22
FEATURES
The art and science of cancer care A popular Ampersand program is preparing the physicians of the future to understand the scientific and social aspects of cancer.
by
CHRIS WOOLSTON
As a PreHealth biology major, Mishka Narasimhan knows the finer details of cancer down to the molecule. Her familiarity with DNA, oncogenes, cancer cells, and antibodies will serve her well as she works to become an oncologist, but she’ll have to call on deeper, more personal insights to become a truly successful physician. Thanks to Hallmarks of Cancer and Patient Care — a two-year Ampersand program that explores the disease at every level — she feels up to the challenge. As part of the program’s inaugural cohort, Narasimhan spent the spring semester of 2022 getting to know a group of cancer survivors. Over Zoom, the students and survivors discussed their days, shared worries and accomplishments, and, in a highlight for all, made art. Anthony Smith, biology lecturer and coordinator of undergraduate research experiences, and Dinesh Thotala, now an associate professor of radiation oncology and director of cancer biology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, introduced Hallmarks of Cancer and Patient Care in 2020 to fill a pressing need. Over a third of all Arts & Sciences undergraduates have their sights on a career in the health field, said Smith, who was himself a PreHealth biology major at WashU before earning a doctorate in microbiology and immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Smith went on to discover a love for teaching as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota Medical School and returned to WashU as an assistant dean in Arts & Sciences. Whether new undergrads aspire to geriatrics, pediatrics, or any health field in between, an understanding of cancer will be a part of the job. “If students are eventually going into healthcare, they’re going to interact with cancer at some point along their journey,” Smith said. “We wanted to help them develop the skills to be successful.” Hallmarks adds to Arts & Sciences’ growing array of offerings for students interested in medicine, including a multi-semester MedPrep program and anthropology courses on global health and the environment.
