Day Two at the LIVESTRONG Summit once again started off with an emotional moment as the video of the Lance Armstrong Foundation's Manifesto was shown to the 700 delegates here in Austin.  As Lance bid everyone a good (early) morning, he noted that the Manifesto video, "…truly elicits the spirit of the LAF."

First up on stage for the morning was the head of the President's Cancer Panel, the noted cancer surgeon and amazing speaker Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr.  He spoke about the importance of prevention when it came to cancer, saying he wanted people to, "die young - as late in life as possible!"  Dr. Leffall took the audience on a tour of where cancer treatment had been and the importance of research.  "Research is the creation of new knowledge and the expansion of old," he said.  Dr.Leffall also drove home the importance of hope, calling it the "joy of anticipation," and then challenged the delegates to be genuinely willing to do a little extra in the fight against cancer.

Following this inspiring speech, Doug Ulman, Chief Mission Officer for the LAF, told the delegates it was time to get to work.   The floor of the Summit had been set up with dozens of round tables with volunteer leaders at each table ready to guide the delegates through their task.  "We're going to talk about unmet needs," Doug said.  "I want you to talk about what your largest obstacles were in your cancer experience, and then I want you to discuss what you would change about that experience." 

Each table was equipped with a laptop tied into a wireless network, and as each delegate gave an example, these were instantaneously transmitted to a central database and within minutes more than 3,200 inputs had been recorded!

While the staff worked diligently to compile the results, it was time for the next dynamic speaker, the noted philanthropist and prostate cancer survivor, Mike Milken.   Mr. Milken spoke of seeing the world through new eyes when it comes to fighting cancer.  "Doing things the same old way doesn't lead to breakthroughs," he said.  He also used the example of Elvis Presley getting a polio immunization in the 50's to demonstrate how one person can make a huge difference.  "Before that photo was taken of Elvis getting that shot, there was a huge opposition to getting that immunization.  Afterwards, everyone got it - and as a result polio today has essentially been eradicated.  Will you be the person who does something similar in the fight against cancer?" he asked the delegates. 

Mr. Milken went on to talk about how important it is to support the professionals who are in the trenches coming up with new innovations, "building human capital" as he phrased it.  He concluded his speech by saying that cancer research needs to move from being reactive to predictive and finally to preventive.  "Just from a financial perspective, it's been estimated that defeating cancer would save $46.5 trillion dollars!  That's 3 1/2 times the U.S. economy - to say nothing of the pain and suffering that would be eliminated, too."

Following that, the delegates got back to work in their round table discussions, this time brainstorming solutions to the problems they identified earlier.  We'll have more on that soon as the LIVESTRONG Summit rolls on in Austin!