Mr. Simon has returned to public service in the White House after working as Vice President Al Gore’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor between 1993 and 1997. Previously, Mr. Simon was the CEO of the financial firm Poliwogg Holdings and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Policy at Pfizer Inc. Prior to that, he was the founding President of FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, a center of the Milken Institute. Mr. Simon received his BA in history from the University of Arkansas and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Since President Obama announced the Cancer Moonshot Initiative in January, the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) has played a key role in contributing to the federal government’s accelerated effort to eradicate cancer.
In February, AACI submitted a list of potential Executive Action items, generated by cancer center directors, for consideration as part of the initiative.
In June, Vice President Biden hosted a National Cancer Moonshot Summit in Washington, DC, attended by a number of AACI leaders. In conjunction with that event, 40 AACI cancer centers hosted regional Cancer Moonshot summits in 25 states.
In August, at the request of the Moonshot Task Force, cancer centers submitted development projects for consideration as part of a Cancer Moonshot investment portfolio. A total of 224 proposals from 55 AACI cancer centers were shared with Mr. Simon and his team.
Mr. Simon’s talk at the AACI/CCAF annual meeting will be followed by a report from Douglas R. Lowy, MD, acting director of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Lowy has also been instrumental in the Cancer Moonshot, delivering the final Blue Ribbon Panel Report to Vice President Biden earlier this month. The Report represented collaboration by the panel, which worked to determine how to accelerate cancer research and make a decade’s worth of progress in five years.
AACI and the Cancer Center Administrators Forum (CCAF) jointly formulated the program for the meeting. More information, including the meeting program and electronic registration, is available on the AACI website.
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The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) comprises 95 premier academic and freestanding cancer research centers in the U.S. and Canada. AACI is dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer by enhancing the impact of the leading academic cancer centers.
The Cancer Center Administrators Forum (CCAF) provides a network for administrative professionals to exchange knowledge, expertise and share best administrative practices in National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.
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