We started by attending seminars and speaking with researchers, getting a more objective view of breast cancer and incorporating advice to choose our therapeutic and get started on modeling. Using feedback from professional experts, we were able to investigate different aspects of our treatment, ensuring that we had a well-rounded and effective system. As we continued with our project, we realized it was important for us to get perspectives from those who had been personally affected by breast cancer. We spoke with family members and survivors to learn about their experiences. Their comments helped us think about our future steps and how we can develop our treatment into a viable option.
Below, we detail our conversations and how we integrated the feedback we received into our project.
Cancer Seminar
One of our first interviews was with a Cornell University seminar-focused class that is open for cancer research presentation and discussions. It is open for students to join at any time. On April 22, Dr. Amelia Safi presented for the class, and we decided to join to learn more about cancer health disparities and how it relates to our project. We learned about the importance of health equity: where we want the highest level of health for all patients. There are several obstacles to this goal, and they are observed through race, social/demographic, and economical factors. We learned about the dimensions for cancer disparities (prevention, screening, and coverage), and although LumiCure cannot directly address these problems, attending this seminar helped realize some of the problems with current cancer treatments. We also realized that we can contribute to bridging the health disparity gap by educating our community. Other ways that we can bridge this gap is through coalitions, voting and speaking up when we observe discrimination.
Dr. Tracy Brooks
Dr. Tracy Brooks is the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Menner Family Endowed Faculty Fellow at SUNY Binghamton, whose research focuses on transcriptional regulation and promoter regions. While talking to Dr. Brooks, we learned which samples would be best to use for testing: organoids or patient derived ones. She also explained to us the pros and cons of different cancer treatments. Chemotherapy, in her opinion, is a “hammer” approach to the problem instead of using more advanced and effective auxiliary drugs. Dr. Brooks’ feedback was valuable in helping us differentiate how our treatment differs from current treatments, and it was also vital in selecting our chosen therapeutic for our project. Dr. Brooks had an eye for patient experience and welfare, helping us see how our work will impact an individual's life. Her personal connections to cancer patients in her family shed a new light on the harsh reality of cancer. In her experience, patients are often desperate for the treatment options. Her genuine nature and willingness to speak with us gave a lot of insight into the world of cancer and how cancer treatments can affect an individual’s life and family.
Dr. Lisa Newman
We interviewed Dr. Newman because she has experience both as a researcher and as a health care provider in relation to breast cancer. Because much of her research work centers around genetics, we thought she could provide some advice as to how to improve our vector model. Given that we hadn’t conducted any in vitro experiments using our vector at the time, Dr. Newman was not comfortable with addressing our project as a viable therapy. She was, however, able to provide information in regards to how current breast cancer identification and treatment works. She also spoke with us about the process that potential new treatments go through to become safe and accessible for humans. This was valuable for adjusting the direction of our project and considering future steps when continuing our research.
Dr. Warren Zipfel
As part of a preliminary exploration into our project this year, we met with Cornell biomedical engineering professor Dr. Warren Zipfel who is a leader of the Cornell Zipfel lab. His lab specializes in bioanalytical instrumentation, spectroscopy, and other biomedical device development. In the past Dr. Zipfel has written and published a variety of scientific papers about different imaging techniques. Since our product development subteam is working on developing a fluorescent scanner, we wanted to consult with him to learn more about utilizing imaging devices for biomedical applications. Dr. Zipfel discussed using either fluorescence or bioluminescence to identify clusters of cancer cells in breast tissue. An important takeaway from our meeting was that fluorescent scanners require a critical mass to show up due to the level of metastasis in tumors, which was helpful in calculation considerations for our scanner.
Dr. Claudia Fischbach
Dr. Claudia Fischbach is a biomedical engineering professor at Cornell, as well as the Director of Cornell’s Physical Sciences Oncology Center on the Physics of Cancer Metabolism. Her research focuses on “understanding the biological and physical principles that tumors use to modulate the function of normal blood vessels, stem cells, and bone in order to become more aggressive and ultimately metastasize to distant sites”. In the past Dr. Fischbach has written and published a variety of scientific papers about cancer development and progression. Dr. Fischbach’s expertise was helpful in consulting with her to learn more about utilizing plasmid and DNA sequences for biomedical applications. Dr. Fischbach discussed different current cancer therapies and the benefits and drawbacks of each type. An important takeaway from our meeting was the discussion of the solubility of trichosanthin in the body. This allowed us to investigate and see that there are no negative side-effects for patients as it degrades over time.
Barbara Demorest
We spoke with Barbara Demorest, the founder of Knitted Knockers, to gain some perspective from an actual breast cancer survivor. Ms. Demorest was diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer and had a mastectomy. She told traditional prosthetics are hot and heavy and can not be put in until up to a month after breast removal surgery. Additionally, some women may have scars that prevent them from having the option for reconstruction. Ms. Demorest founded “Knitted Knockers” to provide women an immediate option for breast replacements. The “knockers” are soft knitted breast replacements that can easily fit into a bra. We learned that getting a mastectomy is an emotional process, and a common experience among women is the feeling of self-consciousness and wanting a sense of “normalcy.” She advised that we consider the way we might provide a support system during our treatment. Ms. Demorest’s experiences and advice provided valuable insight, helping us ensure that our project goals aligns with the needs we aim to help.
Dr. Amelia Safi
We interviewed Prof. Safi because of her expertise in public health and cancer health disparities. When speaking with her, we learned about the crucial importance of communication in bridging cancer disparities. For example, during our racial crisis in 2020, Dr. Safi argued that, although income may be a bigger factor than race in communicating disparities, putting racial disparities at the forefront of the media allows us to have more fruitful discussions of these disparities. In addition, Prof. Safi emphasized some lesser known contributors to health disparities: politics and education. Prof. Safi’s valuable words helped us ensure that we will continue to address these disparities as we further our project.
Pallawi Verma
Pallawi Verma is the mother of one of our own team members. We interviewed her to learn about her and her family’s experience with breast cancer. Mrs. Verma’s own mother was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer in 2014 and underwent chemotherapy. Despite being in remission, the treatment weakened her mother's immune system and she passed away in February 2015 due to complications with post-chemotherapy medications. Mrs. Verma recalled that chemotherapy treatments left her mother bedridden, severely underweight, and unable to do many basic tasks (such as go to the bathroom) without assistance. This severely hindered the recovery process. For Mrs. Verma and her sister, who both live in the United States, this entire period was described as “emotionally taxing.” They found it hard to provide emotional support for their mother and the rest of their family, who were in India. Although physical distance was an obstacle, Mrs. Verma mentioned that she was relieved that her mother was in India, where treatment costs are much cheaper than the United States.
Mrs. Verma’s vivid retelling of her family’s experience gave us a deeper insight into the effects of current treatment options. When we introduced our idea of a target therapy, she commented that it seemed to be “a much less painful process, both emotionally and physically.” Mrs. Verma’s comments about costs caused us to look deeper into the financial cost of our treatment, which in turn helped us develop our business plan and do a market analysis.