A Hero in Cancer Research
I have a good feeling about how cancer changes lives. My mother, aunt, uncle, grandmother and both grandfathers have had cancer.
The cost of cancer research is mind blowing, at least billions.
I have complete respect for the people that are raising money for cancer research (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Susan G. Komen, @drewfromtv). The people and organizations that are willing to fund cancer research are critical, but money alone does not fix the problem, people do. Scientists do.
I am missing a hero in my life. This hero is dedicating their life toward curing cancer.
I mean really working on it. Not some buzz word on an intro slide.
Who is your favorite scientist involved in cancer research? Who is the person that will fill Madison Square Garden with a science talk?
christian201
December 7th, 2009 at 3:01 PM #
Bob Weinberg at MIT would be the first that comes to my mind. He has had a great influence on our textbook knowledge of cancer, IMHO. Hes not a crystallographer though, if thats your question.
Sean
December 7th, 2009 at 7:49 PM #
Hi christian201,
I will have to check him out. I was looking for any person that is doing inspiring work the cancer field. I have been a huge fan of those raising money and it occurred to me that I didn’t have a person to cheer that was actually doing the work. Thanks for the reply.
Rob Townley
December 15th, 2009 at 12:20 PM #
Sean,
one of my heroes is Stanley J. Korsmeyer, (there is a Wikipedia entry on him) a truly great physician scientist. He would have been embarrassed to be called a Rock Star but to my mind he is the Buddy Holly of oncologists. He either discovered bcl-2 or it discovered him. (If you haven’t heard of bcl-2 you are in for an odessey.) I had the pleasure of spending time with him when I was an undergraduate. He described how he would make rounds in the pediatric ward early in the mornings and see the children. Afterward he would go to the lab and meet with graduate students and Post-docs. Unfortunately he died of cancer in 2005, but you can let out a little cheer for him none-the-less.
I will come up with some more for you over time.
In the meantime I second christian201’s nominee. You may be interested to know that Bob Weinberg was the subject of a book by Natalie Tangier called “Natural Obsession”. I quite enjoyed this book you should check it out.
Cheers.
rt
Sean
December 15th, 2009 at 8:40 PM #
Thanks for swinging by again! I hope the worms are treating you well.
I will to have to give, “Natural Obsession” a read.
Paul
December 16th, 2009 at 11:57 PM #
I would say Judah Folkman (along with Weinberg) is one of the greats in cancer research. Without him, a lot of the new anti-angiogenic drugs coming out wouldn’t have been developed. He was a real maverick back in the 60s/70s.