Ellen Sigal

Ellen V. Sigal, PhD, is the Chairperson and Founder of Friends of Cancer Research (Friends), an organization that fosters collaboration across the healthcare sector to advance science, policy, and regulation, accelerating life-saving treatments for patients. For over 25 years, Friends has played a key role in shaping policies to ensure patients receive the best treatments as quickly and safely as possible.

Dr. Sigal holds leadership positions across cancer advocacy, public policy, and academic health centers, including the MD Anderson Cancer Center External Advisory Board and the George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health Board of Advisors. She also serves on the Board of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, where she chairs its Governance Committee.

Previously, Dr. Sigal spent 10 years as Chair of the inaugural Board of Directors for the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a key FDA partner in modernizing medical product development. She also served two consecutive six-year terms on the Board of Governors for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), representing patients and health consumers. She was also named to then-Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel and the Parker Institute for Immunotherapy Advisory Group.