President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday aimed at using artificial intelligence to improve research and treatments for childhood cancer.
The order builds on a 2019 database established by Trump that collects data on childhood cancer. That order directs agencies to use artificial intelligence to analyze information in that database to accelerate research and clinical trials.
“Using cutting-edge AI, we will empower scientists and researchers to discover new treatments, cures and prevention strategies,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “AI can also make groundbreaking trials and therapies – it’s just going to be so accessible to everybody.”
The order coincides with an announcement from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the agency is doubling the funding for the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative that Trump established in 2019.
The agency said parents will still control their child’s health information, even as the information in the database will be analyzed by artificial intelligence to advance research.
“This is not about collecting data alone. It’s about giving families hope,” Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said during Trump’s executive order signing.
“With this executive order that President Trump is signing, we’re building a future where every child’s data contributes to faster diagnosis,” Bhattacharya said, adding that AI would help researchers uncover “faster, more precise treatments” and improve quality of life.
Trump was joined in the Oval Office by multiple childhood cancer survivors and their family members, who spoke about the value of Tuesday’s order.
Josh Armstrong, from West Virginia, spoke about how his 6-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer when she was 2.
“We’d like to say that what you’re doing today gives parents like me and children like Laurel the one thing we mostly desperately need. And that’s hope,” Armstrong said. “And I’m happy to say Laurel is in remission today.”
