Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Draws on Aussie Nobel-Winning Expertise
- Australian government commits A$250 million to biomedical fund
- Turnbull’s ‘ideas boom’ seeks science-led boost to the economy
This article is for subscribers only.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Melbourne last July with his granddaughters in tow. Bypassing sporting stadiums and race-car tracks, Biden’s first official stop in the world’s sporting capital was to open a A$1 billion ($737 million) cancer center.
As head of America’s cancer “moonshot” initiative, and having lost his son Beau to brain cancer, Biden has spent the last year of his term exploring ways to “end cancer as we know it.” That his quest took him 10,000 miles to the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre is an endorsement of Australia’s medical-science prowess and a new plan to expand its reach.