Episode 3: A Research Pep Talk

might be on the fence about pursuing cancer is a career. If this episode hasn’t been enough of a personal pep talk for you so far, then a hold on Jen, as usual, brings it strong.

[0:19:36 Speaker 0] I would say we need you if you have any interest in cancer or oncology or research get into it and sooner rather than later. But even later is great. So, um, you know any interest in that is great? Because we need you. I mean, we cancer is a bullet’s. It is a horrible disease that we are really just starting to learn the intricacies of. And we need bright, young, creative, brilliant minds, you know, just ready to go and ready to help us try to fight this battle. I mean, you know, behind heart disease, cancer is still the number two cause of death in the US killing. I don’t know 500,000 people a year or something crazy like that. So we have made great strides in the past. I would say 20 years, mostly with pediatric cancer, some with adult cancer and geriatric cancer. But there’s a lot that we don’t know, and there’s a lot of work that we have ahead of us. And so we need everyone that we can thio jump in with us. And I would say some people might think they don’t want toe work with patients who have cancer because it’s too sad, and that is a very genuine reaction. It is very sad and it can be sad. It can be rewarding. I would say to those people, There are so many ways to get involved in cancer research or oncology that don’t involve patients or don’t involve medicine Or don’t you know? I mean, there are so many ways that you can contribute Thio cancer research and to this fight into this battle. I mean, you can be an administrator, a department, and you can do a lot of things for people. You can run support groups, you can be a writer, you can be a coordinator, you can be a financial officer at a cancer research establishment. And so there’s so many ways that you can get involved. That don’t necessarily, I mean, that you’re going to be face to face with watching a patient die or suffer, which is very hard. And the people that do that deserve, you know, all the credit in the world. But there are other ways that you can get involved. And if you do think that you want to be there to help patients, I mean all all the better, you know? I mean, I would just encourage that. Yes, if you have any interest, great, let’s help you. Let’s motivate you, you know, like we can help you decide which avenue you would want toe to participate

[0:22:32 Speaker 2] in. If you have questions for Jennifer McKinney, translational research manager at the Live Strong Cancer Institutes, or if you have other cancer questions that we can uncover, please email us at Livestrong cancer institutes at del med dot utexas dot e d u Please make sure institutes is plural. And while we’re on the subject of cancer experts giving pep talks, if you miss Nick’s voice from previous episodes were excited to share with you that the associate director of administration and strategic planning, Nick Smith Stanley, will deliver the closing keynote address at the Association of Community Cancer Centers National Conference, taking place from September 14th, 2 September 18th. All online, Nick will discuss the disparity of women in oncology and the strategies that the L. C I has used to address the issue. Knicks Keynote will take place on September 18th at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time. For more information, please visit A, C, C, C. Dash cancer 300.0 R G. And that address will also be in our show. Notes. For more information about the UT Health Austin Live Strong Cancer institutes clinic, visit UT health austin 0.0 r g. To find out more about the live strong cancer institutes, check out del med dot utexas dot e d u. You can follow Gail, our chair on Twitter at s scale. Eckhart Eckhart is spelled e c k h a r D t. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe through apple podcasts or your preferred podcast platform. I am Kristin Winn and this is cancer uncovered. Thank you for listening.