‘There Is Potential Here to Change the World’

In two Middle East stops, Jill Biden advocates for Women’s Health Research and visits a hospital for her Cancer Moonshot initiative during her final solo foreign tour.

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden stops at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Thursday as part of her final solo foreign tour where she learned about the United States and United Arab Emirates health collaboration, their oncology center and patient navigation services. (Credit: Vanessa Valdivia via X)

For First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, 1993 was a pivotal year. It was then when four of her friends were diagnosed with cancer.

“I felt so helpless,” Biden recounted. “What can I do?”

It wouldn’t be until 10 years later and well into her husband Joe Biden’s presidency that Dr. Biden would be able to answer that question in a significant way. In November 2023, the president signed the historic White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research fast tracking research into women’s health.

Biden discussed her advocacy for the issue Thursday in an appearance at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in Doha, Qatar where hundreds of influential business and philanthropic leaders, health and finance expert…