President Barack Obama Speaks at the Clinical Center

One of the first faces President Barack Obama saw upon entering the Clinical Center on September 30 was that of Susan Butler, longtime CC patient.

"Welcome to the House of Hope," said Susan Butler, a long-time Clinical Center patient and 14-year survivor of simultaneous breast and ovarian cancer, in welcoming President Barack Obama here Sept. 30.

Obama traveled with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak to the NIH community on The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "Today we're announcing that we've awarded $5 billion–that's with a "b"–in grants through the Recovery Act to conduct cutting-edge research all across America, to unlock treatments to diseases that have long plagued humanity, to save and enrich the lives of people all over the world. This represents the single largest boost to biomedical research in history," Obama said.

Funds went to expand the Cancer Genome Atlas, "to make strides in the treatment and prevention of heart disease," and to study autism, the president said.

Obama closed with a word to NIH intramural and extramural researchers: "The American people are looking forward to the next set of discoveries that all of you are working on today."

Watch a videocast of his speech or read a transcript at http://whitehouse.gov.

This article originally appeared on the NIH Clinical Center News website.