First Lady Pool Reports of September 21, 2022

FLOTUS pool report #1 - Dr. Biden and Queen Letizia visit at medical center

Dr. Biden and Queen Letizia of Spain are at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.

Pool did not see the arrival and their greeting of one another.

The two women are touring the center to highlight the importance of cancer research. Details below on the tour stops, what they are seeing, and who they are speaking with are below in the background material.

Dr B is wearing a white lace dress. Queen Letizia is wearing a cream dress.

The tour has started and more to come/color on that in next pool report.

After they tour the center Dr. B and the Queen will deliver remarks - at approximately 12:45 pm - and the Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center is live streaming that portion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shm0rrq2BXo

The two women have met before when Dr. Biden was in Madrid in June when she accompanied POTUS to the annual NATO summit.

During that visit, Dr. B and Queen Letizia toured the headquarters of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.

Background on today from East Wing:

Background | 9/21 FLOTUS and Queen Letizia Visit the Columbia University Irving Medical Center

On Wednesday, September 21st at 12:15 PM ET, as part of the Biden Administration's Cancer Moonshot, First Lady Jill Biden and Queen Letizia of Spain, Honorary President of Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer ("AECC;" Spanish Association Against Cancer), will visit the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City to highlight the importance of cancer research and global cooperation in the effort to end cancer as we know it. Ahead of World Cancer Research Day (September 24th), the First Lady and Queen Letizia's visit will focus on how the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) serves patients in the local community and collaborates with international partners on cancer research.

To begin the visit, the First Lady and Queen Letizia will greet with Dr. Anil Rustgi, Director of HICCC; Santiago Cabanas Ansorena, Ambassador of Spain to the United States; Angeles Moreno Bau, Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs; and Dr. Ramon Reyes, President of AECC, and start a tour. They will learn about HICC's community outreach and engagement programs, its efforts to promote diversity in its clinical trials, and its global cancer research partnerships. Following the tour, the First Lady and Queen Letizia will meet with high school and undergraduate students who participate in HICCC's "YES in THE HEIGHTS" cancer research summer program. After, the First Lady, Queen Letizia, Dr. Anil Rustgi, and Dr. Ramon Reyes will deliver remarks.

Speaking program:

• Dr. Anil Rustgi, Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)
• Dr. Ramon Reyes, President of the AECC
• First Lady Jill Biden
• Queen Letizia of Spain, Honorary President of the AECC

The First Lady and Queen Letizia's Cancer Efforts:
The First Lady and Queen Letizia share a commitment to supporting cancer patients and their families, and ensuring that patients from all communities are represented in cancer research. In June 2022, ahead of the NATO Summit, the First Lady and Queen Letizia visited the AECC's offices in Madrid to discuss its support for patients and cancer research, including international research collaborations. Queen Letizia has a prominent and visible role in the fight against cancer and in 2010 assumed the Honorary Presidency of the AECC.

Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC)
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) is the home for cancer research and patient care at Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). HICCC's cancer center researchers and physicians are dedicated to understanding the complex biology behind cancer, from before it begins to its evolution and spread. The center applies that knowledge to the discovery and design of innovative cancer therapies and prevention strategies that reduce the disease's incidence and progression and improve the quality of life. HICCC's mission is to empower innovation and discovery in cancer research, prevention, early detection, therapy, and survivorship to reduce the burden of cancer for its patients, its community, and the world.

• Community Outreach and Engagement:
  • The First Lady and Queen Letizia will learn about the center's catchment area (the area from which the cancer center mostly draws its patients); cancer health disparities within its catchment area; and the center's community outreach and engagement programs, including "YES in THE HEIGHTS," its National Cancer Institute-funded cancer research summer internship program for local underrepresented high school and undergraduate students. The First Lady and Queen Letizia will hear from:
    • Dr. Mary Beth Terry, a cancer epidemiologist who focuses on cancer prevention and directs the center's community outreach and engagement
    • Ceyda Topcu, a high school senior from Staten Island who participated in the "YES in THE HEIGHTS" program this summer

• Efforts to Promote Diversity in Clinical Trials
  • The First Lady and Queen Letizia will learn about HICCC's designation and activities as an NCI Minority/Underserved Community Oncology Research Program (MU-NCORP) site; and its other efforts to promote diversity in clinical trials, including how its clinical trial nurse navigators work to make clinical trials accessible to people who live in the neighborhoods near the center. The First Lady and Queen Letizia will hear from:
    • Dr. Andrew Lassman, who leads HICCC's clinical trials
    • Mario Sambula, a prostate cancer patient who participated in a clinical trial at HICCC
    • Brianne Bodin, an Oncology Research Nurse Manager and former clinical trials nurse navigator

• Global Collaboration on Cancer Research
  • The First Lady and Queen Letizia will learn about HICCC's collaboration with cancer researchers in Spain and the Dominican Republic. The First Lady and Queen Letizia will hear from:
    • Dr. Raul Rabadan, who works to solve pressing biomedical problems through quantitative computational models and collaborates with researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO)
    • Dr. Chin Hur, who leads cross-cultural trainings with Dominican Republic medical personnel to enhance the quality of cancer care for diverse populations, including the Dominican population in Washington Heights and other communities in New York City

Background on Dr. Biden's cancer advocacy efforts:
As First Lady, Dr. Biden works to support cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones as they navigate their cancer journey. The President and First Lady reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goal to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer — and, by doing this and more, end cancer as we know it. In 1993, after four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. Biden started the Biden Breast Health Initiative in Delaware, which educated more than 10,000 high school girls about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. As Second Lady, Dr. Biden continued to stress the importance of breast cancer research and early detection. Following the Obama-Biden Administration, then-former Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden continued their cancer work through the Biden Foundation and the Biden Cancer Initiative.
As First Lady she continues her work emphasizing early detection efforts and the patient, family and caregiver experience with cancer. She has also focused on the importance of cancer screenings, especially those delayed or put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has encouraged government partners, the business community, and non-profit sectors to help make screenings more accessible and available to all.
In addition to the First Lady's engagement with Queen Letizia in June, she has engaged in the following internationally-focused cancer efforts:

· May 2022: The First Lady visited the National Children's Hospital of Costa Rica to celebrate the finalization of memoranda of understanding between Costa Rica's public health authority, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Through this research collaboration, Costa Rican pediatric cancer patients will have access to a novel cancer immunotherapy treatment – CAR T-cell therapy – and Costa Rican medical personnel will receive training opportunities.

· March 2022: The First Lady visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, to learn about St. Jude's research initiatives and supportive services for patients and their families. Dr. Biden also greeted with Ukrainian pediatric cancer patients and families who were brought to St. Jude. Many Ukrainian pediatric cancer patients were displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Background on the Cancer Moonshot:
As Vice President, in 2016, Joe Biden led the Cancer Moonshot with the mission to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer. The cancer advocacy, patient, research and health care communities responded with tremendous energy and ingenuity. Now, President Biden has reignited the Cancer Moonshot and set a new national goal: if we work together, we can cut the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer.

FLOTUS pool report #2 - tour color and remarks starting

Remarks from Dr. Biden and Queen Letizia are starting shortly and being live streamed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shm0rrq2BXo

During the tour of the center, which had three stops, Dr. Biden and Queen Letizia met with researchers, patients, and students studying STEM under a local program.

They shook hands with all and asked several questions about the research, how the patients were doing and what the students were working on. Pool was a few feet away and it was hard to hear everything.

Dr. Biden asked the students how they got interested in science and if they had family members who suffered from cancer.

One girl told her she originally wanted to be a nurse but now wanted to do research after joining the YES in the Heights program, which is the program that promotes STEM education.

"Go for the doctorate," Dr. Biden told her.

"It's so great to see young women going into stem fields," Dr. Biden said and joked she'd rather see them become an English teacher.

And when she talked with researchers who were doing computer modeling on cancer rates, Dr. Biden said: "We got to work harder and we've got to work faster."

After the tour the two took photos with students in the YES education program. Students introduced themselves in English and Spanish. Dr. Biden asked the students how they got involved in the program. It was hard to hear the conversation and answers.

Dr. Biden didn't respond to a question on whether she'd visit migrants while in New York.

FLOTUS pool report #3 - remarks and wrap

At the top of her remarks, Dr. Biden spoke of Puerto Rico:

"I, like, all Americans, I want to say that my heart is with the people of Puerto Rico, who are coping with Hurricane Fiona. You are not alone, or forgotten. We stand with you. And we will do everything we can to help you rebuild."

She talked about her visit to Spain in June and how Queen Letizia, whom she called "my dear friend," invited her to see research efforts there.

"After my visit, I wanted to bring the Queen here to see what we are doing here in the United States through the Cancer Moonshot, especially as the Columbia Cancer Center works closely with researchers" in Spain.

"None of us can beat cancer alone. It takes all of us sharing our best ideas and practices, working together to ease the burden on patients and their families, and creating the kind of care that saves lives."

"We can give our people the future they deserve no matter where they call home. Together we can end cancer as we know it."

After her speech, Dr. Biden didn't respond to a question on whether she would visit Puerto Rico.

She and the Queen walked out together after their remarks. They are departing separately and pool did not see departure.

That's a wrap folks. Let me know if you have any questions.