First Lady Pool Reports of October 7, 2022

#1 FLOTUS Pool CA

Dr. Biden and Dr. Monica Bertagnoli, Dr. Laura Esserman and patient Penny Marienthal are at the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco.

The group is here to highlight cancer research at UCSF. Details below on the tour and Biden Administration's Cancer Moonshot goals.

Dr. Biden is wearing a light blue dress and pearls. Congresswoman Jackie Spier is wearing a maroon coat and pearls. Senator Scott Wiener is also present.

Tour has started and has three stops. First stop is about the WISDOM study that intends to lower risk of breast cancer with stronger screening. Another trial aims to classify tumors.
Dr. Esserman says there are 30 trials open across every aspect of cancer treatment at UCSF, including trials focused on survivorship. "We don't think one size fits all."

Dr. Biden speaks to a breast cancer survivor. "It's so hard to go through all the treatments and having the disease of cancer, and being asked to be in a clinical trial, takes a lot of courage."

Background on today from the East Wing:

Background | Friday 10/7: First Lady Visits University of University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

On Friday, October 7, at 10:15 AM PT, as part of the Biden Administration's Cancer Moonshot and to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, First Lady Jill Biden and National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli will visit the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to highlight advances in breast cancer research and programs that support breast cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers. Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, who will be finishing her first week as the new Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D, CA-14) will accompany Dr. Biden. This visit marks Dr. Bertagnolli's first public event with the First Lady and during the Biden Administration.

This visit is pooled press:

• Print pooler: San Francisco Examiner
• Photo: European Pressphoto Agency (EPA)
• TV Pool: CBS KPIX-TV Bay Area

Upon arrival, the First Lady and Dr. Bertagnolli will greet with Rep. Jackie Speier and Dr. Alan Ashworth, President of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Then, they will tour the UCSF Breast Care Center with Dr. Ashworth. They will receive briefings on UCSF's breast cancer research and the progress that's been made since 2016, as well as UCSF's programs to support breast cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers and its community outreach and engagement efforts. Following the tour, the First Lady, Dr. Bertagnolli, Rep. Speier, and Dr. Ashworth will meet with breast cancer researchers at UCSF about their career paths and their research.

• Tour Stop 1: Breast Cancer Research: The First Lady, Dr. Monica Bertganolli, and Rep. Jackie Speier will receive an overview of cutting-edge research at UCSF HDFCCCC, including progress made since Dr. Biden last visited. They will hear from Dr. Alan Ashworth, the cancer center's president and a cancer researcher who helped discover BRCA2 – a genetic mutation that makes breast cancer and other cancers more likely – and drugs (PARP inhibitors) that treat BRCA1 and BRCA2 cancers. Participants include:
  • Dr. Laura Esserman, Director of UCSF Breast Care Center and Co-Leader of the UCSF Breast Oncology Program, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Penny Marienthal, Breast Cancer Patient
• Tour Stop 2: Community Outreach Programs: The First Lady, Dr. Bertganolli, and Rep. Speier will receive an overview of UCSF HDFCCC's community outreach programs and support for breast cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers. Participants include:
  • Dr. Kim Rhoads, Associate Director of Community Engagement, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Amy Alanes, Executive Director, Women's Cancer Resource Center
  • Dolores Moorhead, Community Engagement Director and Client Support Clinician, Women's Cancer Resource Center
• Conversations with Breast Cancer Researchers: The First Lady, Dr. Bertagnolli, Rep. Speier, and Dr. Ashworth will meet with breast cancer researchers at UCSF about their career paths and their research.
  • Dr. Laura Huppert, Associate Professor of Medicine, UCSF
  • Dr. Rita Mukhtar, Associate Professor of Surgery, UCSF
  • Dr. Paola Betancur, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, UCSF
  • Kami Pullakhandam, Clinical Trials Navigator

Dr. Jill Biden's previous Cancer Moonshot Visit to the University of California, San Francisco: In February 2016, after the launch of the Cancer Moonshot, then-Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Biden visited UCSF to meet with top cancer experts. Their visit focused on how to accelerate the development of novel therapies.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)'s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC):
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Center. Its catchment area (the area from which the center mostly draws its patients) includes 25 of 59 counties in California, a population of over 13.4 million. Several of UCSF HDFCCC's multidisciplinary research programs are supported through the NCI, including its Breast Oncology Program. The UCSF Breast Oncology Program's research has helped to better understand biological causes of breast cancer, personalize screening and diagnostics, identify new therapeutic targets for high-risk disease, and improve the efficiency of drug development through innovative trial design. Its notable ongoing clinical trials include the I-SPY 2 Trial and the WISDOM Study.

Overview of National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Centers:
NCI-Designated Cancer Centers are recognized for their scientific leadership in laboratory and clinical research, and for serving communities with programs and services tailored to their unique needs and populations. NCI provides support and funding for their research infrastructure. Many of these centers are affiliated with university medical centers. There are 71 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers across the country. Each year, hundreds of thousands of cancer patients are diagnosed, treated, and enrolled in clinical trials at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers. In addition, many of these centers engage in outreach related to cancer prevention and screening, particularly for underserved populations.

Background on Dr. Biden's Cancer Advocacy Efforts:
As First Lady, Dr. Biden works to support cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones as they navigate their cancer journey. The President and First Lady reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goal to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer — and end cancer as we know it. In 1993, after four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. Biden started the Biden Breast Health Initiative in Delaware, which educated more than 10,000 high school girls about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. As Second Lady, Dr. Biden continued to stress the importance of breast cancer research and early detection. Following the Obama-Biden Administration, then-former Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden continued their cancer work through the Biden Foundation and the Biden Cancer Initiative.
As First Lady, Dr. Biden continues her work emphasizing early detection efforts and the patient, family and caregiver experience with cancer. She has also focused on the importance of cancer screenings, especially those delayed or put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has encouraged government partners, the business community, and non-profit sectors to help make screenings more accessible and available to all.

The First Lady's recent breast cancer advocacy efforts include:

• June 2022: The First Lady and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm joined Ambassador Nancy Brinker in Palm Beach County, Florida, to highlight the importance of private sector commitments and collaboration in the effort to end cancer as we know it. They toured FoundCare Palm Springs, a Federally Qualified Health Center that was able to establish a women's health center and offer breast and cervical cancer screenings.
• October 2021: The First Lady spoke with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York about her mission to get people screened for breast cancer.
• September 2021: The First Lady partnered with Lifetime to encourage people to get a mammogram in an effort to stop breast cancer and spread awareness on how early-detection can save lives.

Background on the Cancer Moonshot:
As Vice President, in 2016, Joe Biden led the Cancer Moonshot with the mission to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer. The cancer advocacy, patient, research and health care communities responded with tremendous energy and ingenuity. Now, President Biden has reignited the Cancer Moonshot and set a new national goal: if we work together, we can cut the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer.

#2 FLOTUS Pool CA

Dr. Biden has moved to the second stop on the tour. Which has three stops.

Dr. Kim Rhoads says the UCSF cancer center is working to implement "year-round, non-transactional" community engagement and investment.

Amy Alanes, Women's Cancer Research Center, serves on patient navigation workgroup. Dr. Biden visited the center in 2019.

Dolores Moorehead, community engagement official at WCRC talks about the importance of building trust in hard to reach communities to improve quality of life and "build relationships with medical providers to better understand their diagnosis and treatment options."

Dr. Monica Bertagnoli thanks the group for their work. "Those of us doing research have finally learned that the key to doing anything is being partners with our patients."

Stop three of your to come in next report.

#3 FLOTUS Pool CA - UCSF visit

Dr. Biden is on the final stop of the tour, a panel discussion. Dr. Paula Betancur shares how they are trying to create a pipeline for doctors from under represented backgrounds. Another doctor shares she had family members with breast cancer that inspired her research and career as a surgeon.

Dr. Biden asks: "if a mammogram doesn't pick it up, how do you find it?"

Mammograms don't work as well in younger women, and there are now companies working on blood and DNA-based tests.

Dr. Laura Huppert said she wanted to be a breast cancer oncologist with a goal of bringing novel therapies to clinical trials.

Several of the doctors and students on the panel are young women who said they were driven to the field after having family experiences with cancer. One is currently applying to medical school now.

Dr. Biden tells her "good luck!"

Dr. Biden said she ones had four friends diagnosed with breast cancer at the same time. She previously developed the Biden Breast Health Initiative which helped young girls become aware and learn the signs of breast cancer.

"We have gone through this journey and we know how painful it is for families," Dr. Biden said. "I love what you are doing here."

Congresswoman Jackie Speier said there is legislation underway to cover the cost of participation in clinical trials of insurance doesn't cover it.

Dr. Biden did not take questions. The tour has concluded.

#4 FLOTUS Pool CA: arrival/event details

Greeting from you pooler!

FLOTUS Jill Biden is expected to take the stage at theDemocratic Congressional Campaign CommitteeWomen's Lunch and Issues Conference at the Fairmont Hotel, a historic property on San Francisco's affluent Nob Hill, momentarily.

She's being introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. There are a few hundred attendees in the audience.

#5 FLOTUS Pool CA - Biden remarks

FLOUTS took the stage around 12:10 p.m. and was greeted with roaring applause.

Biden opened by speaking about her decision to continue working as an educator while serving as FLOTUS: "In fact, I graded papers on the flight here."

Biden then shifted to abortion, and spoke about the complicated and dangerous obstacles a friend of hers had to go through to obtain an abortion at age 17: "I was shocked when the Dobbs decision came out… How could we go back to that time?"

"Extremist Republicans are passing state laws that prevent women from getting the health care they need."

Biden said GOP state legislators across the country are also trying to roll back progress on marriage equality, voting rights and health care.

#6 FLOTUS Pool CA - concluding remarks

Jill Biden spoke for about 15 minutes total, and concluded her remarks around 12:20 p.m.

She spoke at-length about her personal experience with women's health care, including growing up in Pennsylvania before the Roe decision. She said her friend, who became pregnant as a teenager in the late 1960s, could not get an abortion unless she underwent a psychiatric evaluation and a doctor deemed her mentally unfit.

Biden said she went to see her friend in the hospital and "cried the whole drive home." She said the teenager could not return to her home after the procedure, so Biden's mother allowed the girl to recover at the family's home. Biden said she and her late mother never told another person, including her father, what had happened.

"Secrecy. Shame. Silence. Danger. Even death. That's what defined that time for so many women," she said.

Biden then shifted to the Dobbs decision: " I thought of all the girls and women, like my friend, whose education, careers, and future depended on the ability to choose when they have children."

FLOTUS spoke about losing her mother, who died a few months before Joe Biden became vice president during the Obama administration. She said, however, that she still feels her mother's strength inside of her "every single day."

Biden then pivoted to the DCCC audience in the room: "We all need to find that strength right now. There's way too much at stake for the women whose lives are on the line, and for the fathers and brothers, and husbands and sons, who love them. We need you in this fight, too."

"But here's the thing that extremists don't understand about women: This isn't the first time that we've been underestimated." The audience broke into applause.

"Women will not let this country go backwards. We've fought too hard for too long. And we know that there is just too much on the line. We will not let some radical Republican agenda be the legacy we leave for our daughters and granddaughters. But that means that we have to act now."

Biden urged donors in the room to "dig a little deeper, give a little bit more" to help Democratic congressional candidates on the ballot this year and to ensure POTUS and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have the majorities they need.

"Because we women are the reason that my husband, Joe Biden, is president today," she said, drawing loud applause again.

FLOTUS ended on another personal note: "My mom always used to say, 'Things always look better in the morning.' And she was right. We take it day by day, battle by battle. We don't lose hope and we never quit. We honor the women who made us and the women we make."

After her remarks, Biden hugged Pelosi and left the stage to a standing ovation.

The pool did not see FLOTUS depart. The remainder of the DCCC event was closed press. Thank you for following.