June 11, 2021, Filed Under: cancer, learning, reflections, researchReflection: Emperor of All Maladies During the summer REU the other students and I are reading The Emperor of all Maladies book which covers a general biography of cancer. We are also participating in a weekly book club to discuss what we are learning from the book, how it relates to our research in the program, and how we can continue to improve cancer research based on what has already been done. This book does a good job tying the history of cancer research into patient and doctors’ stories to give a more personalized account on how the war on cancer affects us all. This week we discussed the first few sections of part 1 of the book. In this discussion we talked about the importance of disease naming, mental health in patients with complex disease, changes in ethics codes throughout the past century, and the politics of science. In disease naming we talked about ensuring that no discrimination is brought about by the naming of a disease. Most recently with people calling COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus” we have seen racist actions toward Asian communities in our nation. This is a prime example of the importance of naming a disease in an inclusion non-discriminatory way that ensures clear communication about what the disease is. We also discussed the importance of doctors providing resources for mental health options and support groups when battling complex diseases such as cancer. Mental health and optimism have a great impact on overall outcome of the patient, so it is important that these resources are discussed and are not stigmatized. Our group also communicated about how in the past scientists could immediately test their theories on actual patients and even children, but today we have much stricter codes of ethics and laws to protect patients and require lots of lab testing and clinical trials before making a treatment available to the public. These codes and laws have changed the way we improve treatment and while it is much slower to get a form of treatment out to patients it ensures safety and patient protection. In politics of science, we discussed how these lab tests and clinical trials are funded and how science is much more political than one would imagine as much of science is government funded. If a certain administration does not think that researching cancer is of the utmost importance, they can choose to move that funding toward something else. In the 1940s when cancer research funding was becoming important in America, WWII hit and funding for cancer was put into the war effort. It took a long time for cancer funding to start back up again after the war and this stall could have resulted in us being behind in the war against cancer. All of these discussion topics will continue to be important for each of us in our scientific and engineering careers as we work to bring equitable, life-saving treatment and innovations to patients and civilians throughout the world. I am looking forward to continuing to read The Emperor of all Maladies and our future group discussions about the history of cancer, complex disease, and patient care and outcomes. -Leah Gutzwiller | University of Tennessee Knoxville
July 29, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, graduate school, learning, researchImportance of good communication from scientists Dr. Thomas Lindsay recently spoke to us about the important relationship scientists have with their audiences and made the connection easy to visualize via a triangular diagram in which each connection between speaker, audience, and subject are all intimately related but do not necessarily share equal weight. It is never the audience’s fault for misunderstanding the message being relayed, so scientists are encouraged to adjust their communication channels for different groups. For example, in order to fully understand the topic being discussed, an audience full of businessmen might require different terminology or visuals than that of scientists from a similar field of interest. This seminar came at a perfect time for us since we are preparing to present both oral and written versions of our research to different groups of people. Since the audiences will differ from our poster sessions to our written abstract submissions, it is important for us to begin thinking of how we might adjust our communication channels. This can range from limiting the amount of technical terminology used or including carefully labelled visuals that can be easily understood by anyone. The process of writing our abstracts began during this seminar with a peer review. This eased a lot of nerves since we are all comfortable with each other, but still gave us a space to gather constructive feedback on our early drafts. We each made sure that specific questions were answered in each portion of the abstract and things were written in a clear, yet concise manner. Though we didn’t get a chance to do another verbal practice run of our presentations, Dr. Lindsay still covered how to most effectively grab the audience’s attention, keep them engaged by presenting the practical application up front, and help the audience visualize the need and benefits for the solution to the topic of discussion. A look into a poster presentation done by another undergraduate in my lab We are only days away from submitting and presenting our research from this summer, which is mind blowing because these 10 weeks have flown by. However, with the help of Dr. Lindsay, our graduate mentors, and program coordinators, we are more than prepared (and excited!). These communication skills will follow us for our entire career as scientists, and we have an opportunity to exercise them early on. -Jessica Heard, Auburn University
July 12, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, learning, researchDeliberate Practice Mastering any skill takes practice. As I continue to learn new things this summer, I have been thinking about how practice actually affects the inner workings of our brain and behavior. In our latest seminar class, we were introduced to the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool where the authors discuss how there is power in purposeful practice. Repetition and effort are definitely key ingredients as we strive to improve our research skills, but pairing those along with deliberate practice can help us progress even more. Two of the points from the book that resonated with me are that deliberate practice requires full attention, and it requires feedback. We have to be engaged with our work. If a basketball player practices shooting hoops for hours but doesn’t think about his shooting form, it will be very difficult for him to improve. The same concept can be applied to our work in the labs. On the surface level, lab protocols may appear to be repetitive because there are many fundamental parts to it–passaging cells, counting cells, preparing well plates, etc. However, that is far from reality as the environment is filled with exciting scientific puzzles waiting for us to research and solve. I have an opportunity to work in lab each day and observe patterns, record results, and think about new methods to improve the experiment. The second point mentions how the best improvements are made when feedback is involved. This is highly applicable to my research experience here this summer. I am very grateful for my mentor, Susy, as she has taught me numerous aspects about researching and working with cells, guiding me throughout this entire learning process. Pictured above are some of the supplies needed to passage cells inside the fume hood. Practicing with a purposeful mentality will lead us toward improvement over time. We don’t have to come into research with a considerable amount of subject expertise, but with an optimistic mindset and working smart to achieve a high standard, we can further enhance our research experiences. As we enter into our seventh week of research, my friends and I are nearing the final stretch, and I know we will make the most of it! The cancer research field is so complex, but with deliberate practice, I believe that we can continue learning more about the disease and potential methods to prevent and treat it in the future. -Jaime Chen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
