White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force
Vice President Biden addresses the first meeting of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force.
The White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden, is focused on making the most of federal investments, targeted incentives, private sector efforts from industry and philanthropy, patient engagement initiatives, and other mechanisms to support cancer research and enable progress in prevention, screening, treatment, and care.
Task Force Report
The task force worked within and across federal departments and agencies to launch a series of focused actions and collaborations to harness resources, programs, personnel, and technology in support of achieving the Cancer Moonshot mission. The task force established an interagency working group comprising senior leadership across the federal government that met biweekly to share ideas, discuss challenges, identify new collaborations, and propose new catalytic efforts.
The task force report describes the accomplishments and plans launched during the first year of the Cancer Moonshot and provides an implementation plan for future administrations to continue momentum under the Cancer Moonshot.
About the Task Force
In addition to the Vice President, the task force includes the heads of a number of executive branch departments, agencies, and offices that have responsibility for basic, translational, and clinical research; therapy development; regulation of medical products; and medical care related to cancer.
The task force is led by Executive Director Greg Simon, a cancer survivor, former president of FasterCures, and chief executive of the healthcare investing company Poliwogg.
The President charged the task force with producing a detailed set of findings and recommendations to:
- Accelerate our understanding of cancer and its prevention, early detection, treatment, and cure
- Improve patient access and care
- Support greater access to new research, data, and computational capabilities
- Encourage development of cancer treatments
- Identify and address any unnecessary regulatory barriers and consider ways to expedite administrative reforms
- Ensure optimal investment of federal resources
- Identify opportunities to develop public–private partnerships and increase coordination of the federal government's efforts with the private sector, as appropriate