President Biden will travel to Boston on Monday to deliver remarks on a major cancer fighting initiative, the White House said Wednesday.
The White House confirmed Biden’s visit in a statement.
The president, the release said, will discuss “the Cancer Moonshot [intiative] and the goal of ending cancer as we know it. The President’s remarks, which will take place on the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s ‘Moonshot’ speech, will be held at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum” in Dorchester.
Before hitting the JFK Library, officials said, Biden “will also make remarks on the unprecedented investments in his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that are building a better America. This trip will be pooled press. Additional details to follow.”
Advertisement
Biden, while vice president, plugged the Cancer Moonshot Initiative in October 2016 at the tail end of the Obama administration. Biden said at the time that 45 years of cancer research since President Nixon announced a similar effort in 1971 had created a vastly greater understanding of the disease.
“We now have an army and powerful new technologies and tools. And with this moonshot, I believe we have a clear strategy on how to move ahead,” said Biden in 2016, speaking at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate on Columbia Point.
Caroline Kennedy, US ambassador to Australia and the honorary president of the John F Kennedy Library Foundation, said in a statement Wednesday that the JFK Library looks forward to welcoming Biden next week.
“Sixty years after my father challenged Americans to land on the moon, President Biden is welcoming great challenges as new opportunities by setting us on a bold course to end cancer as we know it,” Kennedy said in a statement released by the library. “We are honored that the President will visit the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library to discuss his Administration’s own ‘Moonshot’ that will build a better future for us all.”
Advertisement
Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, president and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, also praised the Moonshot Initiative in a separate statement.
“We continue to be excited at the promise of the Administration’s Moonshot initiative that will further important cancer research and prevention strategies while addressing health equity issues,” Glimcher said. “As President Biden arrives in Boston on Monday, we are reminded of President Kennedy’s call to action for space exploration years ago and on behalf of our patients and their families we are similarly meeting President Biden’s call to reduce cancer deaths with optimism and enthusiasm.”
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.