Hospital medical equipment. Photograph from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Cancer Moonshot is an initiative that started in 2016 with the goals of accelerating cancer research, especially in areas most likely to benefit patients, and increasing collaboration and data sharing between researchers, doctors, patients and others. Since that date, the initiative has supported more than 300 projects and programs leading to more than 2,000 scientific papers. This year, President Biden launched a new phase of the initiative, setting new goals to reduce the cancer death rate by half within 25 years and improve the lives of people with cancer and cancer survivors. As a part of this new phase, one focus will be on actions the public can take: restarting cancer screenings missed during the pandemic, ceasing smoking and joining in scientific research.
Earlier this year, the President assembled a Cancer Cabinet that brings leaders and experts together to advise the President on how to bring the resources of the federal government to bear to meet these new goals. The Cabinet has outlined five priorities starting with closing the gap in cancer screenings caused by the pandemic. Second, the Cabinet recommends looking at the environmental contaminants and toxic chemicals that increase the risk of cancer, to better understand and address them. A third priority is to decrease the impact of preventable cancers with lifestyle changes, and tools like HPV vaccines, colonoscopy screenings and more. Fourth, the Cabinet recommends investment in developing new methods of detecting, treating, and preventing cancer, focusing on bringing those methods from theory to clinical practice. The final recommendation is to improve the support given to patients and caregivers, to make the process of cancer and cancer treatment easier for those most affected.
At a recent People v. Cancer seminar, presented by The Atlantic, White House representative Dr. Danielle Carnival stated that Cancer Moonshot initiative is hope for the future of all disease treatment because if we can coordinate these efforts for cancer then we can apply these steps to other diseases. The Cancer Moonshot Initiative shows what is possible when we work together with a specific mission.
This year’s Cancer Moonshot virtual panel discussion is sponsored by the Library of Congress Health Services Division and will bring together a White House representative and leading scientists to discuss advancements in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment.
Panelists:
Dr. G.P. Yeh: President and Chairman of the G.P. Yeh Foundation and formerly a high-energy physicist for the U.S. Department of Energy, Dr. G. P. Yeh leads International Particle Therapy’s cross-disciplinary research and medical team, which has developed a high precision particle therapy.
Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee: Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Immunology at the University of Tübingen, Dr. Hans-Georg Rammensee will be discussing cancer vaccines that his group has developed.
Dr. Louis Weiner: Director of Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chair of the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University, Dr. Louis Weiner will discuss wide choices available for detecting and treating variety of cancers.
Dr. Danielle Carnival: White House Cancer Moonshot Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Dr. Danielle Carnival is one of the leaders of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, ensuring that the initiative moves towards the goals set for it.
Program: Forecasting Cancer Diagnostics and Treatment for the Future
Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Time: 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. EST
Place: Zoom (Register at https://loc.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_LvZrNhAERFSeAiXkaQrmNg)
Limited to 1,000 participants
For more information or questions about this webinar, please use our Science Ask-a-Librarian Service and refer to “Cancer Moonshot Panel December 6”. Individuals requiring accommodations for this event are requested to submit a request at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected]
For media interested in this program, please see our media advisory.
For those unable to attend this program, a recording will be posted on the Library of Congress Event Videos collection page and on the Library’s YouTube channel “Topics in Science” playlist in the coming months. In the meantime, check out some of our past Cancer Moonshot programs:
- Cancer Moonshot Initiative (December 15, 2016)
- Cancer Moonshot II: Symposium on Cancer Genomics (October 19, 2017) — Not recorded
- Cancer Moonshot III: Translational Medicine (October 30, 2018)
- Cancer Moonshot IV Symposium (October 23, 2019)
- Annual Cancer Moonshot Panel: Immuno-therapy and Beyond (December 6, 2021)
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