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Subscribe to the OAR Listserv and receive periodic email alerts for anyone interested in cancer research advocacy.

To subscribe: type your email address into the "Stay Informed" box on the left side of the page.

Questions? Please e-mail nciadvocacy@mail.nih.gov

History of the NCI Nealon Digest

The NCI Nealon Digest was a biweekly electronic listing of all Federal cancer news, in digest form, from the most recent two-week period. It was named for the late Ms. Eleanor O'Donoghue Nealon, who led the efforts to establish the Office of Liaison Activities (now the Office of Advocacy Relations) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). A cancer survivor herself, Ms. Nealon tirelessly championed change at the National Institutes of Health, to expand cancer patients' role in the research and decision-making processes. Ms. Nealon graciously persuaded many in the scientific community to open their minds, eyes, and ears to those who are affected by the work done at the NCI and in research laboratories across the United States. This occurred during a time when the consumer advocate's voice was not as widely heard as it is today. Ms. Nealon was the first Director of the Office of Liaison Activities when it was established in 1996.

In the fall of 2000 OAR created The NEALON Report quarterly newsletter. The original NEALON Report served as a forum for highlighting NCI's collaborations and research initiatives to the advocacy and professional society communities, and federal agencies. Four issues were produced and are available, archived in PDF format, below. With the increase of electronic communication and websites, OAR discontinued the quarterly, hardcopy NEALON Report and began a biweekly, electronic digest of all Federal cancer news of interest to the advocacy community. In late 2011, the NCI Nealon Digest was discontinued in order to shift resources anc create new, enhanced communication tools for advocates and other external stakeholders.

The original NEALON Report and the current NCI Nealon Digest are dedicated in memory of Ms. Eleanor O'Donoghue Nealon, first director of the NCI Office of Liaison Activities.

Read the final issue of the NCI Nealon Digest from September 28, 2011 here.