TL;DR: On September 30, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order allocating $50 million to accelerate childhood cancer research using artificial intelligence, expanding a 2019 federal initiative.
đź“ś What Happened
- On September 30, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand pediatric cancer research using artificial intelligence.
- The order adds $50 million in new funding, doubling annual support for the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative, originally launched in 2019.
🧠Purpose and Scope
- The goal is to use AI to improve clinical trials, diagnosis accuracy, treatment plans, and prevention strategies for childhood cancers.
- Trump said: "I'm thrilled to sign a very historic Executive Order to massively accelerate pediatric cancer research and harness the extraordinary potential of Artificial Intelligence to fight this terrible disease."
🏥 Oversight and Implementation
- The initiative will be overseen by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, with support from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the NIH, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
- Federal agencies will coordinate with researchers and the private sector through competitive research grants.
đź”’ Privacy and Ethics
- Parents will retain control over their children’s health data, addressing ethical concerns tied to pediatric medical research.
đź“Š Background and Context
- Childhood cancer is the leading cause of chronic disease-related death in U.S. children and has increased over 40% since 1975.
- The initiative aims to overcome challenges like data scarcity and ethical limits that have slowed AI progress in pediatric cancer compared to adult cases.
đź’µ Budget and Policy Conflict
- The order follows Trump’s 2026 budget proposal to cut the National Cancer Institute’s budget by 37%, a move ignored by Congress in current House and Senate proposals.