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Jane Cooke Wright (also known as "Jane Jones") (November 20, 1919 – February 19, 2013) was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. In particular, Wright is credited with developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells. She also pioneered the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer (mycosis fungoids). Wright's family had a strong history of academic achievement in medicine. She was born in Manhattan, New York, to Corinne Cooke, a public school teacher, and Louis T. Wright, who was one of the first African American graduates from Harvard Medical School. He was the first African American doctor at a public hospital in New York City. As a child, Wright attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, then the "Ethical Culture" school and the "Fieldston School", from which she graduated in 1938. During her time at the Fieldston School, Wright was very involved in extracurricular activities. She served as the school's yearbook art editor and was named the captain of the swim team. Her favorite subjects to study were math and science. After attending the Fieldston School, Wright received a scholarship to Smith College, where she furthered her studies and continued to be very involved in extracurricular activities. She swam on the varsity swim team, discovered a passion for the German language, and lived in the school's German house for a while. Wright graduated with an art degree from Smith College in 1942.] After her time at Smith, Wright received another scholarship, to attend the New York Medical College. She graduated as a part of an accelerated three-year program at the top of her class in 1945 with the honors award. After medical school, Wright completed residencies at Bellevue Hospital (1945–46) and later at Harlem Hospital (1947–48), where she became the chief resident. In 1949 she joined her father in research at the Harlem Hospital Cancer Research Center, which he had founded, and she ultimately succeeded him as director when he died in 1952. In 1949, Dr. Wright joined her father at the Cancer Research Foundation at Harlem Hospital. During her time at the research institute, she and her father sparked an interest in chemotherapeutic agents. They were interested in making chemotherapy more accessible for everyone. In the 1940s chemotherapy was a new development, so it was not a well-known or well-practiced source for treatment because it was still in its experimental stage of drug development. Chemotherapy was considered the “last resort” and the drugs available and dosage was not very well defined. Both Jane and her father wanted to make chemotherapy a more accessible method of cancer treatment. They were the first groups to report the use of nitrogen mustard agents and folic acid antagonists as cancer treatments. Wright retired in 1985 and was appointed emerita professor at New York Medical College in 1987. In describing her pioneering research in chemotherapy, she told reporter Fern Eckman, "There's lots of fun in exploring the unknown. There's no greater thrill than in having an experiment turn out in such a way that you make a positive contribution." --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/momentsofgrace/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/momentsofgrace/support
| Please excuse some possible microphone zapping | Intro Song Credit: YAA! Koala @yaakoala Song: Do Mushies Not Coke Outro Sound Credit: YAA! Koala @yaakoala Song: Jamaica Interlude In this weeks BRAND NEW 2 part podcast special-- your podcast host Brittany Baldi invites on to chat with her Bonnie Lattimore. She is the 'Director of Strategic Partnerships' for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation . This is part 2 -- Britt and her special guest (Bonnie) talk all things sports related charities, pediatric cancer research funding, and much more! For more information on PCRF please visit https://pcrf-kids.org/ Please be sure to also listen to part 1 of this podcast special as well to learn about Bonnie and her early years. Please enjoy this podcast episode and be sure to subscribe to The BosBabes for FREE on our Youtube channel. Full interviews & vlogs are posted there! Cheers xo Please be sure to visit meditresse.com today if you or someone you know is experiencing extreme or mild hair loss— the hair specialists may be of assistance. As a special offer for listeners, new customers GET $5 OFF a Lume Starter Pack with code bosbabes at LumeDeodorant.com. That equals to over 40% off your Starter Pack when you visit LumeDeodorant.com and use code bosbabes5. With my sponsor BetterHelp, you get the same professionalism and quality you expect from in-office therapy, but with a therapist who is custom-picked for you, more scheduling flexibility, and at a more affordable price.Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/bosbabes For all of your furniture needs please be sure to check out Highpoint Furniture Sales. They are fully family owned and operated with 2 great locations in the state of North Carolina. Green Team Junk Removal is your premier junk removal company serving the state of Massachusetts. Be sure to call Fred Cullen at (508) 361- 0519 to have them help elevate your removal process today!
| Please excuse some possible microphone zapping | Intro Song Credit: YAA! Koala @yaakoala Song: Do Mushies Not Coke Outro Sound Credit: YAA! Koala @yaakoala Song: Jamaica Interlude In this weeks BRAND NEW 2 part podcast special-- your podcast host Brittany Baldi invites on to chat with her Pediatric Cancer Research (Director of Strategic Partnerships) Bonnie Lattimore. In part 1 Britt and Bonnie bring up Bonnie's early years which include playing lots of sports, how she met her husband (who is a sports coach), and much more! Britt and Bonnie also discuss other topics such as 1. Becoming a mom 2. Juggling work, being a mom to a few kids, and a wife 3. Traveling as a coaches wife 4. What it means to be career focused and much more! In part 2-- Britt and Bonnie deep dive into her role as Pediatric Cancer Research (Director of Strategic Partnerships) and how she highly benefits the local areas around her and beyond. -- dropping soon. Please enjoy this podcast episode and be sure to subscribe to The BosBabes for FREE on our Youtube channel. Full interviews & vlogs are posted there! Cheers xo Please be sure to visit meditresse.com today if you or someone you know is experiencing extreme or mild hair loss— the hair specialists may be of assistance. As a special offer for listeners, new customers GET $5 OFF a Lume Starter Pack with code bosbabes at LumeDeodorant.com. That equals to over 40% off your Starter Pack when you visit LumeDeodorant.com and use code bosbabes5. With my sponsor BetterHelp, you get the same professionalism and quality you expect from in-office therapy, but with a therapist who is custom-picked for you, more scheduling flexibility, and at a more affordable price.Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/bosbabes For all of your furniture needs please be sure to check out Highpoint Furniture Sales. They are fully family owned and operated with 2 great locations in the state of North Carolina. Green Team Junk Removal is your premier junk removal company serving the state of Massachusetts. Be sure to call Fred Cullen at (508) 361- 0519 to have them help elevate your removal process today!
Heidi Harris is in for Annie! The final hour of today's show begins with another game of Xs and Ohs! Today's guests are Darryl from St. Jude's Cancer Research Foundation and Princess Stormm from WFUN! After they face off, Hannah shares a news story about a surgeon who had to run through a marathon to receive an organ for surgery!
On this special edition we're talking to Long Beach water polo players and coaches before catching up with the Luke TATSU Johnson Foundation and its fundraising for cancer research.
On the latest Dominic Carter City Hall, CEO of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Dr. Yung Lie, joins the podcast to discuss ways on how we can support cancer research, so that we can help save many lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on this edition of The Chronicles of Dominic Carter: Dominic speaks with Dr. Yung Lie, President and CEO, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation about the foundation and what it has achieved, why the upcoming 5K event at Yankee Stadium stands out from previous years, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jeri Wilson has been the Executive Director of the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation for 10 years. Under the umbrella of this foundation is Dribble For A Cure, a fundraiser that takes place at St. John's University and UCLA. Since 2008, this event has raised nearly 2 million dollars for Pediatric Cancer Research. Members of both schools basketball teams, its coaches, alumni, and students get together to support this event, which truly is just getting started.This fundraiser recently partnered with the V Foundation, and expansion in the number of schools that participate in this event is on the way. Along with this change, the event has now changed its name to Dribble For Victory Over Cancer and you can just type in that name to learn more about this fundraiser.
In this episode of Black Power Moves, part of the Ebony Covering Black America Podcast Network, we're speaking to Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is a STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur who is introducing the world to the next generation of cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one of the nation's leading medical physicists and one of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Physics. Dr. Green developed a revolutionary cancer treatment that uses lasers and nanotechnology to eliminate cancer in mice after only one 10-minute treatment in just 15 days with no observable side effects. To ensure the affordability of this treatment, she founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation to raise the funding for human clinical trials. https://oralee.org/ Further, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded her a $1.1 million grant for her research. Her story has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including ABC News, NBC News, New York Times, Forbes, The History Channel, PBS, NPR, TV One News One Now with Roland Martin, and The Karen Hunter Show. Dr. Green has been distinguished as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S. by Ebony and The Root magazines, Top 30 Under 40 in Healthcare by Business Insider, 100 Women of the Century by USA Today, and 50 Champions by Forbes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On today's episode, meet Eugene Manley, Jr., PhD, Director, Scientific Programs at the Lung Cancer Research Foundation. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University, a masters in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and PhD in Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemstry from Boston University. He's also a Diversity and STEM advocate.
Dr. Yung Lie is the President and CEO of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, an organization that supports the next generation of leaders in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. She is an experienced scientist, an advocate for cancer research, and an executive board member for The Chemical Probes Portal and Health Research Alliance. Dr. Lie began her professional journey with a degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley. After earning her PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University, her passion and the thrill of discovery led her to pursue postdoctoral training at The Rockefeller University and the University of California, San Francisco. In this episode… How can you give younger generations the opportunity to succeed in their careers? When there are numerous variables for professional success, what are the tools and resources necessary for unlimited progress? Dr. Yung Lie is passionate about providing the next generation with the opportunities they need to grow and succeed — and she accomplishes this by bringing together great minds in her field. Her cancer research foundation instills a sense of camaraderie and mentorship in the medical community. Through her leadership, Dr. Lie promotes great relationships in order to help scientists grow professionally and provide future generations with the tools for success. In this episode of Level Up, Nick Araco is joined by Dr. Yung Lie, the President and CEO of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Together, they talk about creating an information-driven workplace for future generations, how to make a more significant impact in your field, and the value of surrounding yourself with a team that is dedicated to a common goal. Dr. Lie also talks about the importance of collaboration in order to achieve breakthrough ideas.
This interview is with Tracy Stevenson the Volunteer Fundraising Coordinator... So glad to have met her aquaintance. I have recently partnered with Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green founder of The Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation, @ Oralee.org in the quest to secure 30 million dollars to move forward in human clinical trials. I felt compelled to do something, so until the goal is reached I have dedicated a percentage of all cosmetic sales and now determined to assist with creative ways in order to get people in our community and throughout the United States to get involved in making history and changing the way cancer is treated. Please share and keep checking back as I have other fundraisers lined up for the end off 2020 and Hopeful for the Spring of 2021 Thanks to all supporting thus far! Be Well --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/simply-jewel-health0/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/simply-jewel-health0/support
This week, Sam talks about Dr. Jane Cook Wright, the first Black & first female President of the New York Cancer Society!At the age of 33, Dr. Wright was appointed the director of the Cancer Research Foundation at Harlem Hospital, where she revolutionized cancer research, specifically the practices with which we determine how best to fight it. To learn more about her amazing accomplishments, check out the full episode & then head to www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com for more resources! A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world!Broads You Should Know is Hosted by Sam Eggers, Sara Gorsky, & Justin Xavier.If you know of any Broads you think we should cover on a future episode, submit using the form on the website or send us an email at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com.IG: @BroadsYouShouldKnow@SaraGorsky@TheJustinXavier@SamLAEggers Podcast Produced by Justin Xavier & Jupiter Stone / Edited by Justin XavierVideo promo edited by Jupiter StoneWebsite designed & managed by Sara Gorsky
Cancer affects many of us as about 8.8 million people die from cancer each year. Our family, friends, colleagues or even ourselves, with the best care, can be subjected to harsh side effects, lengthy treament durations, prohibitive costs and limited accessiblity. Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green, founder of the Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation , believes there's a better way . Dr. Green spoke with WBGO News Director Doug Doyle about her patent-pending cancer treatment that she says completely eliminates tumors in mice, in just 15 days, after a single 10-minute treatment, without side effects. On Sunday, June 21, the group When Black Women Gather , is kicking off a Zoom Webathon, to raise $1 million for Dr. Green to complete her development of an effective, non-invasive and inexpensive treatment for cancer. Dr. Green is hoping people will donate to help her attain the eventual goal of reaching $30 million to cover the costs of clinical trials and FDA approval. "We've developed a
In this episode, Carlo Navarro - the host of the CRF Podcast sits down and talks about some End of Year Thoughts and reflection of the past year and the year to come. Thank you for listening to the podcast and we are excited to bring you more in the new year! About the Cancer Research Foundation: www.cancerresearchfdn.org Our mission is to raise funds to fund early-career cancer scientists and new directions in cancer science research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer. Donate to help support early-career cancer science: www.cancerresearchfdn.org/support/
This episode we speak with Dr. Milan Chheda from the Washington University in St. Louis. We spend time talking about his Young Investigator Proposal focused on Glioblastoma, working with a team to discover a way to potentially use the Zika virus to treat brain tumors, and what he is most excited about in Cancer Research. You can learn more about Dr. Chheda below: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/recipient/milan-g-chheda-md https://www.icce-wustl.org/milan-chheda-lab.html Patient Advocacy Resource / American Brain Tumor Association: https://www.abta.org/ About the Cancer Research Foundation: www.cancerresearchfdn.org Our mission is to raise funds to fund early-career cancer scientists and new directions in cancer science research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer. Donate to help support early-career cancer science: www.cancerresearchfdn.org/support/
We have a special conversation for Episode 002. This episode our Executive Director of the Cancer Research Foundation, Zanna Nikitas sits down with Dr. Lucy Godley. Dr. Godley is a Professor at the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Dr. Godley was a 2003 Young Investigator Award Recipient as well as a 2016 Fletcher Scholar Award Recipient. This episode is a conversation about Dr. Godley’s Fletcher Scholar Award Proposal. Learn more about Dr. Godley: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/recipient/lucy-godley/ https://genes.uchicago.edu/directory/lucy-godley-md-phd About the Cancer Research Foundation: www.cancerresearchfdn.org Our mission is to raise funds to fund early-career cancer scientists and new directions in cancer science research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer. Donate to help support early-career cancer science: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/support/
Welcome to Fighting Cancer: A Podcast from the Cancer Research Foundation. Join us as we interview researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are fighting cancer through their bold ideas in science and technology. About the Cancer Research Foundation: Our mission is to raise funds to fund early-career cancer scientists and new directions in cancer science research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer. To Learn more about the Cancer Research Foundation: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/ https://www.instagram.com/cancerrf Donate to help support early-career cancer science: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/support/
This episode we have a conversation with Dr. Jonathan Barnes, PhD. He is a recipient of the 2017 Young Investigator Award from the CRF. The Barnes group is developing a universal ‘plug-and-play’ type of drug delivery system to fight cancer. Learn more about Jonathan Barnes: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/recipient/jonathan-barnes https://twitter.com/jonathancbarnes http://pages.wustl.edu/barnes About the Cancer Research Foundation: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org Our mission is to raise funds to fund early-career cancer scientists and new directions in cancer science research with the goal of contributing to “Transformational Events” in the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer. Young Investigator Award: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/program/young-investigator-awards/ Connect with us: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/ https://www.instagram.com/cancerrf Donate to help support early-career cancer science: https://www.cancerresearchfdn.org/support/
Dr. Janice Dutcher, Associate Director of the Cancer Research Foundation of New York and medical oncology co-chair of the NCI Renal Cancer Task Force, presents a self-assessment question on the treatment of castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer.
About the Interview Tina Kaczor, ND, FABNO, recently sat down with Dugald Seely, ND, MSc, FABNO, director of the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre, to discuss several ongoing studies in integrative oncology. Studying integrative oncology has unique study design challenges. They talked about how these challenges are met and how current study designs are attempting to accurately reflect complex in-office care. Seely covered a broad range of topics, from details of specific studies to an overview of the current landscape of collaborating with peers in integrative oncology. He also offered some tips on how private practice clinicians can begin to participate in research. The Thoracic POISE Trial One of Seely’s current research endeavors is the Thoracic Peri-Operative Integrative Surgical Care Evaluation (POISE) Trial. Seely says it’s probably the most interesting and complex study his team is currently working on. The goal of this trial is to explore the impact of naturopathic medicine in addition to conventional usual care at the hospital for patients who have thoracic cancers and are eligible for surgery. The researchers are randomizing a group of these patients into receiving standard usual care at the hospital only, or getting usual care plus an integrated approach delivered by a naturopathic doctor before surgery and for a year after surgery. They’ll be looking at a whole battery of different outcomes, including adverse events related to surgery, quality-of life-measures, immune function, inflammatory changes, cost-effectiveness, and, ultimately, long-term survival and recurrence rate over 5 years. Seely sees this study as an opportunity to investigate the effectiveness of truly holistic, whole-person care. To do that, they’ll be employing interventions in 4 domains: Targeted natural health products Nutritional approaches Fitness improvements (particularly pulmonary fitness) Mind and body medicine and psychological well-being At the end of the study, Seely expects to be able to say whether, as a whole, naturopathic medicine in this setting can make a difference in outcomes related to survival or adverse events related to surgery. Canadian/US Integrative Oncology Study Another study Seely is working on is called the Canadian/US Integrative Oncology Study. This is being done in partnership with Bastyr University. The other principal investigator is Leanna Standish, ND, PhD, LAc, FABNO. This study, which will be conducted over a 6- to 7-year period, will recruit and observe the interventions given to patients with 4 types of late-stage cancer. The researchers will look at the naturopathic care interventions given to these patients at 11 different clinics across North America. Seely and the research team are looking at clinics with the most innovative and useful therapies in naturopathic oncology. They’ll document the interventions and follow the patients to observe effects on survival rates. In addition, they’ll be looking at cost and quality of life. In the end, Seely hopes the CUSIOS trial will shed light on the outcomes we see with patients who go through these advanced integrative oncology clinics. How Can Clinicians Get Involved in Research? For clinicians interested in getting involved in research, Seely offered this guidance: Build relationships. For him, doing graduate work was key because it automatically caused him to engage and collaborate with others. If you’re interested in research, start by connecting with people at academic institutions and begin the dialog. If you’d like to learn more about the sites currently involved in integrative medicine research, visit Clinicaltrials.gov. About the Expert Dugald Seely, ND, MSc, FABNO, leads the clinical practice and cancer research program for the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre. In addition to his clinical role as a naturopathic doctor, he also serves as the executive director of research & clinical epidemiology at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, affiliate investigator for the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and vice president for the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Seely completed his master of science in cancer research at the University of Toronto and is a fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology. As a clinician scientist, Seely has been awarded competitive grant and trainee funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, the SickKids Foundation, the Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation, the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, and the Gateway for Cancer Research Foundation. Transcript Tina Kaczor, ND, FABNO: Hello. I'm Tina Kaczor with the Natural Medicine Journal. I'm speaking today with naturopathic physician and researcher, Dugald Seely. Dr. Seely is the founder and executive director of the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Center in Ontario, Canada. He has led numerous research projects including the largest integrative naturopathic cancer care clinical trial ever conducted in North America. He has more than 50 MEDLINE indexed peer-reviewed publications. Last but not least, among his many accolades over the years, he has most recently been awarded the Dr. Rogers Prize, which is a prize awarded in Canada for excellence in complementary medicine. Dr. Seely, thanks so much for joining me today. Dugald Seely, ND, FABNO: Thanks so much for having me on to talk, Tina. Kaczor: There are so many things that we could talk about in the realm of research. You're also a practicing clinician, so there's lots we could discuss. I want to start off with a couple projects that are currently ongoing for you, maybe that you're knee-deep in. If you could just start us off with a couple research projects that you have going on these days. Seely: Yeah. Sure. One of the ones that you mentioned, the integrative oncology study, is a big study that we're doing. That's probably the most interesting and complex study that we're running right now. I say running a little bit loosely because we actually haven't started it yet. We're waiting on final ethics approval. We're nearing the runway anyways. This is the Thoracic POISE Trial, which is the Thoracic Peri-Operative Integrative Surgical Care Evaluation Trial. The goal for this trial is to explore the impact of naturopathic medicine in addition to conventional usual care at the hospital for patients who have thoracic cancers and are eligible for surgery. What we're doing in this study is we're going to be randomizing a group of these patients into receiving standard usual care at the hospital only, or getting usual care plus an integrated approach delivered by a naturopathic doctor prior to their surgery and for a year after the surgery as well. We have a whole battery of different outcomes that we're exploring, including adverse events related to surgery. We're looking at quality of life measures. We're looking at some biological surrogates, including immune function, inflammatory changes in the body, and we're looking at some cost-effective outcomes and, ultimately, long-term survival and recurrence rate over 5 years. This study is a long study. It's going to take us probably, by the end of the whole thing, maybe 12 years. We're starting off with a feasibility component to explore the interventions and how effective they can be applied before we move into the randomized component with a much larger population. Kaczor: That brings up a question in my mind. That is, when you talk about the feasibility aspect, are you designing it such that the intervention will be standardized across the patients, or will this be more naturopathic in it being more personalized per patient in a systems-based approach? Seely: Yeah. That's a great question. We've struggled a lot with how to develop the intervention in a way that could be representative of naturopathic medicine in the field. Then, also scalable and standardizable in a way that it could be replicated in another trial. I think we balanced it as much as we can from both ends. It depends on who you speak to I suppose around that. The goal is truly holistic or a whole-person care. We have components that relate to the use of targeted natural health products that we've standardized for this population. We've got a nutritional approach that we've standardized to some degree. We have interventions related to improving fitness and pulmonary fitness in particular. Then we have interventions related to mind and body medicine and psychological well-being. Those four domains comprise the types of interventions that we have. Within each of those, we developed specific interventions that we detailed how this would be applied, and under what conditions, to these patients so that this can be clearly documented. There is a standardized approach that we're using. There is some flexibility in terms of the patients and how they represent in terms of making changes to the intervention. For example, if someone presents with diarrhea, they will be provided with probiotics as well as their core interventions. If they have weight loss, they would get whey protein as well. If they're experiencing mucositis or neuropathy, we'll apply glutamine. There are some things that we can tweak based on symptoms that the patient has. Initially, at least, everyone in the study is going to get a course of intervention that everyone will receive similar. We don't know what is going to be providing what effect. That's the nature of a pragmatic study like this. We'll be able to say, at the end of the day, that this whole-person approach, what effect does it have on the outcomes that we're looking at. These are important outcomes for these patients regardless. It's a bit of a black box at the end of the day. We won't be able to identify what specific intervention has what effect, but we can say, as a whole, naturopathic medicine in this setting can make a difference in outcomes related to survival or adverse events related to surgery. Things like duration of hospitalization after surgery, so we'll have information on that. Kaczor: This particular trial is being done in conjunction with area cancer centers and your center specifically. This is site-specific. Is that right? Seely: It is initially. The feasibility study, which won't be randomized, is going to happen with the Ottawa Hospital as the hospital site. Then, the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Center (OICC) will be the site where the naturopathic care will be delivered. Once we have run in a few of them, when we do the randomization, we do plan on having at least 2 additional sites across the country. We have a couple places identified that will be good sources for recruitment. It will take place in other sites as well. Kaczor: Great. I like the idea of it being a whole-systems approach because that's one of the things that we run into in naturopathic medicine is that the reductionist view of a single agent being studied is never reflective of what we're actually doing. That's great. My understanding is you have another study that has multiple locations. Is that correct? Seely: Yeah. We're doing another study, which is quite different. It's an observational study called CUSIOS. It's the Canadian/US Integrative Oncology Study. This is being done in partnership with Bastyr University and the other co-PI is Dr. Leanna Standish. Really, we're looking at in this study over a 6- to 7-year period to recruit and observe the interventions that are given to patients with late-stage cancer, 4 types of late-stage cancer. We're looking at what the naturopathic care interventions are being given to these patients at 11 different clinics across North America—5 in Canada and 6 in the United States. Each of these clinics are being led by what one would consider to be a naturopathic oncologist or someone steeped in naturopathic oncology. We're tying to look at clinics that have some of the best therapies, the most innovative and useful therapies, in the naturopathic oncology realm being given to these patients. We want to look at what those interventions are and we're documenting that using REDCap. Then, we're going to be also following these patients to see what the survival rate is amongst these patients. Then, we're also doing a substudy within that looking at cost and quality of life. Their experience through the care as well in a more of a qualitative kind of a way. Again, a lot of outcomes that we're trying to track, it is observational so it won't have the same sort of subjective biases for sure. It'll give us, I think, a lot of really good information about what the practice of naturopathic oncology is ostensively at its best, and what are some of the outcomes that we're seeing patients go through these advanced integrative oncology clinics. Kaczor: Yeah. Let me ask you this as far as time horizons. These are both pretty lengthy studies. I have a 2-part question. One, when can we look forward to preliminary results or the first publications coming out of either of these trials? Two, are they registered such that, regardless of how the data shakes out, positive or negative, that it will be published? I understand that once trials are registered in a certain way, the data has to be published at some point. Seely: Yes. For sure, we will publish regardless of what the outcomes are. The CUSIOS study is ongoing. It is registered under clinicaltrials.gov. Thoracic POISE is not yet registered because we haven't got it through ethics yet. We will be establishing that soon. We will be publishing those, no question. We actually have submitted one publication so far and it's been peer reviewed. This is looking at the intervention development process that we used for thoracic POISE, which is really a collaborative effort with physicians at the hospitals, at the hospital pharmacists, the naturopathic doctors as well. That's being submitted for publication. We also have information related to the survey. When you survey the whole profession through the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OncANP), we wanted to know what were the best interventions, what were people using. That really helped influence the interventions that are being chosen for this study. That's also being submitted for publication. Hopefully, we'll see those out in the literature in the next few months. Kaczor: Great. I'm going to switch gears just a little bit. You mentioned pharmacists and other doctors at these cancer centers. I guess one question to us out there, whether we're clinicians or we're in the research realm, is collaboration and creating those bridges that are required to really study integrative oncology. My question to you is, how to go about that? Maybe just let me know if, over the years, has it changed? It seems like it would be easier now than say 10 years ago, or even 15 years ago. Can you speak on that a little bit? Seely: Yeah. I think it has gotten easier. There's more of an openness to doing the evaluations and the studies. We're seeing more interest in research, I would say overall, into naturopathic and complementary approaches to care. There's still certainly resistance that exists. Academics and researchers are much more open to looking at these questions typically than clinicians may be. The interest is really in trying to figure out what works from a research perspective. I do believe it's getting more easy to collaborate in that way. Funding opportunities are not easy for sure. I think that, within the naturopathic community, we know that we have a lot of low-lying fruit from our own intervention palate that it should be researched. There's good reason for it, and there's a lot of [inaudible], and there's some early evidence of benefit. [inaudible] have not been researched adequately in many cases. In terms of building relationships and trying to engage with others, I found doing graduate work was really helpful. There's an automatic process that you engage with others. There's an expectation to be collaborative, and reaching out to people who are doing research at institutions to say, "You've got a good idea about an intervention that might have some effect." I think people are surprised when there's really a good openness for those questions. I think finding people in academic institutions that have a focus on research is a good place to start and to try to start a dialogue and a relationship really. Kaczor: Yeah. Let me ask you one last question. That is, if people are interested either in your area geographically or they want to look up the centers that are involved in the US/Canadian collaboration trial, where should they look for more information? Seely: Clinicaltrials.gov will list all the different sites that are involved in the trial. I think there's more information related to that probably on our website, OICC.ca. Yeah, clinicaltrials.gov will have the information related to that. Kaczor: Okay. Great. As far as getting funding, this is usually in collaboration. I mean, you have a research background and a masters degree and such, so your advice to clinicians who just have their clinical degree is to collaborate basically and find others who are of the same passion for whatever question is being asked and maybe try for grants in that direction? Is that correct? Seely: Yeah. I think trying to become part of a team, reaching out to different groups that are involved in research techniques through the colleges. They often have research departments and may have some information related to that. Talking to universities and people there. A really great place to start, I think, in terms of doing research too is publishing case reports. There's more of a drive for case reports in [inaudible]. That's something that is ... I know that the AANP is trying to support more case reports. I think that diving into that and writing up a case report that really clinically just gets someone steep into what the evidence is in the literature around the topic and leads to more investment. It's a more accessible entry point into research I would say. Kaczor: That's a great bit of advice. We, as clinicians, are always ... Everybody has a few cases that are extraordinary over the years, so that's a good bit of advice, especially within integrative oncology when extraordinary cases do happen. It would be great to document that and see if there's commonalities and create studies like yours around those treatments. That would be incredible. I really appreciate your work, your time with me today. I hope we get to talk again in the near future. Thanks, Dugald. Seely: Thanks so much, Dr. Kaczor. I totally appreciate the journal and what you're doing with it. Thanks for having me. Kaczor: Take care.
In this interview, Dugald Seely, ND, founder and executive director of the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre, describes the research projects presently underway at the center. He also describes the pragmatic research design that is presently helping to advance the field of integrative research and he discusses the future of integrative cancer research. Approximate listening time: 16 minutes About the Expert Dugald Seely ND, MSc, FABNO, leads the clinical practice and cancer research program for theOttowa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC). In addition to his clinical role as a naturopathic doctor he also serves as the director of research & clinical epidemiology at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, affiliate investigator for the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and board member for the Society for Integrative Oncology. Seely completed his Master of Science in cancer research at the University of Toronto and is a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO). As a clinician scientist, Dugald has been awarded competitive grant and trainee funding from CIHR, CBCRA, the SickKids Foundation, the Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation, the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, and the Gateway for Cancer Research Foundation.