Nick Valvano steps down as V Foundation CEO

CARY, N.C. (AP) Nick Valvano is stepping down after 13 years as CEO of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the group has selected Susan Braun as his replacement.

The organization said Friday that Valvano - the brother of late N.C. State coach and foundation namesake Jim Valvano - will remain on the board of directors and take part in special projects.

The V Foundation says it has awarded more than $120 million for cancer research grants, including $14.4 million last year. It was founded in 1993 by ESPN and Jim Valvano before he died of cancer later that year.

Braun is a former president and CEO of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and was the executive director at Commonweal in California, a nonprofit health and environmental research institute.

Updated August 3, 2012