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Vice President Joe Biden's campaign to cure cancer will get help from Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Mary Beckerle, CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, accepted an invitation to join Biden's Moonshot Initiative as a member of a new blue ribbon panel, the institute announced Monday.

In a prepared statement, Beckerle said it was a "great honor and a great responsibility" to join the 28-member panel, which will advise the National Cancer Advisory Board on new cancer treatments and investments into cancer research.

"Cancer is the single most devastating disease of mankind," Beckerle said, "and the Moonshot Initiative is aptly visionary in its approach to accelerating progress in its prevention and treatment."

Biden was tapped by President Barack Obama to lead the Moonshot Initiative, a reference to the successful 1960s effort to place a man on the moon. In February, Biden toured the Huntsman Cancer Institute and participated in a roundtable discussion with Beckerle and other representatives from the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and the University of Utah.

The discussion highlighted the institute's collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to create the Utah Population Database, which combines genealogical and medical records to identify and screen patients at risk for cancer before the disease develops.

Biden said tools like the Utah Population Database are crucial to preventing and treating cancer, particularly if they can be combined with other medical records databases throughout the country.

"Tapping this treasure trove of information seems to be vital," Biden said during the roundtable.

Beckerle's participation on the panel will be in addition to her ongoing work as CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, a position she has held since 2006. She has also served as president of the American Society for Cell Biology and in 2013 was elected to the board of directors of the American Association for Cancer Research.

bwood@sltrib.com Twitter: @bjaminwood