END OF THE MONTH. ADVOCATES AND CANCER SURVIVORS REACT FOLLOWING PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S RATHER LARGE INVESTMENT INTO THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER IN OUR STATE. THIS IS PART OF A LARGER MOONSHOT INITIATIVE WITH A GOAL OF CUTTING CANCER, DEATH RATES. WDSU REPORTER SHAY O’CONNOR JOINS US LIVE FROM THE LOUISIANA CANCER RESEARCH CENTER. WITH THOSE REACTIONS, ESPECIALLY FROM CANCER ALLEY, WHERE THE RATES OF CANCER WE ALL KNOW ARE HIGHER. SHAY. GOOD EVENING TO YOU, STELLA AND JULIA. FOR YEARS, WE HAVE COVERED COUNTLESS STORIES IN CANCER ALLEY THAT SPANS FROM LAPLACE TO THE BATON ROUGE AREAS WHERE WE’RE TOLD A LOT OF CHEMICAL PLANTS EXIST. WE’RE ALSO TOLD THAT STUDIES SHOW MORE CANCER IN THOSE AREAS, MORE PEOPLE BEING IMPACTED BY CANCER. NOW, TODAY, I ACTUALLY SPOKE TO A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM THOSE AREAS, AS WELL AS ADVOCATES WHO SAY THEY’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS INVESTMENT FROM PRESIDENT BIDEN, BUT ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MORE WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE. MY SOIL HAS ARSENIC AND LEAD. WE NEED TO GET TO THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CANCERS. THEN TO STOP ALL OF THIS CANCER. SHARON LEVINE IS A SAINT JAMES PARISH RESIDENT. SHE SAYS WHILE BIDEN’S $23 MILLION INVESTMENT TO TULANE UNIVERSITY WILL SAVE LIVES, SHE STILL WISHES HE WOULD INVEST MONEY INTO FINDING OUT CAUSES AND WAYS TO ERADICATE THE POLLUTION IN HER COMMUNITY. IT’S A CAUSE THAT’S A PERSONAL ONE FOR SO MANY LIVING HERE IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA TO HAVE THIS INFUSION OF OF CASH IS CRITICAL, INCLUDING NITHIN KAMATH, WHO HAD LEUKEMIA AS A CHILD. NOW HE’S AN ADVOCATE FOR THE LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY. THEY HELP CANCER PATIENTS ALL OVER THE STATE AND IN CANCER ALLEY. HE RECENTLY WORKED WITH SENATOR ROYCE DUPLESSIS TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR CANCER PATIENTS RECEIVING CHEMO, TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE IT THROUGH THEIR INSURANCE. IF AND WHEN THEY HAVE TO EVACUATE FOR HURRICANES, EVERY DAY, WEEK, YEAR THAT GOES BY WITHOUT A CURE, OR AT LEAST AT LEAST INTERIM TREATMENTS. THOSE ARE MORE DAYS, WEEKS AND MONTHS THAT GO BY WHERE YOU KNOW, SO MANY FOLKS, UM, YOU KNOW, AREN’T GETTING THE CARE THEY NEED. THE $23 MILLION INVESTMENT MADE BY THE PRESIDENT TO TULANE UNIVERSITY WILL HELP CREATE IMAGES THAT WILL ALLOW PHYSICIANS TO DETERMINE IF ALL CANCEROUS TISSUE HAS BEEN REMOVED IMMEDIATELY AFTER A PATIENT’S SURGERY. THE FACT THAT NEW ORLEANS CAN PLAY A SPECIFIC ROLE IN FURTHERING RESEARCH RIGHT THERE AT TULANE UNIVERSITY IS AN INCREDIBLE THING, AND I’M REALLY EXCITED. TO THIS IS A PART OF A $150 MILLION FUND. THE BIDENS, HOPING TO HELP WITH CUTTING THE AMOUNT OF CANCER DEATHS IN HALF BY THE 2040S. AND AS WE KNOW, THIS IS ALSO A PERSONAL CAUSE FOR THEM. THEIR SON, BEAU BIDEN, DIED FROM BRAIN CANCER BACK IN 2015. REPORTIN