Oregon Coast, 2007
Recall my sniveling complaints about having to take the CITI
exams, in my last entry? A faithful
reader told me to buck up, pull up my shorts, and get to work. Well, I am trying. However, at times it can be hard to read
essays on topics with names like these:
Basic Institutional Review Board
(IRB) Regulations and Review Process
Vulnerable Subjects: Research with
Pregnant Women, Fetuses and Neonates
Research and HIPPA Privacy Protections
Conducting Investigator -Initiated
Studies According to FDA Regulations and Good Clinical Practice
There are 17
such “Modules” in the course I am attempting, each followed by its own
exam. I must finish them all with a
combined grade of 80 or better (current status: 10 down, score 88). And then there is another entire course to
conquer. But at least the tuition is
negligible: free, in fact.
I foresee a need for strong coffee.
Now, all
this cannot be required just to verify that I am qualified to lick envelopes
and file things. I suspect that they
want to make darned sure that their volunteers are serious. Nobody would endure all this misery unless they were hot to help. And I am.
But I really
wanted to write about an article in the latest NCI Bulletin. It seems that the University of Pennsylvania
has received a gift of $25 million from the Basser family, in honor of Faith
Basser who died of ovarian cancer at age 44.
The money will help fund a new research facility, the Basser Research
Center for BRCA, that will concentrate on all aspects of the cancers that are
known to be influenced by mutations in the two BRCA genes. In other words they will pay attention to early detection, prevention, and
treatment, as well as performing basic research. The NCI article contains information of use to nearly
everybody – it turns out that the BRCA
genes influence a wide range of cancers, including several in men. You should all read it, but I know you won’t,
so I will list a web site where – with minimal effort and no biological
training whatsoever – you can learn important anti-cancerous things. Seriously: any of you women who suspect you
fall into any enhanced-risk category should take the time to read this
stuff. I can only do so much. So, Google NCI and find their web page, then
read:
BRCA1 and BRCA2: Cancer Risk and Genetic Testing
I don’t quite know why I nearly always write one of these blog things, “publish” it, then remember I had left something out – and so put it in a “Comment”. In a way this is a good thing, because it breaks up the “narrative” into smaller chunks, which you can read separately without getting bored. (But, speaking of “bored”, did I tell you about the CITI exam? Oh, yeah – I think I did.) Anyway.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it a wonderful thing that the Basser family had $25 million to donate to ovarian cancer research? I think so. I admire and respect them.
I had fun being a geologist all those years, but at times now I regret not having gone into cancer research instead. What I really should have done was stick with Chevron Oil, which I left long ago, and fought my way up the corporate ladder. If I had been ruthless enough and ground the face of the poor and downtrodden with the necessary unmerciful skill (I put this in to amuse my liberal brother-in-law), perhaps I too would have had many millions to donate to research. And then, in my retirement, I could STILL have taken the CITI exams and licked envelopes for the Rivkin Center. The only difference would be that I would arrive for work in a limo.
R
I guess I am the "liberal brother-in-law," so I suppose I should comment on the generous gift of the Basser family. Good for them!! I am glad to hear about generosity of this kind. (I do wonder sometimes how people make great fortunes, and whether their philanthropy later outweighs their earlier sins, but I'm willing to assume the best about the Bassers.) Alas, too many people - both the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy - aren't very generous. They don't make voluntary donations to the public good and they vote against candidates they think might force them to share their wealth. And thus some diseases and other tragic problems don't get fought as well as they might be.
ReplyDeleteThe web link to the NCI article mentioned in the main blog entry is:
ReplyDeletewww.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA
Why it does not light up in blue, enabling you to simply click and read, is a mystery to me.
You should look at it, anyway.
Goodonyah, Leonard:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wsj.com/articles/leonard-lauder-donates-10-million-to-hunter-colleges-nursing-school-1426727653
I wish I had $10 million to donate to ovarian cancer research. I’d give it to the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research.