President Obama’s new memorandum sets up a task force of federal agencies—to meet Monday—to coordinate cancer research and treatment.
The government’s cancer cure moonshot is preparing for takeoff. After providing just a rough outline since President Obama first announced it in the State of the Union address, the White House is convening a federal task force to “clear out the bureaucratic hurdles — and, quite frankly, let science happen,” Vice President Joe Biden wrote in a post on Medium the evening of January 27. Biden will chair the first meeting of the task force on Monday (February 1), which will include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Energy, and Commerce, as well as the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration, the vice president wrote.