Biden's Astronaut Takes Over Moonshot

There's no arguing that Greg Simon's resume is impressive: Influential staff positions in both chambers of Congress and the White House, strategy consultant for technology CEOs, co-founder of a patient advocacy non-profit, senior executive for a big pharmaceutical company. It's easy to see why Vice President Biden tapped him to lead the White House's $1 billion cancer moonshot initiative. But the achievement that arguably makes Simon most qualified for the task happens to be the one that makes him least unique: Like nearly 20 million other Americans today, he is living with cancer. Diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia 22 months ago, Simon underwent chemotherapy last year to combat the slow-moving disease that attacks the blood and bone marrow. His vantage point from the survivor trenches is more critical than any perspective from the war room, since patients are the ones who have been routinely left behind in our haphazard campaign for the cure thus far. Understanding cancer begins with those who have it. Patients are the ones who drive funding, inform and inspire research, and lend themselves to clinical trials. Whether they are testifying before legislators, lighting thousands of luminarias to raise awareness on the Capitol steps, or networking with each other to share the latest data, patients and their loved ones bring more than just a collective heart and voice of hope to this initiative. The grassroots "cancer community" that has evolved over the past 40 year...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news