'It's about what's possible': Biden announces $150M for cancer-fighting technologies

President Joe Biden is using his remaining time in office to tackle cancer as he traveled to New Orleans Tuesday with first lady Jill Biden to promote his administration's Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

Speaking at Tulane University, President Biden announced $150 million in funding for hospitals to develop cancer-fighting technologies that aid in tumor-removal surgeries. It's an issue that is deeply personal for the president, whose son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer at the age of 46 in 2015.

"Part of our goal of our Cancer Moonshot is to end cancer as we know it and even cure some cancers," President Biden said Tuesday. "We're mobilizing a whole-country effort to cut American cancer deaths in half within 25 years and boost support for patients and their families. I'm confident in our capacity to do that. I know we can."

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The year after the death of President Biden's son, President Barack Obama launched the Cancer Moonshot with then-Vice President Biden at the helm.

The initiative has the lofty goal of slashing the number of lives lost to cancer in half by 2047. The administration also wants to improve the lives of those who are battling cancer and who have survived cancer, and to help family members who are supporting loved ones with cancer.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in America, second only to heart disease. The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 611,000 people will die of cancer in the U.S. this year.

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"It's not just personal, it's about what's possible," President Biden added. "This is on top of the administration investing more than $25 billion ... for the National Cancer Institute. That's an increase of more than $4 billion in just four years. That investment is supporting everything from next-generation cancer science innovations to cutting-edge research in cancer disparities, and new efforts to end childhood cancers."

Where the $150 million will go

The White House is allocating funds for eight participating university health systems.

Dartmouth and the University of Illinois are receiving some of the largest grants, upwards of $30 million. The University of Illinois is using the funds to invest in new microscopes and other tools to help identify microscopic cancer remnants inside patients.