have been frozen without explanation. Sixty researchers across four major institutions are on hold, and some are considering leaving research entirely.
"These aren’t just numbers or line items," Dr. Nghiem emphasized. "This is about patients who are waiting for treatments that could save their lives. We have the science, we have the plan, and we have a team ready to go."
AG Nick Brown echoed the urgency, stating, “We’re literally talking about life and death issues...whether people in this country are going to live or die based on the research and work that you and your colleagues are doing.”
(Dr. Nghiem question starts at 20.00)