The Institute’s interim director Bruce G. Haffty, MD, researchers from the institute, officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and cancer research advocates also participated in the discussion.
“The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is an international leader in cutting edge cancer research and treatment,” said Pallone. “I am proud of its contributions and can see it has an important role to play in the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative that both President Obama and Vice President Biden have been championing.”
“We need better collaboration nationally in cancer research and one of the major goals of the Cancer Moonshot initiative is to make sure that research is being shared between institutions like the Rutgers Cancer institute of New Jersey,” Pallone said.
As the Senior Democrat on the Committee that oversees health research, Pallone is a strong advocate for Cancer Moonshot initiative. He met recently with Vice President Biden and Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate to plan a strategy to move the Cancer Moonshot initiative forward in Congress.
Last year, Pallone helped write H.R. 6 — the 21st Century Cures Act — which would provide mandatory funding of $8.75 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for disease research.
Pallone is working to ensure that the final legislation that gets sent to the President’s desk includes this critical funding for medical research, including the President’s Cancer Moonshot and Precision Medicine initiatives.
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is among the nation’s elite group of institutions that are at the forefront of cancer research and patient care, as one of only 45 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country and the only one in New Jersey.
As a leader in precision medicine, their program is enhanced by its participation in the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN), which leverages big data and genomic technology via national collaborations across the institutional boundaries of 11 partners.
Rutgers Cancer Institute is the only center in the northeast region that is part of ORIEN. Recently, the institute’s leaders joined others from ORIEN at the White House for a meeting with Vice President Biden’s staff to discuss the Moonshot program.