Episode 5 Part 2: Nutrition and Cancer

[0:00:00 Speaker 0] We’re a resource for learners, including every member of the live strong cancer institutes on track Educational pipeline from middle school to residency. We’re growing collection of interviews, talks and experiences the uncover the myths and the uncertainties of cancer and careers and cancer in order to empower and inspire generations of thinkers and leaders. This is cancer uncovered, uneducated in an empowerment podcast by the live strong cancer

[0:00:30 Speaker 2] institutes. Welcome to Cancer uncovered where the education and empowerment podcast brought to you by the Livestrong Cancer Institute at Del Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. I’m Kristin Winn. In part one of this episode, we explored the importance of nutrition in the prevention of cancer during the treatment of cancer and after the treatment of cancer, we uncovered some of the misconceptions about cancer and diet, and we had some honest conversations about the lack of diversity and access in the fields of nutrition and dietetics. Way. Heard from Crystal Zuniga, registered dietitian, about her work in support of those currently receiving cancer care at the Livestrong Cancer Institutes Clinic with UT Health Austin Way also met Alejandra DeAngelo Ph. D, who is currently a research fellow at the Developmental Therapeutics Lab conducting cancer research at the live strong cancer institutes. With each episode of Cancer Uncovered, we hope to empower and encourage you to pursue your aspirations by sharing how others got there. We also want to illustrate that there are so many ways to get there. So in this episode we take some time to chat with Crystal and Alejandra about their work, about their career path and their insight for those pursuing medicine, cancer and nutrition as a career first up Alejandra, we wanted to know more about the work she’s doing it. I’ll see I and then dive into a discussion about her career.

[0:02:13 Speaker 3] Yes, so I have a PhD nutrition. So for the most part, my research has been focused on understanding, nutrition and metabolic dysfunctions and how that relates to aging in chronic diseases such as diabetes. And I also study a little bit about how that relates to cancer. But when I was doing my research, I think I wanted Thio dive a little bit more on the molecular mechanisms before cancer. I wanted to get a little bit more training on that just because I think I have a very strong background in nutrition and biochemistry and metabolism. But sometimes in the cancer part, there’s a little bit of things that I still don’t know so much. So that’s why I decided Thio join the L. C I and learn more about that and research dates specifically more the cancer side and understand a little bit of how it works. So currently I joined on C I the beginning of the year. So it was. It has been a little weird because I joined in the close everything. But I’m currently working in multiple myeloma with William Matsui. So I am not for, say, doing any nutrition research. But I’m working on understanding a little bit more how cancer works, how it grows. So my current project and I kind of thinking about it and still have different projects ideas. But I am researching why some people that get multiple myeloma don’t respond to treatment as well. What are those differences? And I’m also trying to understand you know why some people relapse and have kind of a more aggressive the seas than other. What is it that you know genetically where the differences in that and the reason why I kind of want to understand more is because cancer is a very complex disease. It’s many diseases. I want to understand a little bit more of the molecular mechanisms driving the disease and why we see diseases. They’re so different between one person and another. What is it is that because environmental exposures like dying it and other things, or is because the combination off something that they have through ancestry, genetics that comes together with those environmental exposures like or diet that make the disease so much deadly and so much aggressive from one person to another? So in multiple myeloma, we see there’s actually big racial differences between the disease. Black Americans are a lot more likely to get multiple myeloma than those that have more like European descent and their disease, so they get it younger than others. So when I was reading about that, I was like, Okay, what is it? Is it and probably is a combination of something that genetics and exposure

[0:05:46 Speaker 2] we look forward to hearing about what Alejandra has learned as she pursues thes questions. Sounds like another episode is shaping up nicely. But now, for more on her academic and career journey. We heard in the last episode that she did not become a registered dietitian, but took her passions and her work in a different direction. I didn’t

[0:06:08 Speaker 3] really know what I wanted to study when I started college, and I think that’s something that a lot of maybe the listeners and people can relate to. Your 17 years old you don’t really know, right you hurtz here and there. And actually I I had a ah, very diverse set off interest in passions, from genetics and biology to history, anthropology, government. I I kind of had things of all of us that I lied. So I my first two years I took, you know, the basics. But I also took the classes that I kind of did well like. I always puts good at biology and math, but I love reading about history. American history fascinated me, so it was just kind of like I didn’t know, and then when I took my first nutrition class, all of that kind of click because I felt like nutrition encompassed kind of a little bit of all my interest, because nutrition includes genetics by our chemistry biology, but It also involves the study of culture and society and how people relate to the foods and how there’s, you know, all this historical and cultural aspects to eating. It’s such a big part of our life. So after that first nutrition class actually was my junior year. I was like, I’m switching majors. This is it. And since then, I actually have loved reading about it, researching teaching it. So yeah, I really love nutrition, and I really, really love talking and teaching about that, because it’s kind of a very interesting thing that we can kind of all relate to. So that’s why my path has not bean straight for any off cancer research, our nutrition. When I talked to students, I tell them, Ah, lot of them. I worried that they need to have this straight path with set of deadlines and Hebei when the term of 18 I need to do so and so and making some people don’t agree with me. But I be life different. I say, Look, if you want to study government and art and then you decide Hey, I wanna be a cancer research, go for it. Why not? Nobody tells you that you have to do it that way. And my path has been a little bit like that. Yes, I kind of stumbled upon nutrition and I was fascinating. And then I I had to do a lab as part of my nutrition degree. I had Thio do either an internship or join a lot, so I joined a lot to do nutrition research. But I was also thinking about going to medical school. I was not sure so volunteering in the hospital and I kind of didn’t like that because I didn’t really like seeing sick people so much. I just had a hard time with it emotionally. But in the lab, I was like, Oh, I can help people and I can do things that are so interesting. Okay, I like that. When I graduated, I apply to a couple of graduate programs, but then one of my faculty, my professors, told me, Hey, why haven’t you apply to U. T? And I was like, Well, I heard that you shouldn’t do your PhD where you did your undergrad and she’s like, That’s not true. Apply. I will love you to join my lab. So yes, so I was like, Okay, why not? I love when they nice

[0:09:49 Speaker 2] Crystal talked to us in part one of this episode about her work helping those facing cancer with the live strong Cancer Institutes clinic at UT Health Austin, in this part of the episode will die right into how she ended up doing the work she’s doing now. A

[0:10:04 Speaker 1] funny story is that when I was a kid, I said I wanted to be a puzzler when I grew up. Puzzler is not a real job, but I love. I think at that point I love doing puzzles and it was like I love figuring things out and putting the pieces together, and that is what I do in this role. I’ve gotta put multiple pieces together. The body is complex disease states add complication. Individual has medications, health history, surgeries, treatment and people themselves, and their environment is complex. So in developing an individualized care plan for a patient, gotta put all the pieces together to do that well. And I got into the field because I found that this was an applied science that directly helps people. I was originally a biochemistry major and then learning like a nutrition is like applied biochemistry. We’re learning about nutrients here, so everybody eats. But we’re much more than just food. Nutrition is interdisciplinary, involves understanding of multiple fields of science, and we are able to communicate and translate complicated and evolving science in a way that helps individuals. So it gets to both parts of my brain like I like getting into the research in the science and the molecular stuff. And then I love working with people, went on one and personalizing that for them in a way that they understand. So nutrition and dietetics is really rewarding in that way is that I get both pieces, and in the field of oncology it’s even more complicated. And so I love that extra level of complication. But I also see that there is such a need for more science in understanding the role of infection and cancer care. So I want to be involved in it so that we can come up with what are our unknowns? What kind of research do we need to develop and then getting to be a part of their journey is an honor? Honestly, I love working with our patients. I love being a part of helping them navigate a very difficult time in their lives. So nutrition counseling skills coming really well. It’s part of that, too. So it’s been a way of just helping people. I love helping people, and I get to do it with using science. I actually did my undergrad degree in dietetics, and the summer before I graduated, I did a research experience, and my mentor was doing research on prostate cancer and a compound that was in pomegranates. And I was like, Wow, this is so cool that a compound and what we eat can impact the growth of a cancer cell. I just really opened my eyes and to help Powerful Ah, food could

[0:13:00 Speaker 2] be sorry to interrupt Crystal, but I would be remiss to not quickly let our listeners know that the L. C. I offers summer research experiences for undergraduate students. We call ours Surf the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. If you are an undergraduate in the US and you are interested in cancer research and serving underrepresented communities in cancer and medicine, visit del med dot utexas dot e d u To find out more and apply. All right, take it away crystal. I

[0:13:33 Speaker 1] wanted to know more about the science and get more involved. So I got my PhD and nutrition, and my research was about prostate cancer and tomato story broccoli understanding how compounds and foods were impacting prostate cancer progression. I was an assistant professor for five years in nutrition, and I was doing some research on nutrition and chemo brain. So I’ve been in the field, and then I was doing private practice in oncology during my time there because I really was missing. I love teaching, but I was really missing that patient interaction a swell. So when I had the opportunity live strong to be able to be a part of this amazing model of care that we’re doing Yes, E jumped at that opportunity.

[0:14:24 Speaker 2] We wanted to end our time with Crystal and Alejandra talking about what insights they have for those pursuing a career in medicine, nutrition or cancer. I

[0:14:35 Speaker 1] have lots of thoughts on this. I think one of the biggest one is there’s stuff that you could learn from books and courses, but there’s so much else needed so much more that is needed. One of them is that in the job. We need to be able to practice empathy. This is different than sympathy. Empathy requires understanding of how others feel and being compassionate towards them. I think we need more of this in the world in general, but it is especially important in health care. As healthcare professionals, we are experts in our field, but individuals are experts in themselves and their experiences. So be curious, not Onley about science, but about people and their experience. I also say Take every opportunity, toe, learn from the community and patient population that you want to serve. When I was in college and graduate school, I would give nutrition presentations to the public. I worked at a gym, I shadowed other dieticians, and I saw what common questions were the struggles people had, where people were confused or mis informed. So I learned a lot about people through those experiences and things that you’re not going toe learn from a textbook. So not everything is learned from books and formal education and also in the field of nutrition practice, effectively communicating science. We can learn all the things in the world, but it does not matter if no one knows what the heck were talking about? You know, in medicine, you’re turning complicated science into recommendations and messages and care plans that you want the patient to understand and implement. So it’s not about showing off your knowledge and how much you know and complicated terminology and acronyms simplify. Pay attention to people’s body language and see when they’re confused. And so it’s all about people like in the field of nutrition. Don’t forget about the people that you’re serving. It’s not just the information is getting it to them in an effective manner in an empathetic way as well, and then finally, never stop learning. Nutrition is a rapidly developing field, so we’ve got to be open to changing our beliefs and opinions on things as the science advances. So be flexible open toe learning, and that’s what makes it even more fun to Dio.

[0:17:12 Speaker 3] I will say that first of all, as you can see, it doesn’t have to be a straightforward path. It doesn’t have to follow the path that maybe is written in a book post or that somebody else did. I see a lot of my students where I see this more and more they’re super anxious. They’re super anxious because they didn’t met this deadline that they think there is because of their age. And there’s not such a thing. This is something that people want to sell. You buy 25. You need to do this and this and also well, like if you really want to spend some time and study philosophy because you like it, go and do it. This is your life. So maybe some people don’t agree with me. But that’s kind of like what I say. Like maybe you don’t have a four point out, and that’s okay, like you go and do whatever you need to do. That’s the first thing that I will say. Don’t stress about it if your career doesn’t look like this perfect C V and resume that people want to see. And the second thing is that you want to make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons. Ah, Ph. D and or medical school is very hard. It’s long. You have to work many, many hours, and you have to know that your dear, because you have passion your interest, you have curiosity. You really want to know the answer especially a PhD. You really want to understand why two things are related to each other. So I think that if you’re doing it because you think it’s for stages because your parents wanted it because you read it somewhere because you want somebody to call your doctor. Those are all not good reasons. It takes patience. It takes perseverance. It takes hard work. So if you still are not sure it’s OK. Take some time off, explore some different for your options and see what you like. You don’t have to go to medical school. Thio. Actually, if you really interested in biology, you can do so many other different things, right? So I will say, Just relax. Take it a explore and it’s It’s

[0:19:27 Speaker 2] a great time.

[0:19:28 Speaker 3] Thio. I mean college. It’s also a great time to explore what’s their take a class that maybe sounds interesting. I don’t know that the history of Star Wars I don’t know if they offer I

[0:19:44 Speaker 2] checked. U T. Austin doesn’t currently offer a course on history of Star Wars, but you never know. For the record, you t does currently offer other cool courses such as the history of Rock music. The history of American television, science fiction and politics, lying and deception and a class called trans media storytelling, where they talk about the Matrix, Battlestar Galactica, game of Thrones and, yes, Star Wars. Thank you to Crystal and Alejandra for sharing your time and insight. You can find out more about the Livestrong Cancer institutes at del med dot utexas dot e d u and about the Livestrong Cancer Institutes clinic at UT Health Austin at ut health austin dot org. If you have questions about this episode or ideas for other cancer topics that we can uncover, please email us at live strong cancer institutes at del med dot utexas dot e d u Please make sure that institutes is plural. You can follow our chair and director Dr Gail A cart 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. And one more exciting announcement this month we’re offering our very first midmonth. Many episode thes new. Many episodes are shorter and length and are designed to give listeners some professional tools to consider as they enter the workforce in medicine or anywhere for that matter. So we’re hopeful to catch you on the mid month money and then again next month here on cancer uncovered. Thank you for listening.