First Lady Jill Biden meets with Queen Letizia

USPA NEWS - First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Spain on Monday night and this Tuesday she met with Queen Letizia at the Palacio de La Zarzuela. Jill Biden accompanies President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on his trip to Spain for his attendance at the NATO Summit. The Summit will bring together around 40 Heads of State and Government at the IFEMA Fair in Madrid between June 29 and 30, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Spain's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Among the attendees will be the 30 allied countries, four invited Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea), four other member countries of the European Union but not of the Alliance, as well as the heads of the European Commission and the European Council.

After their meeting at the Palace, Queen Letizia and Dr. Jill Biden visited the facilities of the Spanish Association Against Cancer in Madrid to learn about the multidisciplinary and comprehensive work of the association to tackle cancer from prevention and early detection, and learn about international collaboration in cancer research. Upon arrival at the headquarters of the Spanish Association Against Cancer, the Queen and Dr. Jill Biden were received by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias; the Spanish ambassador to the United States of America, Santiago Cabanas; the ambassador of the United States of America in Spain, Julissa Reynoso, and the president of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), Ramón Reyes, among others.

During the visit, the Queen, as permanent Honorary President of the Spanish Association Against Cancer and of the Association's Scientific Foundation, showed the First Lady, who is very involved in the fight against cancer through the 'Cancer Moonshot ' of President Biden, the services offered by the association for patients and families, which it carries out to correct the inequities caused by cancer and the effort to increase cancer survival to 70% in the year 2030 through research.

One of the projects shown during the visit was the cognitive stimulation workshop. Attention, concentration and memory can be temporarily affected during cancer treatments, which is known as the "chemobrain" phenomenon. This workshop not only helps patients understand the cognitive changes that may occur during treatment, but also provides them with tools to improve these alterations.

Another of the projects highlighted during the visit was the oncology physical exercise unit for patients, whose objective is to improve the health and quality of life of sick people. This unit works under professional supervision, carrying out an initial assessment of the person, including the side effects of the treatment, to design an "ad hoc" exercise program adapted to the possibilities of each patient.

Cancer research projects between the two countries was another of the topics highlighted at the event, especially the association's incorporation into the 'Cancer Grand Challenges', a global funding initiative founded by the US Cancer Institute and Cancer Research UK, where research teams come together to focus and drive progress differently to tackle the big challenges of cancer. Within the framework of this initiative, both the Queen of Spain and Dr. Jill Biden and Julissa Reynoso, Ambassador of the United States in Spain, met the co-led by Dr. Núria López-Bigas from IRB Barcelona, Dr. Allan Bamain of the University of California and Dr. Paul Brennan of the IARC in France, which aims to understand the early stages and find new routes for its prevention.