There are days at work where I struggle. I generally just wonder what I'm doing in life. I get so caught up in the emotions of my volunteers and the drama presented by co-workers, that I forget what it's all about. Well, this weekend we had a big training. While the training itself and some of the happenings are another story, there were some really great take aways.
1.) I got to hear a researcher present who is being funded by one of our grants. He is working on a cancer vaccine. To put this in really simple terms, they have figured out they can use a small amount of cancer mixed with whatever else in the vaccine to stop, slow down, etc. any cancer. They have so far just tested in mice. The mice with cancer live 21 days. They give the mice the vaccine on day 14 and they live longer! I also know a separate researcher who is working on a universal bone marrow. This would give hope to everyone who needs a bone marrow transplant! The implications are huge. I can honestly say, I am a part of that funding. (Sister N- you should comment on the research you do!)
2.) We figured out the team I am on raised 1.1 million dollars this year. This was 99.6% of our goal. I can say with a clear conscious that I am a part of life saving research.
3.) When it comes to leaving a legacy...I think about all the ways I can help. Obviously, I give my time and I even give personal donations. I am so glad to see it makes a difference. Here are some videos they have shared with staff. I am warning you, the $5 one makes me cry. The others are generally cheery. Enjoy.
What Can $5 Do?
Pink Glove Dance
Pink Glove Dance Sequel
Cancer Research UK
The Sales Movie (I love this one)
Purple Glove Dance
Just a random fyi...pink as most people know is the color for breast cancer awareness. Purple is the color for awareness of all types of cancer. Hence why there is a pink glove dance and a purple glove dance. They are different videos, but all work to do the same thing...bring awareness. Anyway, enjoy!
So I'm not super convinced that anyone really cares about the research I have done are participate in, but I will briefly explain since N has mentioned it twice ha ha.
ReplyDeleteMy personal research was working with a gene that is highly expressed in colon cancer (tumor forming cancer) and yet is lowly expressed in non-tumor forming cancers. I used an inhibitor that acts on one of the pathways involved in this gene being expressed. It wasn't necessarily known before I did this that this pathway was involved. Turns out it is, and when this inhibitor is added in increasing concentrations (for as little as 48 hours) this gene expression exponentially declines. This is semi-groundbreaking, however, this is in vitro, but still kind of exciting.
Currently, I am assisting in other areas of research. I am now doing more of the Chemistry aspect where I test different compounds to see if they inhibit a particular enzyme that is known to be highly active in many cancers. We've had a few hits, but again very preliminary.
So there you go...donate to cancer research, because there are several projects that are just waiting to be funded.