Fast forward 13 years to this afternoon, when I found myself getting on a conference call with Vice President Joe Biden and asking hundreds of Americans around the country if they'd be willing to host conversations in their communities about how we can expedite the pace of cancer progress.

Here's how it all came to be:

Throughout my experience with cancer -- from my initial diagnosis to the surgeries and procedures that followed -- I felt completely out of control. I was in a continuous state of recovery, and never in a place of victory.

I lost hope countless times during my cancer treatments. I felt that life had treated me unfairly and that I deserved better. It's what millions of patients and their families feel every day. Daily points of devastating despair and fear. That their illness will not be cured. That they will never become healthy again.

With the support of family and friends, I beat my illness and rediscovered the hope that I had once lost. But not everyone has the support I had. And no one should feel alone in a fight for their lives. I decided to dedicate my life to helping those affected by this terrible disease.

And I’m proud to say that my job is to help organize communities around the country to make sure every person whose life cancer has touched has a part to play.

On June 29, the Vice President and Dr. Biden are convening a Cancer Moonshot Summit. It will mark the first time that individuals and organizations in communities around the country -- patients, survivors, researchers, physicians, business leaders, philanthropists and more -- will convene under the national charge to double the rate of progress to end cancer as we know it.

If you want to be a part of it, you can start here, and let us know you want to host a summit in your community.

Reflecting on my own experience with cancer, here’s what I’ve learned:

Health care is not just about medicine and treatment, but more importantly about people who are making real-time, human decisions. And I’m grateful that President Obama and Vice President Biden have taken a stand to make sure our health care system works better for the actual people who rely on it the most.

When you talk to patient advocates for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s, or diabetes, they’ll often mention the lack of political will from those elected to lead us. These issues are complicated, and incredibly personal for millions of us. And creating lasting change starts with creating an open dialogue between patients and the communities charged with treating and researching their diseases.

The Vice President is boldly declaring this Administration’s political will with his Moonshot Initiative.

Want to be a part of it?

Now is a great time to meet up with other supporters in your community to get ready for the work ahead. Join your fellow cancer patient advocates, researchers, community leaders, and health care professionals as we share updates and discuss efforts to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care.

You can start right here.

Let’s end cancer once and for all.

-Ashwani

Ashwani Jain
Director of Outreach
Cancer Moonshot Summit

When I was 13 years old, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a cancer that is rarely found in children.

• Cancer Joe Biden Politics President Barack Obama Vice President
• At 5/27/2016 03:18:00 p.m.
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During his final State of the Union, the President put me in charge of a new national commitment to ending cancer as we know it.

We're calling it a "Moonshot," and that's because I believe that this effort, like President Kennedy's call to land on the moon 55 years ago, is truly a call to humankind -- to be bold and do big things.

And right now, I'm about to walk into the very first meeting of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force the President just created, and tasked me with chairing.

Here's what it all means.

Every single federal agency with a part to play in this mission -- from the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Energy and its national energy labs -- will be in the same room together to make sure we're working from the same playbook.

We'll make sure we're making the most of investments, of our research and data, our supercomputing capabilities, our targeted incentives, private-sector efforts, and patient-engagement initiatives.

In fact, just today we announced a new 1 billion dollar jumpstart to make sure some of the best work going on has the funding that it needs.

Because ultimately, as the federal government, our job is to break down silos and bring people together who are doing the most cutting-edge work. Our job is to clear out the bureaucratic hurdles -- and let science happen.

And we're going to continue to call on families, researchers, and physicians all across the country to join this effort and rise to the challenge.

I've been in touch with hundreds of the world's top cancer physicians, researchers, and philanthropists.

And I’ve been in touch with Americans around the country who know the realities of this disease firsthand, people who have lived through it and people who have lost their loved ones they hold most dearly.

If you’ve got a story to tell about how this disease has touched your life, I want to hear from you.

And following the meeting, at around 3:30 p.m. Eastern, Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Douglas Lowy, Chief of the National Cancer Institute’s Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, will be taking your questions on Twitter. You can ask them using #CancerMoonshot.

As the President said in the State of the Union, we can do this for the loved ones we've lost -- and the families we can still save.

I couldn't agree more. If there is one word that defines us as Americans, it's "possibility." And I believe this is possible.

I know that we can do this.

I'll be in touch along the way with ways you can help -- believe it.

Thank you,

Joe

The meeting I'll walk into in a few hours:

• Barack Obama President The Whait House Vice President
• At 2/01/2016 03:55:00 p.m.
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