As a graduate student in Cancer Biology here at the University of Chicago, I am required to complete two research rotations by the end of my first year. Each rotation lasts 10 weeks (one quarter) and is designed to help students choose a thesis advisor as well as improve their laboratory technique. The CanBio program is also sponsoring its second annual Student/Faculty Mentorship program for first-year students in which we're paired up with an advanced student and a faculty member who's there to help us with just about anything school/life related. My student mentor is Wei Xu, an absolutely wonderful person who was also my student host when I interviewed here in February. My faculty mentor is Kenan Onel, an MD/PhD (yeah, one of those really smart people) who got his degrees from Cornell and has been practicing pediatric oncology (specialty in hematology, i.e. leukemia and lymphoma) and doing amazing cancer research ever since.
We met at the Starbucks in the bookstore after my last class and had a wonderful conversation about research and all the exciting movements going on in the field right now. One of his colleagues also stopped by, so it was nice to chat with him and hear some interesting and amusing stories of how the expectations and the pace of research has changed so much in the last 15-20 years.
I interviewed with Ken back in February and he was the researcher I was most eager to meet. Unlike most of the people I've met in my program, I'm quite partial to cancer genetics and to the study of p53 in particular. I've also done some thinking about why cancer is something I'm so keen on researching and hoping to treat. It is a killer in predominantly wealthy and industrialized nations and some forms are quite preventable or easily treatable (e.g. cervical, skin, some types of lung and colon). It mostly affects people in their 50s and up, many of whom have already led full lives. It's not as sexy or seemingly noble as infectious diseases (malaria, TB, polio, HIV/AIDS) that are ravaging poor countries and that are getting a lot of attention from scientists and celebrities alike. And I'm a Capricorn. So what gives?
Cancer tugs at my heartstrings because so much of can't be prevented or transmitted. Don't want to be infected by HIV? Then don't: have sex with, share needles, or get blood/bodily fluids from an infected person. Sounds simple, right? In theory it is. HIV is viral, but it's also transmitted in a fairly restricted and specific way. You cannot just cough on someone and give them HIV. You cannot be bitten by mosquitoes and get it. Stop the spread, and within one generation you can stop HIV altogether. It's entirely in the hands of people. Cancer is quite a different story.
A person can do all the right things, eat right, not smoke/do drugs/drink alcohol, exercise, have a great immune system, not be exposed to pathogens, live in a clean environment, etc, and still get cancer. Why? They were, quite literally, born with it. It's in their genes. They had no say and no control. Cancer in children, which is mostly leukemia, is the saddest of these cases. They can tell you their age with just one hand. They know what chemotherapy is before they know how to ride a bike. They are spending what are supposed to be their most carefree years stuck in a hospital bed with i.v.'s dripping into them and test after test done. Their disease defines them instead of their charming antics. To bring an end to this tangent, I want to help these kids. It's not their fault they're sick. They didn't engage in stupid or misguided behavior. Instead of having the time of their lives they're fighting for lives that have just barely begun.
In short, I'm very excited about the work Ken is doing, and he's agreed to sign me on for a rotation over the summer. His friend joked that the person one picks for their summer rotation is the one they really want to work for. Maybe he's right.
We met at the Starbucks in the bookstore after my last class and had a wonderful conversation about research and all the exciting movements going on in the field right now. One of his colleagues also stopped by, so it was nice to chat with him and hear some interesting and amusing stories of how the expectations and the pace of research has changed so much in the last 15-20 years.
I interviewed with Ken back in February and he was the researcher I was most eager to meet. Unlike most of the people I've met in my program, I'm quite partial to cancer genetics and to the study of p53 in particular. I've also done some thinking about why cancer is something I'm so keen on researching and hoping to treat. It is a killer in predominantly wealthy and industrialized nations and some forms are quite preventable or easily treatable (e.g. cervical, skin, some types of lung and colon). It mostly affects people in their 50s and up, many of whom have already led full lives. It's not as sexy or seemingly noble as infectious diseases (malaria, TB, polio, HIV/AIDS) that are ravaging poor countries and that are getting a lot of attention from scientists and celebrities alike. And I'm a Capricorn. So what gives?
Cancer tugs at my heartstrings because so much of can't be prevented or transmitted. Don't want to be infected by HIV? Then don't: have sex with, share needles, or get blood/bodily fluids from an infected person. Sounds simple, right? In theory it is. HIV is viral, but it's also transmitted in a fairly restricted and specific way. You cannot just cough on someone and give them HIV. You cannot be bitten by mosquitoes and get it. Stop the spread, and within one generation you can stop HIV altogether. It's entirely in the hands of people. Cancer is quite a different story.
A person can do all the right things, eat right, not smoke/do drugs/drink alcohol, exercise, have a great immune system, not be exposed to pathogens, live in a clean environment, etc, and still get cancer. Why? They were, quite literally, born with it. It's in their genes. They had no say and no control. Cancer in children, which is mostly leukemia, is the saddest of these cases. They can tell you their age with just one hand. They know what chemotherapy is before they know how to ride a bike. They are spending what are supposed to be their most carefree years stuck in a hospital bed with i.v.'s dripping into them and test after test done. Their disease defines them instead of their charming antics. To bring an end to this tangent, I want to help these kids. It's not their fault they're sick. They didn't engage in stupid or misguided behavior. Instead of having the time of their lives they're fighting for lives that have just barely begun.
In short, I'm very excited about the work Ken is doing, and he's agreed to sign me on for a rotation over the summer. His friend joked that the person one picks for their summer rotation is the one they really want to work for. Maybe he's right.
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1 comment:
Very noble reason for choosing your career field. I hope you can find the cure. Glad you will be working with Ken.
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