Kristin O'Leary: So, my grandmother had breast cancer when I was real little.
And I have a great uncle that's had a lot of different types of cancer
Carrigan Wasilchenko: My mother was actually diagnosed with cancer when I was eight.
And she underwent a hysterectomy in order to, you know, prevent it from spreading.
Trevor Farmer: I do have an uncle who recently passed away in May of 2015 of kidney cancer.
I was a senior in high school at that time, I was able to see the true, effect of the
situation from his time of diagnosis, through his treatment, until he passed away.
Nathan Vanderford: The Career Training in Oncology Program at the Markey Cancer Center
at the University of Kentucky is focused on some of Kentucky's greatest needs.
Kentucky is ranked first in the nation in overall cancer incidence and mortality rates,
and the greatest disparity of cancer is in the Appalachian region of our state.
Our goal really is ultimately to address the cancer disparities in the region, and we believe
that one of the strategies to do that is to train the next generation of health care providers,
cancer researchers, cancer education specialists who will have a desire to really impact their
home communities
Trevor Farmer: So I hope to apply to medical school this summer I've shadowed a lot of
Gynecologic Oncology cases.
So, I've been able to see the overlap of surgery and oncology and GynOc is one field where
they really come together.
My research primarily has recently focused on a tumor suppressor in colon cancer.
The name of it's called Erbin.
So what is Erbin's role in spreading of cancer - colon cancer - away from the colon to the
liver, to other parts of the body?
Kristin O'Leary: There's a lot of cancer disparities, and not a lot of knowledge about it.
I'm doing a survey that's looking at how the Appalachian people look at it, and not a lot
of people are as knowledgeable as I was hoping they would be.
I just want people to get a better understanding of what cancer is, so everyone can learn how
to fight it better.
I want to get my Ph.D., hopefully here in the IBS department.
And then after that I want to do research in the industry, hoping to do with cancer research.
In the lab right now, I'm looking at PRL3, which is a protein, and how it relates to
acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Because it's the most common cancer in children.
This program isn't just undergraduate research, it also involves a lot of different things
like volunteering and outreach with the community.
Like, right now, I am working on making a Mam's Day Out, which is offering free mammograms
to women in my community who don't have health insurance.
Carrigan Wasilchenko: I'm a Robinson Scholar, the Robinson Scholarship is really centered
towards Eastern Kentucky students, and Eastern Kentucky has extremely high like cancer incidence
and they have to drive all the way to Lexington, or all the way to Louisville, to get,
you know, proper treatment.
And so, I just thought it would be amazing if one day, I could be a part of like a project
to bring maybe a cancer treatment facility closer into like rural Eastern Kentucky.
I've been shadowing this radiation oncologist pretty frequently.
He's awesome.
I have learned a whole lot just from watching, because he is always sure to explain what's going on.
I think research is really appealing because this way you get new perspectives, and you
get to see what does work, what doesn't work, and then you can proceed from there and hopefully
make a difference.
Trevor Farmer: It's opened my mind to the burden of cancer.
Everybody always preaches that Appalachia has such a high cancer burden, and it does,
but once you are in the lab and you are seeing, and you are in the clinic and you are seeing
the actual burden on a physical level, instead of just hearing it, it really puts the picture
together in your mind that, hey, the state of Kentucky has a problem, but there are people
actively out there trying to combat that.
Carrigan Wasilchenko: This program has really made, just in the first semester that I've
been in it, it has made a really large impact upon my life.
I knew I wanted to go to medical school, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to specialize in
Oncology once I got there.
But seeing the real impact and the real implication that it has on people, it's what I want to do.
Nathan Vanderford: I think that students - current students in the program they're beginning
to have a deeper desire to help transform their communities in the long run.
To help better educate their family members and community members about how to reduce
their risk for cancer, and to better understand cancer.
Investing in our next generation of scientists and doctors, I think, will be really impactful
to the region, and I think it's something the community can really understand and
will be very excited to support.