But it was modern science that dominated Biden’s morning to commence his trip to Australia, touring the labs at Melbourne’s new billion-dollar cancer centre, flanked by Premier Daniel Andrews and federal Health Minister Sussan Ley.
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Mr Biden will also have dinner with Victorian Governor Linda Dessau.
Mr Biden, who is leading the so-called “moonshot” attempt to accelerate cancer research, compared the work required to beat cancer to the research effort that produced the atomic bomb.
Mr Biden is in Australia to visit Sydney and Melbourne, where he hopes to link a cancer centre – that will host the largest cancer immunotherapy laboratory in the southern hemisphere – with a major U.S. cancer research initiative.
The fight to cure cancer is an issue close to Mr Biden’s heart, after his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015.
Biden has been granted what he called “dictator” powers by US President Barack Obama to drive a new urgency in the search for better cancer treatments.
The collaboration would see an “unprecedented global dataset” of at least 8,000 United States patients and 50,000 from Australia made available to cancer researchers and doctors by 2021, he said in a statement.
The aim, Biden said, was to join in sharing data from across the world, where study will be assisted by supercomputers and hopefully lead to a future where cancer treatment was a simple as tackling diseases such as mumps or measles.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R, front) shakes hands with Premier of Australia’s Victoria Daniel Andrews (L, front) as he arrives in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2016.
He will also meet with World War II veterans and meet with United States company officials.
Biden flies to Sydney on Monday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Biden said the information would be shared with privacy safeguards.
US Vice President Joe Biden (right) greets Minister for Resources and Energy Josh Frydenberg MP (centre).
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The vice president then attended a game of Australian rules football.
