Blue Ribbon Panel Presentation for Cancer Moonshot
The Cancer Moonshot Task Force, headed by former Vice President Joe Biden, was directed to consult with external experts from relevant scientific sectors, including the presidentially appointed National Cancer Advisory Board(NCAB). A Blue Ribbon Panel of scientific experts was created to advise the NCAB.
Panel Process and Milestones
The BRP members were announced on April 4, 2016, and the first (virtual) meeting took place on April 11. At this meeting the members agreed to establish seven working groups to focus on major topic areas. The working group members were announced on May 2, and the groups met frequently until mid-July. In addition, the BRP met several more times—in person on April 18 and July 20, and virtually on July 13.
The working groups began with broad discussions of the state of the field for their respective topics and considered ideas from the members and the community at large. The panel considered more than 1,600 ideas submitted by the broader cancer community through a dedicated website, email, and other routes. Some working groups created subgroups with focused expertise in particular areas to carefully craft their recommendations. As the working groups narrowed in on their specific recommendations, the chairs of multiple groups also met to discuss cross-cutting themes and to merge similar topics into joint recommendations.
The BRP reviewed the working groups’ draft recommendations at its June 13 meeting and reviewed their final recommendations at its July 20 (in-person) meeting. The BRP presented a final report to the National Cancer Advisory Board in September 2016.
Blue Ribbon Panel Report
The Blue Ribbon Panel report describes 10 transformative research recommendations for achieving the Cancer Moonshot’s ambitious goal of making a decade’s worth of progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in just 5 years. Download the complete report.