“We’re all in this together:" Three approaches to cancer research

TheoryLab

In this episode, three researchers from Dartmouth who are investigating very different aspects of cancer joined the podcast to share their work. One of the guests, James Moseley, PhD, summed up why a diversity of scientific approaches and collaboration among researchers is so important: “We’re all in this together. There are so many different angles to fighting cancer, whether it be here at Dartmouth—where we’ve got folks working on the level of cells and proteins all the way up through patient care and beyond—or through the ACS. This is really a team effort, and we’re all kind of working on our individual parts, but (this is) a reminder that we’re all working together to tackle all these different aspects of cancer with the ultimate goal of helping patients and survivors.” Amber Barnato, MD, MPH, MS, is the Susan J. and Richard M. Levy 1960 Distinguished Professor in Health Care Delivery. Her research focuses on variation in end-of-life intensive care unit and life-sustaining treatment use. Kathleen Lyons, ScD, is Associate Professor of Psychiatry. Here research focuses on cancer rehabilitation and palliative and supportive care. James Moseley, PhD, is Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. His lab studies how cells coordinate cell growth and division. 5:10 – Dr. Barnato on making sure that end-of-life care aligns with personal goals, helps manage symptoms and emotional distress, and supports families 7:08 – Dr. Lyons on how rehabilitation science helps with symptom management and side effects from cancer treatment 9:24 – Dr. Moseley on a different kind of decision making – how a cell decides that it’s going to divide 13:02 – How early engagement of palliative care in cancer care improves quality of life and symptom management and can help extend life 16:02 – On the growing understanding of why “prehabilitation” before treatment is so important 20:24 – What we’ve learned from technological breakthroughs that have allowed researchers to watch individual proteins in cells 27:20 – Dr. Barnato’s focus on medical decision making and patient-provider relationships 29:42 – How Dr. Lyons is focused on accelerating recovery from treatment and helping patients get back to doing the activities they want to do 35:30 – Dr. Moseley poses an interesting question: How does a cell know what size it is? 39:10 – On the collaborative, supportive environment at Dartmouth 40:49 – The impact of ACS funding on their research 49:55 – A message they’d like to share with cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors