Explore every episode of the podcast Wisdom in Oncology

Andrew Hendifar, MD, is currently the Medical Director of Pancreatic Cancer at Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Hendifar received his medical degree from Tulane University and he did his residency in Internal Medicine at Los Angeles County, the USC Medical Center,  followed by a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology from the University of Southern California. At Cedars Sinai he also leads the Gastrointestinal Disease Research Group and is the Program Director of the Hematology and Oncology Fellowship Program. His research focuses on developing new therapies for pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine tumors. He is a member of the ASCO Society and North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• Oncology is really where the humanistic values of medicine collide with the scientific values.
• It's important that you have more than one role model because there's never gonna be one person that kind of encapsulates all that you want to be or all that you wanna accomplish.
• Being successful in research does not necessarily mean having a eureka moment but actually doing the work that it takes to bring a project to completion.
• It's very important for cancer physicians to take care of themselves spiritually and physically.
• One day, people are going to say, "thank God I have pancreas cancer" instead of saying, "I can't believe I have pancreas cancer." That's my goal.

Dr. Erminia Massarelli, MD is currently an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research; Section Chief of Thoracic Oncology, and Co-Director of Lung Cancer and Thoracic Oncology Program at City of Hope Medical Center. Dr. Massarelli received her medical degree and Ph.D in Molecular Oncology and Endocrinology from the University of Naples in Federico, Italy. She continued her postdoctoral training with dual Medical Oncology and Thoracic Head & Neck Medical Oncology fellowships at MD Anderson Cancer Center, a residency in Internal Medicine at the Methodist Hospital in Houston, and a clinical fellowship in Medical Endocrinology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her clinical interests include lung cancer and head and neck cancers, and her research focuses on mechanisms of resistance to EGFR targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer, and cell therapy. Dr. Massarelli is the recipient of several honors and awards including the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award. She has published over 55 peer reviewed articles, numerous abstracts, and three book chapters.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• The best recipe for success is to have a passion for science and discovery united with compassionate care for your patients.
• Being humble is a sign of high intelligence because you understand that there is so much more to discover.
• If you're very focused, try to understand early during your fellowship what career track you really want to be on.
• On the physician track, you want to be a physician to help people and eventually go into a community site.

Dr. Yuan Yuan, MD is an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology and
Therapeutics Research at the City of Hope National Medical Center. Dr. Yuan completed her Masters in Oncology at Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, China and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Riverside. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at New York University Downtown Hospital and her fellowship in Hematology/Oncology from New York University Medical Center under the direction of Dr. Franco Muggia, a giant in Medical Oncology. Dr. Yuan's clinical and research interests include breast cancer, triple negative breast cancer, immunotherapy, and adoptive cell therapy in breast cancer. Dr. Yuan is a member of ASCO and the American Society of Hematology.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• Find someone who's willing to invest time with you, to teach and mentor you. They may not be the most famous person in the field, but you want someone willing to spend time with you and talk you through the details.
• If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
• We all care as physicians, but are you willing to do extra for a patient? Because that really matters.
• Build a working relationship, build a team you will be collaborating with. It cannot be a one-person show.
• To approach a specific disease, we need researchers, a bio mathematician, data scientists, and all the lab people. Utilize what you have at the institution. Build your village around you.

Dr. James Allison, PhD is Regental Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, the Olga Keith Wiess Distinguished University Chair for Cancer Research, Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Research, and the Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has spent a distinguished career studying the regulation of T cell responses and developing strategies for cancer immunotherapy. He earned the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with Dr. Tasuku Honjo, "for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation." He studied at the University of Texas in Austin, and he received his PhD there in 1973. He worked at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California; University of Texas System Cancer Center, Smithville, Texas; University of California, Berkeley; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York; Weill Cornell Medicine, New York; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland. Since 2012 he has been a revered professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• Don't worry so much about whether you got it! Find something you love and just stick with it! Do the best you can! Learn something new!
• Be curious. Find what you love and do it. Don't let anything get in your way.
• I didn't start off trying to find a cancer treatment. I started off trying to understand T-cells.

Swaminathan Iyer, MD, is currently the Professor of the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at the Houston Methodist Academic Institute  and Weill Cornell Medicine. He completed his medical school from Bangalore Medical College, India and residency in Internal Medicine from Wayne State University, Michigan. He pursued a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology from Jackson Memorial Hospital, University of Miami, Florida. He is a nationally recognized leader in early drug development in hematologic malignancies. As the Section Chief of hematological malignancies and the Co-Director of the Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics, he has an active role in the development of cutting-edge, targeted phase 1 therapies. He has been awarded Clinical Care Excellence Award from HealthNetwork and Virginia and Ernest Cockrell Presidential Award from Houston Methodist Research Institute and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Society of Hematology.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• That doctor-patient relationship is the basic unit of everything, and it's the magic, it's the healing that happens that turns the entire billion dollar industry for that one patient.
• This is not a one-man job, it's a network, it's a chain of multiple institutions and you can contribute in small ways to the patient care.
• When a student is sincerely ready the teacher is there, but the quest for knowledge and the journey starts within you.
• Have intent to help the patient, have sincerity and do everything in your power to help the patient, have the open-mindedness and the humility to understand the other's point-of-view, and have an unshakeable ethic of hard work.
• There are situations where you have to be the friend, guide, priest, and everything else for the patient you care for.
• The human dimension that gets added to oncology is very important, because you are then able to put yourself in the shoes of people and the families that are going through these illnesses.
• Your teacher doesn't have to be a mentor, it could be in the patient, because patients have a lot of insights.
• That relationship with the patient is actually a spiritual experience where you share many things on a mental and spiritual plane.
• As a coach you have to realize you're not the one running the race, you're trying to help someone run the race.

Steven Rosen, MD, is the Provost and Chief Scientific Officer for the City of Hope. He is also the Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Beckman Research Institute and holds the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director's Distinguished Chair and the Morgan & Helen Chu Director's Chair of the Beckman Research Institute. Following his graduation with distinction from Northwestern University's Medical School's six-year honors program in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Rosen completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern and his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland. Prior to joining the City of Hope, Dr. Rosen was the Genevieve E. Teuton Professor of Medicine at Feinberg and Director of Cancer Programs at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He served for 25 years as Director of Northwestern's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Rosen has published more than 400 original reports, editorials, books, and book chapters. His research has been funded by the NCI, American Cancer Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Recognized as one of the best doctors in America, Dr. Rosen is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Man of Distinction Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund. He is also a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Society.

Pearls of Wisdom:

• "If you're going to take on the responsibility of caring for an individual who's dealing with a very serious illness; you should feel obligated to have open dialogue with them whenever they need to."
• In large part what makes people successful is the curiosity, healthy ambition and a drive to try and achieve something meaningful."
• "Enjoy everything you're doing and relish the experiences you have. Try and connect with the people you're dealing with and just be genuinely caring."
• "I think more about the journey and the constant contributions and being very proud of the people I trained."
• "We don't think of borders, we think of diseases that affect everybody and we want to make an impact."
• "Empathy means that you're willing to listen carefully to what your patient and their family needs are, that you don't put yourself above them."
• "I'm not a structured mentor in the sense that I say, "you have to do this and that." I'm much more involved in a dialogue about "this is what I think is exciting, what do you think?"
• "I also connect my mentees with other experts in the field, who may be much more knowledgeable about an issue than I am."

Today's guest is Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, one of the most influential breast cancer researchers in the world. Dr. Chlebowski is a clinical breast oncologist with a Ph.D. in reproductive biology, he has a credentialed clinical and research interest in breast cancer therapy and prevention, menopausal hormone therapy influences on cancer and chronic disease, and lifestyle influences on breast cancer incidence and outcome. He is best known for studying breast cancer issues in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). He has published widely and led reports in well-cited journals such as JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and JAMA Oncology.

On this episode of Wisdom in Oncology, Dr. Chlebowski tells us how to become a high impact researcher. Dr. Chlebowski emphasizes the product, guiding us to the proper focus for achieving research excellence. Dr. Chlebowski also shares his advice for finding an appropriate mentor, choosing the right focus for research, and working with diligence.

Talking points:

• Finding what differentiates you from others in your field
• Learning how research is product-oriented 
• Taking advantage of opportunities 
• Proving that you can deliver quality products 
• Students seeking mentors must prove their value 
• Conducting research in a rapidly changing technological world 
• "Nobody has changed the world working 40 hours a week" 
• Consider the time and effort required to conduct high-impact research

The guest of this episode is Heather Wakelee, M.D., a leading specialist in the treatment of lung cancer, thymoma and mesothelioma. Dr. Wakelee has been in practice for nearly two decades at Stanford University, and is currently a fellow of ASCO. She is the physician lead for the thoracic malignancies clinical research group and has developed research programs related to lung cancer and thymoma across multiple areas including clinical trials, translational work, and population sciences. Dr. Wakelee is the Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials, and is the faculty director of the Stanford Cancer Clinical Trials office, as well as the Lead Investigator for ECOG-ACRIN clinical trials group at Stanford. It is a true privilege to receive Dr. Wakelee's insights. 

In this interview, Dr. Wakelee underscores patient-centric care that honors the humanity of the patient; discusses the importance of self-care; notes collaboration and teamwork as essential for true success; and offers encouragement for residents in building their research careers from the ground floor up.

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Wisdom in Oncology with Dr. Wakelee. Enjoy!

Talking points:

• Stay focused on the patient, and always remember the patient is a person 
• Be kind 
• Take care of yourself—know when and how to "refresh" 
• Take pleasure in the meaning of medicine, which is to help people
• Dr. Wakelee's strength in feeling the sadness of her work, but not being overwhelmed by it 
• Collaboration and inclusivity are keys to success 
• Being re-energized through conferences and supportive time with colleagues 
• Success comes from hard work and ownership
• Leaders are team-centric 
• Residents have to build up their CVs for research

Dr. Nekhlyudov is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Clinical Director of Internal Medicine at David B. Perini Jr. Quality of Life Clinic, and an Internist at Longwood, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Nekhlyudov is renowned for her extensive clinical and research expertise in cancer survivorship, and overall is a stalwart source of wisdom in medicine. 

We are grateful to have Dr. Nekhlyudov share her motivating messages on persistence, self-knowledge, and skillful discernment in receiving guidance from mentors and other colleagues. Though this segment is brief, Dr. Nekhlyudov packs a powerful and concise message that can benefit the listener.

Thank you for joining us in receiving this inspiration from Dr. Nekhlyudov.

Talking points:

• Persistence is a key to success: Don't be deterred by rejection! 
• Be true to yourself 
• "Just press on and continue pushing along" 
• Know yourself and don't worry about those who don't understand your work 
• Have discernment for when to listen and when to persist