Bibliosphere

Presidential Proclamation: National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, 2013 Every September, America renews our commitment to curing childhood cancer and offers our support to the brave young people who are fighting this disease. Thousands are diagnosed with pediatric cancer each year, and it remains the leading cause of death by disease for American children under 15. For those children and their families, and in memory of every young person lost to cancer, we unite behind improved treatment, advanced research, and brighter futures for young people everywhere. Over the past few decades, we have made great strides in the fight against pediatric cancer. Thanks to significant advances in treatment over the last 30 years, the combined 5-year survival rate for children with cancer increased by more than 20 percentage points. Today, a substantial proportion of children diagnosed with cancer can anticipate a time when their illness will be in long-ter m remission or cured altogether. My A...

Hello everybody!       Another semester has started here at the University of Utah, with all the fun and work college brings.  I'm delving into richer bioengineering coursework, including a physiology course with a focus on neural engineering.  I'm continuing with my involvement in SWE, working to bring STEM education to girls and women.        I also got a grant to work on a research project in the lab I worked in during the spring.  I will be studying a latent form of antithrombin that is proposed to have anti-angiogenic properties.  These properties could be exploited to treat many diseases, including tumors, which would definitely be a good thing!  I'll write a post specifically about my research a little later this month, which brings me to by next point:       As you all know (or at least I hope you do), September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month.  As I did last year, I will be 'celebrating' by r...

   Today Elora celebrates her 15th birthday. But she celebrates without her twin, Ariel, who passed away in December.  Ariel was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in October 2007, just as my brother was finishing up treatment.  She relapsed multiple times, fighting metastasizes in her spine and brain, and battled fiercely.  Cancer took her before her time, leaving her twin without her.     Ariel is just one of the many warriors who inspires me to fight against cancer.  Today, think of all the birthdays that were never celebrated because of childhood cancer.

Check out the video I've made for the Rhabdo Warriors Curesearch Team!