What nanomedicine means to me...

I view nanomedicine as an incredibly useful tool to more easily diagnose, combat, and prevent many medical issues. As we move into the future, technology is becoming such an integral part of medicine both clinically and in research. As a student aspiring for medical school and beyond, nanomedicine is a topic that I will need to be well-versed in to most effectively aid my potential patients. In one sentence, nanomedicine is the future of medicine to me. 

How I believe nanomedicine has the potential to impact cancer treatment...

 I believe that nanomedicine has great potential to impact all areas of cancer treatment. Most notably though, I see nanotechnology as an incredibly useful tool for more effective cancer diagnosis utilizing smaller amounts of precious tissue samples. If there is a quicker way to diagnose cancer without having to wait for results from a biopsy, then patients could be able to get ahead of their cancerous disease. Additionally, I think better drug delivery and availability will be a major impact of nanomedicine. So much work is already being done in this area, and I am sure that we will begin to see more and more nanoparticle-based cancer drugs in the very near future. 

How I hope to make an impact...

In my short time with the CaNCURE program, I hope to make a positive impact on the nanomedicine world by helping to validate a new diagnosis/tumor response to therapy tool so that one day it can be used across the country and across all cancer types. In terms of my long term career, I am not sure how I hope to make an impact because the nanomedicine world changes so rapidly. The questions we have now may only be afterthoughts in 5-10 years, but I hope that one day I can look back on my career and say that I was part of the generation that helped to cure cancer.

CaNCURE is a Northeastern University and Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center

 partnership funded by the National Cancer Institute