cancer

So ten weeks have gone by, and I’ve finally completed the books that have followed us throughout the process. Each of them gave us a lot to think about in terms of our research, our growth throughout this experience, and what we should do moving forward. Few of the REU students actually did the readings beyond what was originally assigned at the beginning of the summer, later getting inundated with the work they needed to do to contribute to their labs, but they did extract many of the key points from both books early on. Being given a 600 and a 200 page book to finish seemed intimidating, but both did an excellent job of framing the type of work we were doing within the context of both how our understanding of cancer has changed and how our understanding of ourselves has changed.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddharta Mukherjee

The Emperor book, by Dr. Mukherjee, brought to the forefront of our minds the kind of change that cancer research can facilitate. Cancer is an umbrella term for a vast array of related disease where cells grow uncontrollably, but different cancers have different biomarkers and needs to be treated in different ways. If there was a single thing that stuck out to me by the end, it was how easily accessible this book makes understanding how cancer and our understanding of it has developed over time. From ancient Egypt to the modern world, Dr. Mukherjee’s story showcases just how important cancer research is, as well as dealing with the failures that have plagued research into the diseases for centuries. The biography illustrates a record of false hope and loss, but also of innovation, determination, and a far more cautious hope that paves a path for future advances against cancer and inspires us to keep on fighting. It reminds us that the research we do at the frontier of cancer research is significant and can improve the lives of many.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

As was mentioned in an earlier blog post, we joked about the “growth mindset” while improving ourselves based on the general idea, and the rest of the book largely tackles the growth mindset from different angles. Dr. Dweck discusses how mindsets affect how we can approach everything in life, how certain mindsets beget success, how mindsets are developed and how teams and organizations benefit from effective mindsets. Notably, she relates these ideas to your interactions with others in a way that anyone can understand, dependent on whatever role they normally play, by including situations involving real people facing reasonable problems. Of course, the final chapter gives direction to how one can actually change mindsets, as the growth mindset is based on the belief in change. Facing the frightening reality of change and failure along every step is imperative to success, especially in academia, where you search for a relevant research question that you have the training to address, where your papers will be rejected, and where your projects will often fail to come to fruition. Dr. Dweck weaves a narrative about the benefits of change throughout her book, and I feel that learning to actively make change a part of my life will only help me in the future.

-Sreyesh Rishi Satpathy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign