The View from Here
By Greg Simon, Executive Director, White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force
“It’s never a good time to get cancer. But this is an incredibly exciting time to be fighting cancer.” Dr. Lou DeGennaro, CEO, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
A lemonade stand. A cancer map on Facebook. #CanServe
Participants in the Cancer Moonshot Summit on June 29th took up the challenge of the Cancer Moonshot and showed that they #CanServe in a variety of ways. But the Summit was a launch, not a landing.
Over the next two months the Cancer Moonshot will build on this momentum, issue reports informing the public of the progress, and make recommendations to continue to reach our goal of making a decade’s worth of progress in five years.
The first set of recommendations comes today from the Blue Ribbon Panel, which is aimed at advising the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as it carries out additional duties authorized by President Obama’s Memorandum establishing the Cancer Moonshot Task Force.
This Blue Ribbon Panel report is the first of three reports that will be released over the coming weeks. The Cancer Moonshot Task Force, chaired by Vice President Biden, will meet on September 27th followed a few weeks later by the release of the Task Force report to the President. The Task Force report comprises the work of over twenty Cabinet and sub-Cabinet agencies that have been launching new collaborations and initiatives to double the rate of progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The first wave of activities launched by the Task Force agencies was announced at the June 29th Summit. Those activities can be found both on the Cancer Moonshot Medium publication and on the White House website. The final Task force report will describe a new wave of activities both planned and underway.
In addition to the Task Force report, Vice President Biden will provide the President and the Nation his Executive Report outlining his vision for the future of cancer research, prevention, and care. After months of visiting with patients, cancer doctors, nurses, researchers, and advocates, the Vice President has seen the incredible dedication and optimism of the cancer community. He has charged the Task Force, industry, academia, patient groups, and the nation at large to take action to make the possibilities he sees real…now. His report will set out the trajectory for the future direction the Cancer Moonshot and will challenge the nation to get involved.
All of this work takes the efforts and collaboration of the cancer community and beyond, please continue to let us know how you can contribute to the Cancer Moonshot by sharing your story, sending your ideas, and detailing what new actions you will take toward its goals: WH.gov/cancermoonshot.
Greg Simon is a Leukemia survivor, father of two, and Executive Director of Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Task Force.
