Hitting the streets in #London for blood cancer research!
I'll be #running the London Landmarks Half Marathon #LLHM on the 7th of April. It's a charity run, which in my case means I'm raising money for #BloodCancerUK.
So if you have a dime, a penny or a cent to spare, please support this cause. Your donation runs with me!
Tonight I hosted a screening and discussion of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. Everything worked technically and there was a good audience. I am very grateful for my chemistry students who came and contributed to the conversation.
Even if you don’t know Henrietta’s story, you’ve probably benefited from her cells. You can read the excellent book (by the same name) or this: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henrietta-lacks.
🧑🔬 Frustrated by the constraints of Earth, a team of California scientists took tumor research to space—and may have discovered a ‘kill switch' for cancer
— Fortune
“Everything would have been 180° different if Beau had lived — there’s no question,” said one close associate of the family who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private family matters. “I don’t think Hunter’s life goes off the rails. If Beau wasn’t president of the United States now, he’d be on his way to it. And Joe Biden would never have been president. He would be happily retired.”
…One of the most lucrative temptations was…the paid speech circuit, but #Biden’s circle knew it would risk a hit to his reputation, given the controversy that erupted over speeches HillaryClinton gave to GoldmanSachs & other WallSt groups.
🚨Top Harvard cancer researchers accused of scientific fraud; 37 studies affected
— Ars Technica
"The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is seeking to retract six scientific studies and correct 31 others that were published by the instit ute’s top researchers, including its CEO. The researchers are accused of manipulating data images with simple methods, primarily with copy-and-paste in image editing software"
👨🔬 Scientists Destroy 99% of Cancer Cells in The Lab Using Vibrating Molecules
ᐅ @ScienceAlert
「 "This is the first time a molecular plasmon is utilized in this way to excite the whole molecule and to actually produce mechanical action used to achieve a particular goal – in this case, tearing apart cancer cells' membrane." 」
What are the key moments in the older adults #cancer pathway⚕️where inequalities are likely to occur & where integrating psychological knowledge into #healthcare practices🩺could be useful?
This month, many men around the world will grow mustaches as part of Movember, the annual event that increases awareness of prostate cancer and other men’s health issues. What impact has the movement had on prostate cancer? Experts break it down. https://flip.it/5SJjJZ #Culture#Health#MensHealth#Cancer#CancerResearch
How can we better understand brain #cancer 🧠- and more particularly glioblastoma - to improve the #treatment strategies of this devastating disease?
Anuja Lipsa focuses her #research 🔬on studying patient-derived models and performing large-scale drug screening to enable more personalised and effective treatments for people with brain cancer.
Leave it to a chronically ill patient doing research to restore her own health and vitality to become the Rosetta Stone for one of the possible causes of #MECFS.
The gross imbalances of cancer research must be addressed - Global cancer-research ecosystems invest billions of dollars in the development of oncological medicines and technologies, such as robotics and radiotherapy, yet comparatively little into programmes that aim to advance affordable, equitable and high-quality care and outcomes. The extraordinary growth in public and private expenditure on cancer discovery science and technologies, fuelled by the huge profits of cancer biopharmaceutical companies, has failed to create more opportunities for research in neglected areas. #Cancer#CancerCare#CancerResearch#BigPharma#researchhttps://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02609-2
"UK facing ‘brain drain’ of cancer researchers after failure to join EU scheme"
This piece focuses on principal investigators (i.e., grant holders). The bulk of scientific research work is carrried out by postdocs and other soft-money researchers, and the effect on them of Brexit and the removal of free movement needs addressing.
There appears to be zero political will to finalise UK association to Horizon Europe.
🚨Hot off the press!🚨 When I was drafting the abstract for this paper, I joked that the word limit was so small that I should write a haiku about our research. So I did:
Aggressive cancer
Which definition to choose
Changes spatially
Btw, this is my first 2nd author paper, and I'm so proud to have my name show up next to @DanielWieseGEO, @DrShannonMLynch, and our esteemed co-authors.
Today would have been Henrietta's 103rd birthday. It's about time.
"Henrietta Lacks' descendants reach a settlement over the use of her 'stolen' cells
The family of Henrietta Lacks has reached a settlement with a science and technology company it says used cells taken without Lacks' consent in the 1950s to develop products it later sold for a profit.
Lacks, who was Black, was being treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins University in 1951 when doctors removed cells from her tumor without her knowledge or permission.
Those cells — now known as HeLa cells — had remarkable properties that allowed them to be endlessly reproduced, and they have since been used for a variety of scientific breakthroughs, including research about the human genome and the development of the polio and COVID-19 vaccines."
THE UK Nation Cancer Research Institute is closing down. Not good for Britain's role as a science research centre which Sunak claims to be so keen about.