Last month marked a significant step forward in our commitment to make federal funding for cancer research a national priority.

Investment in research has led to advances in detection and treatment of cancer that are leading to earlier and more accurate diagnoses and more targeted treatments. Guest Blogger Joydeep Goswami explores these advances and stresses the importance of broad access to the latest diagnostic tools and resulting treatments.

We invited Raha Assadi-Lamouki to share her story Š—– the same story she shared with the vice president - and tell us what the Moonshot initiative means to her and her family.

After years of stalled and anemic funding levels for critical cancer research, Congress came together at the end of last year in a major way to pass the biggest funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) in more than a decade. Champions, including Rep. Kevin Yoder from Kansas, acknowledged the importance of making cancer a national priority and rallied together to make sure resources were available to advance detection tests, treatments and therapies for a disease that is expected to kill nearly 600,000 people in America this year.

The budget agreement would restore more than $22 billion that was cut through the across-the-board reductions known as the budget sequester. This agreement is an important first step toward seeing Congress return to a constructive process of setting budget priorities.

To illustrate just how crucial federal funding is for cancer research, ACS CAN released a new report this week, Š—“Catalyst for Cures: How Federally Funded Cancer Research Saves Lives.Š— This report underscores the threat posed by sequestration to future progress in the fight to end death and suffering from cancer by highlighting federally-funded scientists who have discovered new ways to treat specific cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer and the patients who benefited from those advances.

Nearly 150 cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, physicians and researchers are on Capitol Hill today urging their lawmakers to make the fight against cancer a national priority.

I had the privilege of participating in an ACS CAN event in Seattle yesterday that really illustrated the importance of federal funding for cancer research. We partnered with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to emphasize that research funding doesnŠ—'t just fight cancer, it pours money back into local economies and creates jobs.

In my time in Washington, D.C., I have learned that even the most influential organizations are more powerful when they are a part of something larger.

Anyone who meets me learns pretty quickly that I am a huge sports fan. So it was a privilege to share the stage with three NCAA Division I basketball coaches on Tuesday for our Coaches vs.