July 9, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, learning, researchLectures at Dell Medical School LIVESTRONG Cancer Institute During one of our first meetings of the summer, we were asked by our program supervisor to explain the differences between school and work, and to decide which of the two this REU fell under. We get paid, which feels like work, but we are also here to learn, which almost makes it seem as if we never left college for summer vacation. This program cannot be constrained to either school or work entirely, and I don’t believe that any of our future careers will be so easily classified either. As researchers, it is in our job description to learn, and that is what this summer is about. A lecture on Cancer Imaging at the Health Discovery Building Auditorium at the Dell Medical School UT Austin is home to many summer research opportunities, one of which is the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in the Dell Medical School, and runs nearly the same timeline as our own program. Over the past week and a half, we have attended three of their cancer lectures, where we have learned about experimental models, clinical trials, and cancer imaging. Each lecture, though early in the morning, was entertaining, interactive, and taught us something new about a different aspect of cancer. It is refreshing to see how these lecturers, all adults and well established in their field, are constantly trying to learn new things and see the world from different perspectives. Though the content itself is complex, each lecturer is able to explain their research in a professional, yet understandable fashion. Similarly, as each of us become more comfortable in our own lab, we are better able to explain our work to each other. Science is most useful when it can be shared, and I am hopeful that the communication skills we learn here, both by presenting to each other and listening to lectures, will enable us to make sure science is more readily accessible to all. -Maggie Cook, Arizona State University
July 4, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, reflectionsReflection on Reading Emperor of All Maladies The Emperor of All Maladies is a biography of the unraveling mystery of cancer in the search for a cure. In the opening of the book, I found alarming statistics the author gives us. Only in the United States, “one in three women and one in two men will develop cancer during their lifetime”. Siddhartha Mukherjee, has interesting storytelling that immerses you in the mind of cancer patients, physicians and researchers, giving historical context as we move along the different approach and discoveries in the war against cancer. When reading the book, the definition and history of cancer is built. At the beginning, Dr. Sidney Farber, a pediatric pathologist, decided from the basement of the Children’s Hospital to look at cancer from a new perspective, starting from the building blocks of the cells. An approach that seems basic in today’s research, but revolutionary at this point in history. The building of our understanding came from developing and trying many treatments over the years. The Emperor of the Maladies explains the history of breast cancer treatments starting from the mastectomy to radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and target therapy. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, background is my working space in Dr. Pengyu Ren’s Computational Biomolecular Engineering Lab Today, we are still fighting the same war. When Mukherjee describes the search of the most favorable cocktail of chemicals for an anticancer drug, he states that, “the fundamental biology of cancer was so poorly understood that defining such molecular targets was virtually inconceivable in the 1960s.” Working in a molecular dynamics laboratory has given me the opportunity to learn about the new technologies resources that we have today. To understand how a molecule can affect a cell, an organ, and ultimately a person’s life. I feel encouraged in my everyday work of programming and mathematical formulas to see further and feel a sense of responsibility of being part of this fight in history to cure cancer. -Angelica Marquez, University of Texas at El Paso
June 24, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, reflections, researchResearch Ethics Reflection As we enter the fourth week of our summer program, many of us are starting to venture into our research projects in a markedly more independent manner than before. The training wheels are finally starting to come off! This transition marks an important point in our journey as budding cancer researchers, as it comes not only with the excitement of greater freedom, but the critical responsibility of upholding scientific integrity. This is a picture of three tumor spheroids under the microscope, composed of cells from the 4T1 breast cancer line, that I took last week. These spheroids are used to model the tumor microenvironment in-vivo. During the past week’s seminar, we as a group discussed different types of ethical violations in science. We also went over case studies that stood out for their blatant disregard of proper scientific conduct. The worst part was that the papers associated with these fraudulent studies were cited by thousands upon thousands of other researchers around the world. The resulting networks of knowledge all inevitably came crashing down when their feeble foundation was exposed, effectively resulting in the waste of all the time, effort, and money that went into their construction. Scientific progress is achieved through purposeful research, and research only has purpose if it is conducted ethically. This is what we have been taught so far in our time at UT Austin, and it is what we must remember as we continue to work on our projects. Cancer is a deadly disease that can only be overcome through the proper and consistent effort of researchers in the lab. To this end, we can best contribute to the fight by creating our models, collecting our data, and presenting our results with the utmost integrity. My friends and I at the BME CUReS Cancer REU have the next 7 weeks to make as much progress towards winning the War on Cancer as possible. By prioritizing ethical conduct, making it the hallmark of our work, I know that we will do great things! – Reetwan Bandyopadhyay, University of Pittsburgh
