Dr. Sharpless is a physician, scientist, entrepreneur and former federal official. He served as Director of the National Cancer Institute from 2017 to 2022, and as Acting Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019. Prior to government, Dr. Sharpless was Director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC. He founded G1 Therapeutics, which developed the FDA-approved medicine Cosela (Trilaciclib), used to prevent chemotherapy toxicity. He is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the National Academy of Medicine.