As a principal investigator of a biomedical research lab, Dr. Michelle Gumz, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor in Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Renal and Transplantation and Joint faculty of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) emphasizes the importance of networking for the career development of her students and postdoctoral trainees. This was an important part of her own training, and although
she never doubted the importance of the network for the advancement of her career, she never imagined how important that network would become in terms of its lifesaving potential for her own family.
In this article, Dr. Gumz describes a very personal journey through the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the women in her family – her mom, her sister, and herself. Dr. Gumz clearly delineates how as scientists, we can help our friends and family with researching the latest advances in cancer research and treatment that haven’t yet made their way into clinical practice guidelines. For the lay public, the difference between a Google search and a PubMed search may mean the difference between spiraling into a morass of misinformation on nonmedical and nonscientific websites versus accessing the most recent state-of-the-art findings at the forefront of medical research.
Read this moving article about how Dr. Gumz approached treatment decisions in the May 2018 issue of ASMBS Today.