Fight CRC Alongside Advocacy and Business Leaders Meet with the White House
Fight CRC Alongside Advocacy and Business Leaders Meet with the White House
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced plans to reignite the Cancer Moonshot with renewed leadership and new ambitious goals to “end cancer as we know it.” As part of this effort, the President and First Lady Jill Biden have issued a call to action to prioritize progress on cancer screening and to ensure that all Americans benefit from advances in cancer prevention.
In response, Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) convened patient advocacy and business leaders in colorectal cancer (CRC) met with staff from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (WHOSTP) as well as various federal agencies on July 25 to discuss how we can work together to respond to the President’s Cancer Moonshot and close the key gaps and barriers to CRC screening identified in the President’s Cancer Panel Report.
This is the first time ever that a group representing the colorectal cancer community has joined together with the federal government in this way to work toward common goals.
Each organization at this meeting, including Fight CRC, has their own distinct policy priorities, programs, and initiatives. These patient advocacy and business leaders are intentionally coming together to support efforts that speak to their shared commitment of helping increase access to CRC screening for all Americans.
The challenge is clear: in the U.S., only 69.7% of adults between the ages of 50 and 75 are up to date with CRC screening, and in Federally Qualified Health Centers, the largest providers of care to underinsured and uninsured individuals, only 44% of the population is up to date. The decline in colorectal cancer screenings were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2020 analysis by Komodo Health and Fight CRC, found that the total number of colonoscopies and biopsies declined nearly 90% in April 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. Despite the availability of several safe and effective CRC screening options, CRC remains the No. 2 overall cancer killer for men and women combined, with communities of color seeing even higher incidence and mortality rates.
“This is the first time a group like this has come together to align on a shared goal,” said Anjee Davis, Fight CRC President. “This workgroup is a response to a ‘moonshot.’ The challenges facing CRC screening and prevention may seem insurmountable. But this group has the opportunity to go beyond incremental change. I believe we can strive for radical changes to provide access to screening and care for every community in our country.”
Participants in the White House Meeting:
Carolyn “Bo” Aldigé – Prevent Cancer Foundation, Founder
Alexey Aleshin, MD, MBA – Natera, General Manager, Early Cancer Detection
Andrew Barnell, MBA – Geneoscopy Inc., CEO and Co-Founder
Danielle Carnival, PhD – White House Cancer Moonshot, Coordinator
Austin Chiang, MD, MPH – Medtronic, CMO Gastrointestinal
Kevin Conroy – Exact Sciences, Chairman and CEO
Erin Darbouze, MPH – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Health Policy Manager
Anjee Davis, MPPA – Fight Colorectal Cancer, President
Richard Goldberg, MD – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Board Member
Greg Hamilton, MBA – Epigenomics, CEO
Lisa Lacasse, MBA – American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), President
David Lieberman, MD, AGAF – American Gastroenterological Association, Former President
Molly McDonnell – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Director of Advocacy
Arif Nathoo, MD, MPA – Komodo Health, Co-Founder and CEO
Angela Nicholas, MD – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Board Chair
Mike Nolan, MBA – Freenome, CEO
AmirAli Talasaz, PhD – Guardant Health, Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Catharine Young, PhD – Assistant Director for Cancer Moonshot Engagement and Policy
“This group is dreaming big around how a public-private partnership can reach everyone from prevention to treatment,” said Davis. “There are still 44 million people who need to be screened.”
Take Aways
President Biden has identified the need for both policy solutions, as well as ideas for public-private partnerships to help reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years and ensure that all Americans equitably benefit from the tools we have to prevent, detect, and diagnose cancer. Through this meeting, Fight CRC is seeking to develop a joint-advocacy and industry response to the President’s call to improve and increase access to colorectal cancer screening for all people.
Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced plans to reignite the Cancer Moonshot with renewed leadership and new ambitious goals to “end cancer as we know it.” As part of this effort, the President and First Lady Jill Biden have issued a call to action to prioritize progress on cancer screening and to ensure that all Americans benefit from advances in cancer prevention.
In response, Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) convened patient advocacy and business leaders in colorectal cancer (CRC) met with staff from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (WHOSTP) as well as various federal agencies on July 25 to discuss how we can work together to respond to the President’s Cancer Moonshot and close the key gaps and barriers to CRC screening identified in the President’s Cancer Panel Report.
This is the first time ever that a group representing the colorectal cancer community has joined together with the federal government in this way to work toward common goals.
Each organization at this meeting, including Fight CRC, has their own distinct policy priorities, programs, and initiatives. These patient advocacy and business leaders are intentionally coming together to support efforts that speak to their shared commitment of helping increase access to CRC screening for all Americans.
The challenge is clear: in the U.S., only 69.7% of adults between the ages of 50 and 75 are up to date with CRC screening, and in Federally Qualified Health Centers, the largest providers of care to underinsured and uninsured individuals, only 44% of the population is up to date. The decline in colorectal cancer screenings were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2020 analysis by Komodo Health and Fight CRC, found that the total number of colonoscopies and biopsies declined nearly 90% in April 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. Despite the availability of several safe and effective CRC screening options, CRC remains the No. 2 overall cancer killer for men and women combined, with communities of color seeing even higher incidence and mortality rates.
“This is the first time a group like this has come together to align on a shared goal,” said Anjee Davis, Fight CRC President. “This workgroup is a response to a ‘moonshot.’ The challenges facing CRC screening and prevention may seem insurmountable. But this group has the opportunity to go beyond incremental change. I believe we can strive for radical changes to provide access to screening and care for every community in our country.”
Participants in the White House Meeting:
Carolyn “Bo” Aldigé – Prevent Cancer Foundation, Founder
Alexey Aleshin, MD, MBA – Natera, General Manager, Early Cancer Detection
Andrew Barnell, MBA – Geneoscopy Inc., CEO and Co-Founder
Danielle Carnival, PhD – White House Cancer Moonshot, Coordinator
Austin Chiang, MD, MPH – Medtronic, CMO Gastrointestinal
Kevin Conroy – Exact Sciences, Chairman and CEO
Erin Darbouze, MPH – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Health Policy Manager
Anjee Davis, MPPA – Fight Colorectal Cancer, President
Richard Goldberg, MD – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Board Member
Greg Hamilton, MBA – Epigenomics, CEO
Lisa Lacasse, MBA – American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), President
David Lieberman, MD, AGAF – American Gastroenterological Association, Former President
Molly McDonnell – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Director of Advocacy
Arif Nathoo, MD, MPA – Komodo Health, Co-Founder and CEO
Angela Nicholas, MD – Fight Colorectal Cancer, Board Chair
Mike Nolan, MBA – Freenome, CEO
AmirAli Talasaz, PhD – Guardant Health, Co-Founder and Co-CEO
Catharine Young, PhD – Assistant Director for Cancer Moonshot Engagement and Policy
“This group is dreaming big around how a public-private partnership can reach everyone from prevention to treatment,” said Davis. “There are still 44 million people who need to be screened.”
Take Aways
President Biden has identified the need for both policy solutions, as well as ideas for public-private partnerships to help reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years and ensure that all Americans equitably benefit from the tools we have to prevent, detect, and diagnose cancer. Through this meeting, Fight CRC is seeking to develop a joint-advocacy and industry response to the President’s call to improve and increase access to colorectal cancer screening for all people.
