The association Spanish Against Cancer (AECC) has gathered in New York a group of Spanish researchers working in the U.S. to recognize their work, learn about their concerns and promote scientific cooperation against cancer. The meeting, chaired by Queen Letizia, brought together 15 young Spanish researchers who are carrying out their research projects in the U.S. and some established researchers.

Among them were Dr. Luis Montuenga, researcher senior at Cima University of Navarra, and Dean of the School of Sciences, and alumni of the University of Navarra Manuel Hidalgo, director of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine; Amaya Lujambio, principal investigator at School of Mount Sinai Medicine; and Álvaro Curiel, researcher postdoctoral at Columbia University.

During the event, the need to support Spanish researchers who develop their work outside our borders was highlighted, as well as the need to promote international cooperation. All of this will reduce the time needed to bring results closer to patients, improve the national oncological science and medicine ecosystem, and reinforce the image of Spain as a reference in innovation and research in cancer.

Later, Her Majesty Queen Letizia and Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States, on behalf of the Cancer Moonshot initiative, participated in a meeting at Columbia University to highlight the importance and global cooperation of the research cancer moonshot. 

Currently, the AECC has allocated 17 million euros to international projects in 12 countries and has awarded 38 projects so that Spanish researchers have the tools to participate and lead high quality programs of study .

World Cancer Day research

World Cancer Day research (WCRD) was created in 2016 to support the overall goal of the 2013 World Cancer Declaration, which called for reductions in premature deaths from cancer, as well as improvements in quality of life and survival rates.

It is a global initiative jointly coordinated by nine organizations: research American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), association Española Contra el Cáncer, Associazione Italiana per la Recerca sul Cancro (AIRC), association European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), research , high school National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).