President Joe Biden is shooting for the moon — metaphorically, that is. On Monday, Biden spoke on his ambitious plan to end cancer.
“Cancer does not discriminate red and blue. It doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” Biden said, according to CNN. “Beating cancer is something we can do together.”
Biden proposed a new biomedical agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, toward the initiative to end cancer, per The New York Times. The agency will be housed under the National Institutes of Health and its purpose will be to drive breakthroughs to prevent, treat and detect diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer and other enabling diseases.
According to The New York Times, Congress has appropriated $1 billion for the agency.
Biden intends to appoint Dr. Renee Wegryzen as the director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. Wegryzen is a scientist with professional experience who has worked at the two institutions that inspired the creation of the research agency, according to The White House.
Wegryzen will be responsible for hiring program managers with bold ideas and driving the agency’s research portfolio. She is expected to being work Oct. 1, according to The Times.
Biden also announced an executive order that launches a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative to guarantee technology to end cancer is made in the U.S. The president said that this initiative to end cancer and creation of new technology will create jobs and also strengthen the supply chains.
CNN reports that the president lost his own son to brain cancer. Biden has been passionate about ending cancer since serving as vice president. His goal is to cut cancer deaths by at least 50% in the next 25 years.