UW-CTRI Co-Founder and Director Dr. Michael Fiore represented the Center as a special guest at the White House event to celebrate the progress made thanks to the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative—a project to end cancer. Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Section Chief Vicki Huntington attended as a guest online.
“The purpose of the White House Forum was to identify ways to accelerate smoking cessation in the United States so that more cancer deaths can be prevented,” Fiore said.
To watch a recording of the White House event, click here.
UW colleagues have played a key role in the Cancer Moonshot via the Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I), with the goal of helping cancer patients to quit tobacco use in a sustainable way. UW led the initiative, working with 52 cancer centers across the country to implement tobacco treatment into their standard care, to evaluate best practices, and to publish research to share the findings with all oncology professionals.
The 52 Cancer Center Cessation Initiative Sites
President Joe Biden brokered the bi-partisan deal for the Cancer Moonshot in 2016 to honor his late son Beau Biden, who died of cancer. The Cancer Moonshot is part of the 21st Century Cures Act passed in December 2016, which authorized $1.8 billion in funding for the Cancer Moonshot over seven years.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf spoke at the White House event about how reducing the leading cause of preventable disease and death—tobacco use—is so key to the Cancer Moonshot goals. He also said, “it’s personal to me,” because he saw many of his cardiology patients suffer and die from tobacco use. He wants to expand access to tobacco treatment for those who need it most and are often isolated from it.
Federal government officials are partnering on a new framework to create an organized system of efforts to help people quit tobacco use—particularly those from communities who smoke at higher rates.
The UW C3I team has included Principal Investigator Dr. Danielle McCarthy, former UW-CCC Assistant Director Dr. Betsy Rolland, UW-CCC Coordinating Center Manager Danielle Pauk, retired UW-CTRI Director of Biostatistical Operations Dr. Stevens Smith, UW-CTRI Outreach Director Rob Adsit, UW-CTRI Associate Director Dr. Tim Baker, Fiore, and C3I Project Coordinator Mara Minion. UW-CTRI researchers Drs. Megan Piper, Jessica Cook, Doug Jorenby, Jesse Kaye and Adrienne Johnson have also contributed to the initiative.
To watch a recording of the White House event, click here.