Elizabeth

Elizabeth:

Undergraduate Researcher

Fischbach Lab

Explain your research to someone as if you were describing it to someone who knows little about the scientific basis of the disease.

“My current research tries to understand how the breast cancer tumor can change the bones without leaving the breast. It somehow releases something to make changes to the cells in the bones, which tend to make them weaker. We want to also know how this might make it easier for the cancer to metastasize to the bone.”

Do you have a personal connection to any of your research?

“Yes, in the sense that someone very close to me passed away after her breast cancer metastasized to the bone and become essentially untreatable.”

How has your life changed since you started cancer research?

“I think it kind of shed light on how inelegant therapies such as radiation are, but also that cancer is so diverse finding a specific therapy is difficult. I think it opened my eyes to how variable cancer is which is very scary if you are diagnosed with it.”

What’s the hardest part about your research?

“Remembering the potential downstream impact of my work.”

What’s the most rewarding thing about your research?

“Knowing that even little discoveries that I make can sum up to something larger that can help a lot of people. I think what's special about cancer research is even negative results are important- it's important to know how cancer doesn't work as well as how it does.”

What is your stance on public engagement in science in cancer research?

“I think people need to be more educated. It's great that people fund raise and things like that, but people need to know a "cure all" isn't anywhere in the near future, if even possible. I think people should learn about what are realistic goals to look forward to and fund the baby steps so progress can be made and not just put an all in bet on a cure that might not exist.”