National Brain Tumor Society Makes Cancer Moonshot Commitment

Largest Brain Tumor-Focused Patient Advocacy and Research Funding Nonprofit Joins With Other Leading International Organizations to Support the Cancer Moonshot Summit Led by Vice President Joseph Biden

The White House’s National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, spearheaded by Vice President Joseph Biden, has been the hottest topic in cancer research thus far in 2016.

The Cancer Moonshot Initiative has brought renewed vigor and attention to the critical need for a national anti-cancer campaign and strategy. Additionally, the vice president’s spotlight on data sharing and collaboration has re-focused the conversation in the research cancer community about the importance of the entire field working together — instead of in siloes — to accelerate progress and defeat cancer.

NBTS has been fortunate to be deeply involved with this initiative, as our CEO, David F. Arons, is serving as a member of the Blue Ribbon Panel of experts selected to advise the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, and having had the opportunity to have engaged with the vice president’s office on a number of occasions over the past six months.

As such, NBTS was excited and honored to be asked to participate in the first-ever national Cancer Moonshot Summit on June 29, 2016.

As part of our participation, NBTS was pleased to accept an invitation for Mr. Arons to travel to the main national Cancer Moonshot Summit event at Howard University in Washington, D.C. along with three brain cancer patients/survivors and NBTS volunteers to represent the brain tumor community. Additionally, NBTS hosted a “regional summit” at our main offices in Massachusetts for staff, volunteers, and supporters, in conjunction with the more than 6,000 cancer patients, survivors, advocates, researchers, business leaders, physicians, and philanthropists taking part in 270 community summits across all 50 states.

Finally, per the vice president and Cancer Moonshot Taskforce’s urging of individuals and groups to make a #CanServe commitment in conjunction the Cancer Moonshot Summit, NBTS announced it would launch a major education and engagement initiative to help support patient-centered research and drug development; empower patients to play an active role in the research and treatment process; and improve brain tumor clinical trials through better awareness, enrollment, and patient-input.

Read the full text of our commitment as part of the White House’s press release, here. And read more about how we got to this commitment in our blog, as part of the Cancer Moonshot publication on Medium.

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