Congratulations to Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden on the launch of the Biden Cancer Initiative, a new venture to make progress in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care. The Children’s Tumor Foundation was represented at the kick-off event on June 26th at the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York City by Foundation President and Chief Scientific Officer Annette Bakker, PhD, and Vice President, Marketing and Communications Simon Vukelj. The Biden Cancer Initiative is being established to inject a sense of urgency into cancer research and care systems by developing and driving solutions that will accelerate progress in the cancer field.
The panel discussion, which included Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, was led by the Biden Cancer Initiative’s President, Greg Simon, and centered on the themes of collaboration among researchers, breaking down the barriers that hamper progress in academia, industry and government, and a heightened focus on patient needs and care. Mr. Simon was also the keynote speaker at the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s 2017 NF Conference.
Readers of this space will recognize these themes as the key levers in the Children’s Tumor Foundation strategic research model – which includes the collaborative team science models of Synodos and the Foundation’s preclinical consortia, the patient power of the NF Registry, the NF Biobank, and the NF Clinic Network, and the increased development and availability of NF information because of the Foundation’s real-time open-data approach. Advancements in NF research have the potential for great progress in cancer research, as well as vice-versa, with re-purposed oncology treatments having impact in the development of better options for NF patients. The most recent example of this is the success of the MEK inhibitor trial, whose scientific basis was informed by early Foundation funding and collaborative science, and which today is seeing over 70% of participants with at least a 20% reduction in tumor size. This is a first in NF research, and has the potential to be the first approved drug for NF.
To learn more about the Biden Cancer Initiative, please visit: bidencancer.org
To learn more about the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s strategic business model, please read our latest annual report here.
To view Biden Cancer Initiative President Greg Simon’s speech at the Children’s Tumor Foundation 2017 NF Conference, watch here.
To view Children’s Tumor Foundation President and Chief Scientific Officer Annette Bakker’s speech about the CTF research model at the 2017 NF Conference, watch here.
