The Research Evangelist

Meet Johnathan Whetstine, PhD.   Cancer cells that stop responding to treatment (drug resistance) are a common cause of cancer deaths. Researchers are trying to understand how to treat resistance, and/or prevent it in the quest for the next generation of cancer therapies that can save lives. One such researcher, Johnathan Whetstine, PhD and his team in the Whetstine Laboratory at the Mass General Center for Cancer Research is studying how cancer cells become drug-resistant. They recently uncovered a protein that generates specific DNA fragments containing genes that cause cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapy. This allows replicating cancer cells to grow and defend themselves against previously effective treatments. We all know how devious cancer cells are in trying to outsmart treatments. The Whetstine Laboratory’s discovery was the first of its kind, and provides a new way to understand how cancer cells change their DNA content and potentially acquire the a...

MEET JOHNATHAN WHETSTINE Me and Johnathan outside his lab in Charlestown, MA I had the privilege of interviewing Johnathan Whetstine , a cancer researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, at his laboratory to get his perspective on precision medicine. Johnathan’s field is cancer epigenetics. His lab investigates how the microenvionment around DNA controls gene expression while maintaining a stable genome. I thought he’d be the perfect person to give me historical context of precision medicine and what role basic scientific research plays in the process. “If you ask me as a basic scientist, the beauty of precision medicine is that you are starting to apply mechanistic knowledge in the context of how individuals will be diagnosed and treated.  By applying knowledge from laboratory settings, the medical community can make better decisions about what biomarkers to use as well as make predictions about the response,” said Johnathan.   He added, “By taking this a...

Have you ever met someone that just gives you a sense of confidence that anything is possible? I've met many researchers over the years and some of them just fill me with such hope that I feel that given the funding necessary to advance their ideas, a breakthrough would happen. I don't say this naively to suggest that it's just about money. Because I know that money doesn't solve all problems and in research there is no sure bet. But in medical research, often times good ideas stay in the minds of scientists due to lack of sufficient resources to do the experiments that could make huge advancements in understanding disease. And with some researchers you can just tell that they have ideas in their head that given the sufficient support there would be huge return. Researchers like Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch. I have recently come to know Rudolf Jaenisch , a Founding Member of Whitehead Institute at MIT and  National Medal of Science recipient. His lab caught my atten...

Let me tell you about one of the most passionate, committed cancer researchers I have ever met. I actually first met Johnathan Whetstine on Twitter, in January of 2016. He started following me and I started following him because we seemed to share and like similar content and points of view on Twitter. The common theme was the need to support basic cancer research. At the time I was working for the National Foundation for Cancer Research and my role was to raise money to support cancer research laboratories like Johnathan’s. After a series of exchanges during the spring on Twitter, he asked me if I was going to the Partners Healthcare World Medical Innovation Forum in Boston. I told him I was, and we planned to meet there. What I didn’t know until I got there, was that Johnathan was actually one of the presenters! Turns out he was to be onstage when they revealed the “ Disruptive Dozen .” The Disruptive Dozen was created to identify and rank the most disruptive technologies that Part...

I have often written about the need for adequate research funding and the challenge researchers have funding their labs. The cancer researchers that I met over the past 4 years consistently told me they spend up to 75% of their time fundraising - between writing grants to the National Institues of Health (NIH) , private foundations and public charities, and meeting with individual donors. Scientists like John Whetstine at Massachusetts General Hospital happily meet with people to talk about their research and John works a lot of hours writing grants. The more time he spends in his lab the less time he has to test new ideas. Another scientist, Dr. Wayne Marasco at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute laments the fact that he could be in the lab making discoveries were it not for the fact that he has to spend so much time writing grants. And in oncology, the chance of receiving an NIH grant is only 10%. Having now spent almost a year at FRAXA Research Foundation , I see that it is no diffe...

I love Boston.   And I’ve written about my cancer journey and being the #CancerResearchEvangelist. This week reminded me of what I love about the city and this region. It started last Saturday when I was invited to by Ian Frenette, the President of the Boston Cannons professional lacrosse team to attend a game at Harvard Stadium with my boys.   We had the privilege of watching the game as VIPs at the Optum Champions Club. What a first class experience, and great hospitality by the team, and the opportunity to meet team majority owner Rob Hale.   I’ve been working with Ian and his team on an important initiative through Play4TheCure , the fundraising platform of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) . NFCR and the Cannons are partnering on a new initiative to unite the lacrosse community with the medical and scientific communities in Boston to raise money and awareness about cancer research. We just announced the partnership today , part of the Cann...

Taking The Mystery Out Of Cancer Research When I started working at the National Foundation for Cancer Research, I was charged with educating our donors about the cancer research we were funding. To do that, I felt it would be helpful to meet the actual researchers personally, get to know them and their work, so that I could articulate this to our donors. What better way to take the mystery out of research by sharing their stories? I became known as the Cancer Research Evangelist because after getting to know many cancer researchers personally, and visiting their laboratories, I became an advocate for the need for funding to support their work. In my experience, many of the researchers I met were passionate and approachable. They had offices with pictures of their families, they loved their work, and they just came across as real people. However, not a lot of people I know have ever met a cancer researcher. I think it’s important that researchers and patients get to know eac...