Welcoming the Biden Administration and a New Congress
As we welcome President Biden and his team to the White House, we’re eagerly jumping into our work of ensuring that the unique needs and perspectives of children with cancer and childhood cancer survivors are heard and met in the new Congress and new Administration.
The incoming Biden Administration includes childhood cancer survivor Marty Walsh, who has been nominated to serve as secretary of labor in President Biden’s cabinet. Walsh, currently serving as the mayor of Boston, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma at age 7 and treated at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Hospital.
President Biden’s Cabinet nominations also include Eric Lander - a professor, mathematician, and geneticist who helped map the human genome - to serve as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, a position that will be elevated to Cabinet-level for the first time in the role of ‘Presidential Science Advisor.’ President Biden’s science team will also include Dr. Francis Collins, who will stay on as Director of the National Institutes of Health where he has provided steady, respected leadership and a demonstrated commitment to furthering cancer research.
“Science will always be at the forefront of my administration — and these world-renowned scientists will ensure everything we do is grounded in science, facts, and the truth.
Their insights will help America chart a brighter future, and I am grateful they answered the call to serve.”
Also read: AACR’s What Biden’s Presidency Will Mean for Cancer Research, which takes a look at implications for the Cancer Moonshot, a national initiative launched when Joe Biden was serving as Vice-President.
At the Children’s Cancer Cause, our policy priorities for the 117th Congress include:
Accelerating childhood cancer research and new treatment development: Children’s Cancer Cause is developing an agenda for the upcoming reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), legislation that must pass in 2022.
Identifying barriers to treatment and to quality survivorship care: Agenda items include ongoing implementation of the STAR Act, coalition leadership of the community’s survivorship agenda, and an initiative to create a series of childhood cancer demonstration projects in the Medicaid program.
Developing institutional, financial, and geographic policy solutions to care barriers, including support and passage of the Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act; and
Securing strong federal funding in the fight against childhood cancer, including full funding for the STAR Act and the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, additional funding for RACE Act implementation, and passage of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0.
Visit our Policy Priorities page to take a closer look at some of the targeted activities and legislative items we are pursuing in support of these goals. We pursue our agenda through the development of legislation and policy proposals, collaboration with coalitions and alliances, and the mobilization of grassroots advocates around the country. As policy leaders, we are always prepared to pivot in response to emerging issues and challenges - like a new threat to pre-existing condition protections or, for instance, a pandemic! On the latter: another area of focus in 2021 will be working with the broader cancer community to examine lessons learned from vaccine development that may be applicable to future drug development in oncology.
We invite you to join us on February 10th at 11am EST for a free webinar previewing the 117th Congress, the Biden Administration, and the outlook for childhood cancer priorities in 2021 and beyond: