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Got questions about cancer?

samuel-zeller-113381-unsplashOkay, this week's post is going to be a bit different than usual.

My name is Elise Bailey, I work for VLCM Foundation. If you've read an email, blog article, or social media post from us in the last few years, I wrote it. If you've ever contacted VLCM Foundation, you probably talked to me.

If there's one thing I've learned working here over the last few years, it's that people in this community we've built around funding research at Huntsman Cancer Institute really care about the science done there. It's not just about a great day of golf with coworkers or friends. We've had the pleasure of bringing a researcher from HCI to you at the golf tournament for the least two years, and hearing how much people enjoyed that. We've also been lucky enough to take some of our donors to HCI and show them how it all happens. I have been floored (although I probably shouldn't have been) at the amazing questions that have been asked of scientists during those tours. And we know that people in general have questions about cancer. It's complicated and confusing. We have an entire series of articles answering the questions people frequently Google about cancer.

In light of that, I'd like to give you the opportunity to ask any question you'd like about cancer, cancer research, and Huntsman Cancer Institute. I'll chase the answers down for you. 

I love science too. I spend part of my day raising money for cancer research at VLCM Foundation, and part of my day at the University of Utah. I hold a bachelor of science in Exercise in Sports Sciences from the University of Utah's College of Health. That degree was essentially a five year dive into how the body works while it's moving--from the level of muscles and organs all the way down to the world of molecules and chemical reactions. In fact, at one point I planned to attend medical school and completed all the hard science courses they want students to take before doing that: biology, genetics, anatomy, physics, 2.5 years of chemistry, the list goes on. Right now, I'm studying health policy and health care systems in graduate school at the University of Utah's School of Medicine, and I plan to graduate in 2023 with both a Masters and a PhD. All this to say that I'm positively itching to answer your questions. And if I don't know, I'll ask scientists at HCI. 

There's no need to worry about whether your question is too simple or "dumb", I don't believe in those things. Some of my favorite science questions have come from toddlers: "Why is water slippery?" or "How many cups of sugar would it take to get to the moon?" I'm pretty much game for any question you've got on the subject, and I look forward to finding answers for them.

Be a part of this by sending me your questions about cancer and cancer research.

 

Science

 

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