When Pratik Samant was in secondary school, he had two great loves: physics and medicine, in that order. It seemed to him at the time, that these were polar opposites. When Pratik chose to study physics, that meant leaving medicine behind, of course, they\u2019re different fields! That was 6 years ago, Pratik now reflects that would surprise his younger self to learn that in 2020, he would work in a hospital.
On the 11th of February 2020, we celebrate the fifth International Day of Women and Girls in Science as recognised and implemented by the United Nations General Assembly. This day aims to raise awareness of the biases and gender stereotypes that deter women and girls from STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related fields, as well as promote equal access to and participation in STEM education and professions for girls and women.\r\nI reached out to fellow students in the Department of Oncology for their views on women and girls in STEM and for them to spotlight a woman in science who has influenced them.
On 8 November, OCTO Trial Management Director Sarah Pearson and Trial Manager Naomi McGregor joined children from Dr South\u2019s primary school to explore some aspects of the work carried out by the Oncology department during the school\u2019s science week earlier this month.
The bacteria that inhabit our gut \u2013 the gut microbiome - could have profound impact on our health. The species that live in our guts influence the development of neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer disease, Parkinson\u2019s disease), epilepsy, autoimmune disease, and cancer.4 They may also be helping shape whether our treatments work.
When people don\u2019t know they\u2019ve supported your work, how do you say \u2018Thank you!\u2019? \r\nObviously, you can hold a celebration event. Publicise widely, invite people in. Sweeten the offer with nibbles?
In my spare time, I work for the RAF Air Cadets as a volunteer instructor. It\u2019s challenging, rewarding and fun, but it\u2019s not often that the light blue of the RAF is seen on the Old Road Campus.
Engaging people with our science is a job for all. We have some amazing people in Oncology and some of them are not afraid to get out of their comfort zone. In this blog, Roxy Peerless, from our finance group, shows once again that public engagement is not just for scientists.
On Wednesday the 3rd of April 2019, myself and 30 other students, from Sir William Borlase\u2019s Grammar School, attended the Oxford University Oncology Open Day at the Cancer Research Centre, Oxford.
How do we attract tomorrow\u2019s brightest research students?\r\nStep 1: Make sure they know we exist. We don\u2019t teach undergraduates; you can\u2019t study oncology at A\u2019 level. We need to give them a chance to explore how physics can cure cancer. How biology leads us to a better understanding of cancer, and how chemistry helps us design imaging agents that will guide therapy choices.
When Roald Dahl\u2019s beloved children\u2019s book character Charlie Bucket buys a Wonka bar and finds the final golden ticket, he starts his now famous journey of discovery at Willy Wonka\u2019s chocolate factory. Charlie, like most children, loves chocolate and his visit to the factory not only indulges his passion but also inspires deep scientific curiosity. In the end, the boy\u2019s humility and desire for discovery convinces Wonka to name Charlie as his successor.
The cure for cancer, often hailed as the holy grail of medical research; something everyone is searching for and no one is finding, doesn\u2019t actually exist.
Galileo is said to have muttered \u2018E pur, si muove!\u2019 \u2013 \u2018And yet, it moves\u2019 as he left the courtroom in which he had been forced to concede that the sun moved round a fixed earth. Today, these words could be used to under-pin the value of MR-Linacs in radiotherapy.
Readers will remember the blog from Timo Reislander, who wrote about his time spent with the FROG group; in this guest blog we hear from Jean, Co-ordinator of the FROG
How would you react if I told you I could calculate your age if I took a sample of your blood? I wouldn\u2019t be lying! Every day our cells are exposed to damaging agents that can cause harmful changes which accumulate over time and lead to ageing related diseases such as cancer. Quantifying these changes has allowed scientists to develop models that calculate a person\u2019s biological age, a measure of the \u201cwell-being\u201d of their cells.
I was a Final Year medical student when David Weatherall was appointed Professor of Haematology in Liverpool University in 1973. He was an outstanding Lecturer, extremely popular with the students and helped to make Haematology an exciting and popular subject.
Researchers James Allison and Tasuku Honjo have won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for their pioneering work on cancer immunotherapy.\r\nHailed as a revolution in the treatment of cancer, immunotherapy works by boosting the body\u2019s natural defences against cancer. The immune system has an innate ability to seek out and destroy cancer cells. However, cancer cells can develop cunning ways to avoid this surveillance system.
In October 1843 Ada Lovelace published a set of notes which included a description of an algorithm to compute Bernoulli numbers on Charles Babbage\u2019s analytical engine. Ada Lovelace Day in early October celebrates the achievements of women in science. It also marked the start of Sylvana Hassanieh\u2019s journey towards her PhD at the Department of Oncology, University of Oxford.
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