President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Tulane University Tuesday afternoon, announcing up to $23 million in funding for Tulane cancer research and underscoring the president’s national effort to prevent cancer deaths.
The Bidens arrived at the Louis Armstrong International Airport around 1:55 p.m. and were greeted by Mayor Latoya Cantrell, former mayor Mitch Landrieu, Congressman Troy Carter and former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond.
After touring Tulane’s federally funded cancer research facilities alongside President Michael Fitts, the Bidens spoke at Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business just before 3:40 p.m.
The event highlighted the distribution of $150 million in awards through the Biden administration’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to eight teams of researchers across the nation, including the team led by J. Quincy Brown, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Brian Summa, associate professor of computer science, at Tulane.
The funding supports the creation of imaging systems that will allow doctors to detect cancer cells that remain after surgical operations while patients are still under anesthesia, eliminating waiting periods and reducing the need for invasive follow-up surgeries.
“Thanks to their pioneering work, cancer patients undergoing surgery will know within minutes whether all cancer has been removed from the tumor site, avoiding repeat surgeries. This advance will save countless lives,” Fitts said.
The initiative is profoundly personal to Biden, who lost his son Beau Biden to an aggressive brain cancer in 2015. During his speech, Biden also emphasized the importance of integrating this technology in medical centers throughout rural Louisiana.
“We’re also focused on helping fence-line communities facing disproportionate cancer rates. Some areas [are] facing 15% to 20% higher rates, like Cancer Alley here in Louisiana,” Biden said.
President Joe Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot initiative in 2016, which aims to cut cancer rates in half by 2047 and improve the experience of people touched by cancer.
Biden’s visit to Tulane constitutes a rare public appearance since he stepped out of the 2024 presidential race just over two weeks ago. The event also marks the second White House visit to New Orleans this summer, following Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech at Essence Fest in July.
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