For the fifth annual Nixon National Cancer Conference, the Richard Nixon Foundation partnered with the Milken Institute to host Cancer 2025: A Roadmap for the Future. The event coincided with the 55th anniversary of the National Cancer Act, landmark legislation signed by President Richard Nixon that transformed the nation’s approach to cancer and set in motion decades of scientific and clinical progress.
Leaders across science, medicine, policy, technology, finance, government, and philanthropy gathered on February 23–24 at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream to discuss what it will take—in research, technology, policy, financing, and care delivery—to dramatically reduce cancer mortality by 2035.
Featured speakers included Dr. Mehmet Oz, Representative Diana DeGette, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Dr. Anthony Letai, Dr. James Allison, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Dr. William Li, as well as three former NIH directors—Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Dr. Francis Collins, and Dr. Monica Bertagnolli—along with many other leaders advancing cancer research, care, and prevention.
During the conference, the Richard Nixon Foundation presented the Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach Award to Michael Milken and the Legacy of Hope Award to Marlene Malek, recognizing their extraordinary leadership in the fight against cancer.
Both awards were presented by board member Melanie Eisenhower on behalf of the Nixon Foundation. Eisenhower—great-granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and granddaughter of President Richard Nixon—delivered remarks underscoring a central point: the modern national campaign against cancer began with President Nixon’s signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971.
The National Cancer Act was displayed throughout the event on loan from the National Archives—a powerful reminder of what coordinated national action can achieve and a call to design the next generation of systems, strategies, and partnerships needed to accelerate biomedical progress.
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