Changes of personnel with changes of the U.S. Administration are de rigueur so it’s not yet clear what this one means, but Greg Simon, executive director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, will leave his post in January according a report by Precision Medicine World Conference News. This may simply be a natural occurrence but PMWC News reports anxiety is percolating in the Moonshot community caused by uncertainty around incoming administration plans for the project.
The Cancer Moonshot seeks to significantly advance the fight against cancer by leveraging HPC and deep learning technology in combination with modern medicine. Established by the 21st Century Cures Act, the Cancer Moonshot program will receive $1.8 billion over seven years. The White House Task Force has been a key element in guiding the program.
“What we do know is that on January 19, the agency and its initiatives begun under the Task Force will transition into the next Administration led by career officials with existing budgets and commitments. But the leadership of the agency efforts in the new Administration and the extension of the formal Cancer Moonshot program in the new Administration are yet to be addressed by the presidential team transition,” reports PMWC News.
There are many pieces to the Precision Medicine Initiative and the Cancer Moon shot programs. In the past year, efforts to develop deep learning expertise and infrastructure in support of the programs have gained momentum (see HPCwire article, Enlisting Deep Learning in the War on Cancer).
In the PMWC News interview, Simon said, “[T]he Task Force was always intended to end at the expiration of the Obama administration. Discussions with the transition may lead to a continuation of the formal effort, but those discussions have not yet occurred. My employment with the government ends on January 19th. I have not yet announced my future plans, but they will include assisting Vice President Biden in his stated goal to stay involved in promoting the goals of the Cancer Moonshot.”
Link to PMWC New interview: http://www.pmwcintl.com/greg-simon-qa/