The Daily Wildcat • 7
News • January 20-21, 2016
UA looks at Obama’s cancer hopes BY Amanda Oien
The Daily Wildcat
In President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address on Jan. 12, Obama called for an initiative for the U.S. to cure cancer. “For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all,” he said. Dr. Andrew Kraft, director of the UA Cancer Center, manages all major scientific, clinical and administrative elements at the center and has been director since September 2014. There are currently 45 comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute, and the Cancer Center is the only one of its kind in Arizona. “Cancer research is a little like a car going down a hill. It continues to pick up speed the more we learn. The more we learn, the more novel things we can do,” Kraft said. “Part of it is clearly technology driven so we’re able to, for example, sequence the whole human genome in a matter of days.” Although there are many aspects to cancer research that are demanding, Kraft said the most challenging one is funding. “Any basic or translational research takes outstanding funding and in the present State of the Union, [Obama] talked about committing himself to curing cancer,” Kraft said. “That was first began by Richard Nixon with the ‘War on Cancer’ and we’ve continued, but clearly we continue to need additional funding to make that promise a reality.” The Cancer Center tackles fundraising in
Cherie Cole/The Daily Wildcat
Andrew Kraft, director of the UA Cancer Center, sits in his office in the Arizona Cancer Center on Friday, Jan. 15. Kraft has been involved with planning a run to raise money for cancer research.
several different ways including donations from prominent members of the community who want to support cancer research and events that involve the community. “People have to be motivated to see the cure for cancer and that’s everyone, it’s not only the federal and state governments, but it’s you and I,” Kraft said. Kraft explained that cancer can be treated with local therapy, which can be surgery or radiation. “We are curing many patients up front, so early diagnosis is very important,” Kraft said. “Many times, the smaller the cancer, the easier it is to cure with local means.”
Kraft also said the prevention of cancer is just as important. Advances have been made to prevent cancers from reoccurring by using different therapy methods including chemotherapy and antibodies. Gavin Young, a UA graduate student seeking a master’s degree in electrical engineering, spent four years working at the Cancer Center as a laboratory technician conducting research on mostly lung and colon cancer. “The overarching goal that [Obama] threw out there, I think was quite optimistic to say that we’re going to cure all of cancer,” Young said. “It’s not too much to say that it is probably one of the hardest medical endeavors we have ever
undertaken as a society.” Young said it would have been better for Obama to have made curing a specific cancer, such as colon cancer, his goal rather than all cancers. Young says this is an extremely large and broad umbrella. “When you say, ‘let’s cure all cancers’ as an overarching umbrella term, there are so many different kinds of cancers for different organs, but also different tissues within the organ and then when you’re talking about the different tissues, there’s different kinds of cancers within those tissues,” Young said. “So it’s a huge variety of different cancers that can occur and each one has its own pathologies as well as its own specific treatments.” Young said that during his time at the Cancer Center, he enjoyed the tight-knit community and surprise results the most. “When you run a test and expect to get answer A and you end up getting the opposite of A, that’s really exciting,” Young said. “And more often than not, it leads you down a bigger path in your research than what you originally sought out to show.” Kraft said the future for cancer research looks very bright. “We are learning new things every day,” Kraft said. “We are discovering a lot of genetic causes of cancer, as well as environmental causes and learning much more about potential public health hazards leading to cancer.” — Follow Amanda Oien @amanda_oien
Two-time UA grad promoted by U.S. president President Obama appointed the UA dotoral candidate into a position with a national committee BY Devon Walo
was trying to get in touch with Lowe to discuss a position that Obama wanted to extend to her. President Barack Obama “My first thought was that has appointed two-time this was a scam,” Lowe said. “I UA graduate and doctoral searched the phone number on candidate Shelly Lowe to Google to see if it was real.” the National Council on Upon realizing the reality of the Humanities, which her new position, Lowe said advises the chair of the that she was very excited for this National Endowment for opportunity. Lowe is looking the Humanities. Founded in forward to her new role and Courtesy of Shelly Lowe 1965, NEH is an independent said the UA did a very good job federal agency that is preparing her for it. considered one of the largest Lowe completed her funders of humanities programs in the bachelor’s degree in sociology with a U.S. minor in American Indian studies at the Lowe is currently the executive director UA in 1997. She returned for her master’s of the Harvard University Native American degree in American Indian studies and Program. Lowe explained that she missed graduated in 2005. a phone call and received a voicemail to Because of her academic achievements her office phone from a woman at the in high school, Lowe was awarded the White House. Flinn Scholarship to the UA. The voicemail explained the woman Flinn scholars are assigned a faculty The Daily Wildcat
member as a mentor who remains with them throughout their college career. Lowe described this experience as something that helped improve her leadership skills and her ability to understand how to achieve goals and help fix the issues of the state. Two others, Francine Berman and Patricia Limerick, were also appointed to the council. Berman is a Hamilton distinguished professor in computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Limerick is the faculty director and chair of the board of the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado, according to a press release by the NEH. In the press release, chairman of the NEH William Adams said that the newly appointed women will be able to better the world of humanities. “Francine Berman, Patricia Limerick and Shelly Lowe are distinguished, prominent leaders in their respective
fields of study and I look forward to their insights and contributions,” Adams said. “Their expertise will help NEH strengthen and promote excellence in the humanities for all Americans.” Dean of the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, John Paul Jones III, said that although Lowe graduated before he became dean, it is clear that she had an accomplished career. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the UA in higher education. “This honor reflects well on the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well as the UA, to be sure,” Jones said. “But it mostly reflects the intelligence, hard work and dedication of Shelly herself.”
— Follow Devon Walo @DwaloWalo