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Spring 2022 Cancer Policy Roundtable

March 30, 2022

Four Seasons Hotel

Washington, DC

9:00 AM EDT

Attendees must be fully vaccinated and masked.

NCCS’s bi-annual Cancer Policy Roundtable (CPR) convenes stakeholders in the cancer community to discuss pressing issues related to cancer research, development of new cancer therapies, and the delivery of quality cancer care. Participants include cancer survivors, advocates, providers, payers, researchers, government officials, and industry representatives.

Norman Dr. Sharpless spoke at the Cancer Policy Roundtable in 2019.

This year’s Spring Cancer Policy Roundtable will feature a survivor keynote delivered by Jamie Ledezma, a 15-year breast cancer survivor and member of NCCS’s Cancer Policy and Advocacy Team Steering Committee. In our panel discussion titled “Cancer Care During the Pandemic and Beyond: Where Do We Go from Here?,” health care professionals, health policy experts, and technology innovators will discuss cancer care during the pandemic and options for improving cancer care and survivorship care delivery.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will share more about her breast cancer diagnosis during the pandemic as well as insights into the cancer legislation she continues to champion. Dr. Danielle Carnival from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has been invited to join us to discuss the Cancer Moonshot. Dr. Ned Sharpless, the Director of the National Cancer Institute, will bring the event to a close and deliver the closing keynote where he will address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer prevention, diagnosis, care, and research.

Register to Attend

Meeting Agenda

Session Information

  • 9:00 AM – Registration and Breakfast
  • 9:30 AM – Survivor Keynote – Jamie Ledezma
  • 10:30 AM – Cancer Care During the Pandemic and Beyond: Where Do We Go From Here?
  • 11:45 PM – Lunch
  • 12:50 PM – Cancer Moonshot – Danielle Carnival, PhD – White House Cancer Moonshot Coordinator
  • 1:30 PM – Closing Keynote – Dr. Norman “Ned” Sharpless: The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Cancer Prevention, Diagnosis, Care and Research
  • 2:30 PM – Coffee, Dessert, and Networking
Current Meeting Agenda

Background Reading

We have assembled some background reading materials to help you prepare for the meeting. Click a topic below to expand.
Download all background reading material (PDF) here.

These materials include articles from 2020, during the early weeks and months of the pandemic. We are doing that intentionally, so that we can consider how the health care system observations, analysis, and recommendations of 2020 have weathered two additional years of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also sharing recent articles about the pandemic and health care reform.

In May 2020, Lev Facher of STAT News interviewed several health policy experts and wrote an article summarizing their observations and recommendations, “9 Ways Covid-19 May Forever Upend the US Health Care Industry.”

One year later, NPR interviewed Dr. Shantanu Nundy about his book recommending post-pandemic reforms of the US health care system.

In June 2020, National Cancer Institute Director Norman “Ned” Sharpless editorialized about COVID-19 and cancer, presenting models of excess cancer deaths from COVID.

In February 2022, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Peterson Center on Healthcare reported on the pandemic’s effects on health outcomes, costs, and access to care.

In a Health Affairs policy brief published in March 2022, a group of health policy experts from Duke-Margolis Health Policy Center identified pandemic-era reforms to address health needs and social equity that should be considered for permanent implementation.

In a New England Journal of Medicine commentary, Dr. Justin Bekelman and his colleagues at Penn Medicine described the Cancer Care at Home (CC@H) program, launched in November 2019 to demonstrate that many infused or injected cancer drugs could be delivered safely at home.

As the pandemic continues, cancer care professionals are making information about COVID-19 available to cancer patients. The American Society of Clinical Oncology posted materials on “COVID and Coronavirus: What People with Cancer Need to Know.”

The National Cancer Institute also provided patient education materials, “COVID-19: What People with Cancer Should Know.”

On the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death in May 2021, Hurdle released a white paper, “Black Mental Health: The need for cultural humility in mental healthcare, before and after George Floyd’s death.” The paper was co-authored Hurdle advisors, Dr. Harold “Woody” Neighbors and Dr. Norma L. Day-Vines.

STAT News reported on a nurse who warned of the pandemic’s toll on health care workers prior to his death. Sadly, there are many more stories like this one.

Karen Tumulty, Deputy Editorial Page Editor and Columnist for the Washington Post, wrote occasionally about her brother and his health care (and insurance) struggles as part of her coverage of the “repeal and replace” debate that occurred during the Trump Administration. She has now written following her brother’s death to explain his struggles with the health care system. Her opinion article, “Disease Took My Brother. Our Health-Care System Added to His Ordeal” is not a pandemic story but is a tale worth reading for Tumulty’s insights about our health care system.

Social Media Information

We’d love attendees to engage with NCCS on social media during the event. If you have any social media-related questions or concerns, please contact NCCS Communications and Marketing Manager Kirstyn Flood at kflood@canceradvocacy.org.

Social Media Toolkit with Sample Posts

We’ve put together a social media toolkit with sample posts to help you engage with us during the meeting.

Social Media Toolkit


NCCS’s social media handles


Hashtags

  • #CPR22
  • #cancersurvivorship
  • #canceradvocacy

Speaker Biographies

Click a speaker name to read more.

Download Speaker Bios

Justin E. Bekelman, MD, is the founding Director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation at the Abramson Cancer Center, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Medicine, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine, Faculty in the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, and Senior Fellow at the Penn Center for Precision Medicine and the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, all at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bekelman leads research programs to improve the length and quality of life for patients with cancer. His research focuses on health care delivery, payment reform and cancer care transformation, integrating methods from the fields of innovation, epidemiology, clinical trials, behavioral and health economics, and public policy.

He has served as an advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on cancer care payment reform and innovation. Dr. Bekelman is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He completed his undergraduate studies at Princeton University in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and his medical training at Yale University, Johns Hopkins, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Previously, he was a management consultant at the Kalchas Group, advising senior executives of health care and insurance clients on corporate strategy.

Dr. Bekelman also served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense in the US Department of Defense. He is a board-certified radiation oncologist and practicing physician at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Danielle Carnival, PhD most recently served as the chief of staff and senior policy director for the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force. Over her more than six years at the White House, she leveraged her technical scientific expertise to develop programs and policies to make progress on Obama Administration goals in partnership with Federal agencies and the private, academic, and philanthropic sectors. This work spanned areas of health and biomedical policy, including cancer and neuroscience, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and advancing equity and promoting diversity in STEM fields, among others.

Ms. Carnival assumed leadership roles for some of the Administration’s signature initiatives and events, most notably, the White House Cancer Moonshot, White House Science Fairs, College Opportunity Days of Action, and Computer Science for All and Diversity in STEM initiatives.

Ms. Carnival received her doctorate in neuroscience from Georgetown University and her bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Norma Day-Vines, MD serves as Associate Dean for Diversity and Faculty Development in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University and maintains a faculty appointment as Professor of Counseling and Educational Studies. Prior to joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, she held tenured faculty positions at The College of William and Mary and Virginia Tech.

Dr. Day-Vines’ research agenda examines the importance of multiculturalism as an indispensable tool in the delivery of culturally competent counseling and educational services for clients and students from marginalized groups. More specifically, she specializes in the measurement of attitudes towards discussing the contextual dimensions of race, ethnicity and culture with ethnic minority clients/students and the identification of strategies that reduce barriers to well-being.

Dr. Day-Vines has consulted with school districts across the country to address issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Her scholarship has appeared in leading counseling journals such as the Journal of Counseling and Development, the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, the Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, and Professional School Counseling. She was recognized with an Exemplary Diversity Leadership Award in 2013 by the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development. In 2018, she received an Excellence in Teaching Award at Johns Hopkins University, and in 2019, was awarded a Presidential Citation from the American Counseling Association, in recognition of her scholarship on multiculturalism.

Norma earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s and doctorate from North Carolina State University.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is the first woman elected to represent the State of Minnesota in the United States Senate. She has served the people of her state in the US Senate since 2007.

Throughout her time in Congress, Senator Klobuchar has been a fierce supporter of increased and sustained funding for the NIH to support research into cures for cancer and other diseases.

The topic of cancer and early detection is personal for Senator Klobuchar. After delaying her mammogram because of the pandemic, she learned she had stage IA breast cancer following a routine mammogram last February. After her own cancer journey, she acknowledged that there may still be thousands of people with undetected cancer because they postponed preventative care. To ensure people have the resources and information they need to access this potentially lifesaving care, she introduced the bipartisan Preventative Care Awareness Act to promote screenings and create a public health task force to encourage preventative care and address disparities in these services.

Jamie Ledezma was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27 years old and 14 weeks pregnant. With her new reality, Jamie quickly discovered that the journey of living with cancer and navigating the healthcare system was often confusing and overwhelming despite her training as a lawyer and policy wonk.
As a young adult cancer survivor who has struggled navigating her own survivorship care, Jamie volunteers with organizations to support the adoption of comprehensive whole-person survivorship care plans. She is a member of the Cancer Policy and Advocacy Team with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). Jamie also volunteers as a cancer rights attorney in hopes of helping empower other patients and their families with resources to access quality care and navigate the myriad of legal issues related to a cancer diagnosis.

Jamie is a professor at Southwestern Community College in San Diego where she lives with her husband and 14.5 year old son, Blake.

Ana Maria López, MD, MPH, is Professor and Vice Chair of Medical Oncology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College and Chief of Cancer Services at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health – New Jersey. Dr. López has served as an NCCS Board Member since 2021.

Dr. López joined Jefferson in 2018 from the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT, where she was Director of Cancer Health Equality and Inclusion and served as Associate Vice President of Health Equality and Inclusion at the University of Utah Health. A board-certified Medical Oncologist, Dr. López’s clinical expertise is in women’s malignancies, integrative medicine and oncology, and telehealth.

Dr. López is President-Emeritus of the American College of Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization in the United States. Her strong commitment to health equity is reflected in her work with the American Society of Clinical Oncology as former Chair of the Health Equity Committee, and with the Association of American Medical Colleges where she serves as Member of the Steering Committee of the Group of Women in Medicine and Science. Her areas of expertise and research focus include cancer prevention, integrative oncology, and innovations in healthcare.

Shelley Fuld NassoShelley Fuld Nasso, MPP has served as Chief Executive Officer of NCCS since October 2013. Prior to joining NCCS, Shelley served in leadership roles at Susan G. Komen, where she leveraged Komen’s grassroots network in Washington, D.C., and in state capitals. Under her leadership, Komen successfully secured $80 million in state funding for cancer screening and treatment for uninsured and under-insured women.

Shelley has also served as Director of Community Philanthropy at The Dallas Foundation and held management positions at communications and technology enterprises. She is a graduate of Rice University and holds a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Shelley’s commitment to the work of NCCS is strongly tied to the experiences in the cancer care system of her dear friend, Dr. Brent Whitworth, a beloved physician who was diagnosed with stage IV cancer days before his 42nd birthday and who passed away 19 months later. Through Brent’s experiences, Shelley witnessed the strengths and flaws of the cancer care system and embraces the notion that policy change can make cancer care better for patients and caregivers.
Shelley and her husband Michael live in Maryland and are the parents of three young boys.

Norman Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD, has served as the 15th director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since October 2017. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sharpless served as the director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

Dr. Sharpless was a Morehead Scholar at UNC–Chapel Hill and received his undergraduate degree in mathematics. He went on to pursue his medical degree from the UNC School of Medicine, graduating with honors and distinction in 1993. He then completed his internal medicine residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a hematology/oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care, both of Harvard Medical School. After two years on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, he joined the faculty of the UNC School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine and Genetics in 2002 and became the Wellcome Professor of Cancer Research at UNC in 2012.

Dr. Sharpless is a member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is a Fellow of the Academy of the American Association of Cancer Research. He has authored more than 160 original scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters, and is an inventor on 10 patents. He cofounded two clinical-stage biotechnology companies: G1 Therapeutics and Sapere Bio (formerly HealthSpan Diagnostics).

Dr. Sharpless served as Acting Commissioner for Food and Drugs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 7 months in 2019 before returning to the NCI directorship.

Registration Form


Registration Form

Registration for this event has closed. Please contact Ellie Donohue at edonohue@canceradvocacy.org with any questions you may have.

Cancer Policy Roundtable 2022 Sponsors

(as of 3/14/2022)

CPR 2022 Sponsors 1

CPR Spring 2022 Sponsors 2

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