Jill Biden and Queen Letizia of Spain joined forces in New York on Wednesday to call attention to the global fight against cancer.
‘None of us can beat cancer alone. It takes all of us sharing our best ideas and practices, working together to ease the burden on patients and their families, and creating the kind of care that saves lives,’ Jill Biden said.
‘We can give our people the future they deserve no matter where they call home. Together we can end cancer as we know it,’ she said.
Queen Letizia echoed her words.
‘Cancer knows no borders and this social perspective of research is a global imperative,’ she said in her remarks.
Jill Biden and Queen Letizia of Spain joined forces in New York to call attention to the global fight against cancer.
The two women visited Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City
Jill Biden and Queen Letizia met with students participating in the ‘YES in THE HEIGHTS’ cancer research summer program
The two women spoke at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting. The visit was part of the Biden administration’s ‘Cancer Moonshot’ program, which has the goal of cutting in half deaths from cancer over the next 25 years.
Both women have made the fight against cancer a personal one. Jill Biden’s sister and four friends have battled the disease. And Queen Letizia serves as honorary president of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.
The two women have partnered up before on highlighting cancer research. During the June NATO meeting in Madrid, they visited the headquarters of the Spanish Association Against Cancer.
Each wore white and chatted extensively with the researchers, students and patients.
Jill Biden talked about her visit to Spain in June and how Queen Letizia, whom she called ‘my dear friend,’ invited her to see research efforts there.
‘After my visit, I wanted to bring the Queen here to see what we are doing here in the United States through the Cancer Moonshot, especially as the Columbia Cancer Center works closely with researchers’ in Spain, she said.
The two women toured the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City.
They met with reseachers, patients and students participating in the ‘YES in THE HEIGHTS’ cancer research summer program.
Jill Biden and Queen Letizia also met with cancer researchers and patients
Both women see cancer as a personal issue and have urged cooperation on research
Jill Biden and Queen Letizia were in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting
Jill Biden and Queen Letizia talked cancer research on Wednesday, a second meeting for the two who talked about the same subject in Madrid in June
Jill Biden asked students how they got interested in STEM studies, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
One girl told her she originally wanted to be a nurse but now wanted to do research after joining the program.
‘Go for the doctorate,’ Biden, who has a doctorate, told her.
‘It’s so great to see young women going into STEM fields,’ Biden said and joked she’d rather see them become an English teacher. The first lady is an English professor at a Northern Virginia Community College.