Biden names three cancer panel members, Cancer Cabinet outlines priorities
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President Joe Biden has appointed Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD; Mitchel Berger, MD; and Carol L. Brown, MD, FACOG, FACS, to the President’s Cancer Panel, the White House announced in a press release.
The three physicians, chosen for their contributions to oncology research and public health, will advise the president on challenges and opportunities in reducing the burden of cancer.
Additionally, First Lady Jill Biden, cabinet members and leaders of the Biden-Harris administration held a Cancer Cabinet meeting Wednesday to reveal priority actions, with the goal of advancing Biden’s strategy to eradicate cancer.
Optimizing federal resources
Jaffee, Berger and Brown will advise Biden on how to harness federal resources, particularly the cancer research program, to decrease the burden of cancer on the U.S. population.
Jaffee, who will serve as chair of the panel, is an internationally known expert in cancer immunology and pancreatic cancer. She serves as deputy director of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, co-director of Skip Viragh Pancreatic Cancer Center, and associate director of Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. She is a past president of American Association for Cancer Research and has served on various NCI committees, including as co-chair of the Blue Ribbon panel that advised the Moonshot Initiative.
Berger is a neurologic surgeon who has spent his career treating and performing surgery on patients with brain tumors. Moreover, he has received funding from NIH and NCI to conduct basic research in brain tumor biology, including investigating the molecular markers that determine the growth patterns and treatment of brain tumors.
Brown is a board-certified gynecologic oncologist who serves as senior vice president and chief health equity officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is the incumbent Nicholls-Biondi chair for health equity. Her career focuses on three priorities: offering high-quality and compassionate surgical care to women with gynecologic cancer, reducing cancer health disparities, and endorsing public policy to raise awareness, improve care and increase research funding for gynecologic and other cancers.
Future priorities
The Cancer Cabinet meeting featured discussion of priority actions, including the following:
Closing the gap in cancer screening: The Cancer Cabinet aims to reduce the COVID-19 pandemic-related deficit in screenings by providing access to more cancer screening opportunities and offering more equitable access to cancer early detection.
Understanding and addressing environmental and toxic exposures: The Cancer Cabinet plans to mount a robust scientific research and regulatory agenda to better understand the impact of environmental exposures related to cancer.
Decreasing the impact of preventable cancers: The Cancer Cabinet said major advances in research have yielded more tools today than ever in the prevention of cancer, including the HPV vaccine and hepatitis C antivirals.
Bringing cutting-edge research through the regulatory process to patients and communities: To attain the goal of better targeting treatments to the appropriate patients and designing new approaches to treating some of the deadliest and rare cancers, the Cancer Cabinet said investment and innovation in cancer research programs must be a priority. Additionally, it aims to support the pipeline from discovery to clinical research that involves more populations, making these innovations accessible to patients in communities across the United States.
Supporting patients and caregivers: The Biden-Harris administration aims to make the cancer trajectory easier on those living with cancer and their caregivers through improved access to screening and diagnostics, bringing trials and quality care closer to patients’ communities, and supplying patients and caregivers with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions.
The Cancer Cabinet, formed in February, brings together several federal departments and agencies to help advance progress on Cancer Moonshot goals.
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The White House. Fact Sheet: President Biden appoints cancer panel members and Cancer Cabinet unveils priority actions (press release). Available at: www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/13/fact-sheet-president-biden-appoints-cancer-panel-members-and-cancer-cabinet-unveils-priority-actions/. Published: July 13, 2022. Accessed: July 14, 2022.
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