To mark World Cancer Day on Sunday, we asked our scientists and volunteers what they’re doing to help fight cancer. Here’s what they said (click on a photo to expand it):
“Both of our lives have been directly impacted by cancer. We CAN and WILL climb mountains, both figuratively and literally, to support cancer research at VAI!”
– Blake Crabb, JBoard member and Purple Community volunteer, and Dan Rogers, Clinical Research Manager, Van Andel Research Institute
“We can help kids fight cancers like Ewing sarcoma by developing more effective therapies with fewer side effects.”
– Dr. Patrick Grohar, Associate Professor, Center for Cancer and Cell Biology
“We can outsmart colon cancer!”
-Dr. Peter Laird, Professor, Center for Epigenetics
“We can help find better treatments for bone metastases and find way to prevent cancer metastasis in the future.”
– Dr. Xiaohong Li, Assistant Professor, Center for Cancer and Cell Biology
“I can support breast cancer research at Van Andel Institute through fundraising.”
-Pat Ringnalda, Race Director, Bee Brave 5K
“We can unravel key biological processes in breast and pancreatic cancer using pre-clinical models and clinical samples.”
-Dr. Lorenzo Sempere, Assistant Professor, Center for Cancer and Cell Biology
“We can find cancer’s weak spots through high-throughput sequencing technologies.”
-Dr. Hui Shen, Assistant Professor, Center for Epigenetics
“We are testing new drug targets responsible for the progression and chemoresistance of osteosarcoma, which is one of the most deadly diseases in children and young people.”
-Dr. Tao Yang, Assistant Professor, Center for Cancer and Cell Biology
We Can, I Can is a World Cancer Day campaign run by the Union for International Cancer Control. Share your story and follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using hashtags #WorldCancerDay and #WeCanICan.