President Joe Biden will announce he is allocating $150 million in new federal funding toward developing technology to better assist surgeons in successfully removing cancerous tumors, according to the White House.
The award is the latest infusion of funds into Biden's "Cancer Moonshot," a program spearheaded by the President and the First Lady that aims to reduce the U.S. cancer death rate by at least 50% by 2047.
Nearly 2 million Americans are newly diagnosed with solid tumor cancers each year, and surgical removal is often the first step in their treatment, the White House stated.
Next-generation microscopes and imaging technology aim to make these surgeries more effective, potentially reducing the need for repeat surgeries and decreasing damage to healthy tissue, ultimately saving and extending lives, according to the White House.
In its first 2 years, the administration has invested more than $400 million to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment, the White House reported.
The 8 award recipients include Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Washington, as per the White House announcement.