Joe Biden just named a cancer patient to head his cancer cure campaign

Vice President Joe Biden named Greg Simon, 64, as the head of the White House-backed initiative to end cancer. Simon knows firsthand about the urgency to find a cure — he is a cancer patient himself.

Simon was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia six months ago and completed a round of chemotherapy, The New York Times reports. He is now healthy but while sick, he lost a close friend.

"There are so many things in the cure process that take too long," Simon said.

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Simon served as an aide to Vice President Al Gore from 1991 to 1997, helped start FasterCures — a charity that worked to expedite the process between research and the creation of lifesaving medications — and also served as the senior vice president for patient engagement at Pfizer. Simon currently works at Poliwogg, a company that invests in life sciences.

Biden has called his "moon shot" cancer cure campaign "personal"; his son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer last year.