TrailblAZers in Oncology:
Life-changing directions

Individual experiences often drive professional purpose

"Inch by inch, life is a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard."

Growing up, this was one of my mom’s favourite sayings. She said it often when I was overwhelmed or panicked about the future. 当时我可能会翻白眼，但在我失去她很久之后，这句话一直伴随着我. To me, the saying is about resilience and holding on. 它帮助我度过了因癌症失去她和我哥哥的悲伤.

I still rely on it today. 作为药物发现团队的一员，我在澳门葡京网赌游戏的工作是帮助开发澳门葡京赌博游戏的产品组合，以发现新的化合物, 让它们通过发现过程，并希望将它们转化为肿瘤药物，有一天可以为患者带来改变. But having lost two of the closest people in the world to me to cancer, I know that setbacks can often feel personal. “Inch by inch …” – I can hear my mom remind me in those moments. 

Inspired early on

Growing up, I was always the kid who loved science. At 14, 我的英语老师给澳门葡京赌博游戏布置了一项作业，要求澳门葡京赌博游戏概述发表在期刊上需要哪些证书和发现. My pick was a biochemistry journal and from that day forward, 我下定决心要获得博士学位，并在那本杂志上发表文章, ideally studying cancer cell biology. When I lost my mother, and then my brother to cancer, 这种职业抱负变成了一种个人使命，即更直接地参与影响患者的治疗结果.

我刚开始在美国国家癌症研究所(NCI)担任科学家不久，我的母亲就被诊断出患有弥漫性大b细胞淋巴瘤——这正是我刚到美国国家癌症研究所做博士后时研究的疾病. I worked to find a clinical trial that my mother was eligible for, 鉴于我对这种疾病的第一手了解，我对此很有信心. I had seen patients through that day-to-day journey – the hope, the disappointment, the challenges of chemotherapy and other treatments, and unfortunately too often, the grief of realising nothing more could be done. And I then lived through it with my mother. A few years later, my brother was diagnosed with colon cancer, and I found myself beside him on that difficult journey once more.

A personal perspective

这些经历极大地改变了我的职业和个人重心. 我在幻灯片上看到的图片和形象现在在我最爱的人身上活了下来. 这让我非常清楚地意识到，澳门葡京赌博游戏的研究不仅仅是图表上的数据点, but people’s family members, their loved ones – and I wanted to fight even harder for them.

这就是我来到澳门葡京网赌游戏工作的原因，在这个职位上，我能够帮助需要更多更好治疗方案的癌症患者.

In my 13 years at the Company, 我身兼数职，不断激发着我学习和成长的热情. 我几乎参与了药物开发过程的每一个阶段从早期发现到临床应用.

我强烈主张研究人员找到一种与人合作的方式, whether it be an institution, doctor or friend, and truly understand the nuances of the patient journey, if they are lucky enough to not be personally impacted by cancer. 更多的人需要了解病人的经历，因为最终, patients are why we do what we do and who we do it for.

One step back, two steps forward

多年来，我把妈妈最喜欢的那句话变成了我自己的口头禅:“Focus. Finish. Next.“通过把事情分解成小的、容易处理的部分，你可以解决任何问题. 科学是复杂的，就像生活一样，很容易被挫折或障碍分散注意力.

我用我和家人的经历来激励我，以确保其他病人和他们的亲人有一天不必遭受和我一样的痛苦. 看到临床试验的结果，知道澳门葡京赌博游戏正在做出改变，这是一种难以置信的满足感. Even if it couldn’t be my family, it is someone's family. And that matters to me.

This is the scientific journey. The success we see today is built on learnings from the past. As scientists, we learn from every failure so we can do better. 澳门葡京赌博游戏最近在澳门葡京网赌游戏的抗体药物偶联物(ADC)组合方面取得的进展也不例外. 澳门葡京赌博游戏特别关注这个领域，因为不像传统的化疗, which can damage healthy cells, adc是一种靶向药物，可以将化疗药物输送到癌细胞中, which can make an impact for patients.¹

With ADCs, 我相信，多年来澳门葡京赌博游戏在癌症研究和护理方面取得的进展，真的开始累积到一定程度，这些药物可能会取代攻击身体每一个细胞的传统化疗方法, 创造新的治疗标准，更有针对性，副作用更少. Through our robust ADC clinical development programme, 澳门葡京赌博游戏已经能够利用这些经验来扩大澳门葡京赌博游戏的内部研究和发现，为更多的患者开发更有针对性的治疗方案. 澳门葡京赌博游戏也在研究放射缀合物，以类似的方式，可能取代放射治疗. 这是一个激动人心的时刻，参与肿瘤学，看着正在采取的步骤，积极影响更多的病人.

Working in science is difficult. There will be disappointments. 你需要从更深层次的原因或理解中建立起的韧性和毅力，以牢记药物发现的长期目标. 一旦你确定了驱动你的是什么，并利用它来专注于下一个解决方案, that’s when breakthroughs are made. And one day – there is going to be that molecule, that compound, that trial – that you can help move forward, making a real difference for real patients.

Elaine’s story is part of our ongoing series: TrailblAZers in Oncology, 澳门葡京网赌游戏肿瘤团队的同事正在产生影响, both personally and professionally.

Reference

1.  Peters C et al. Antibody-drug conjugates as novel anti-cancer chemotherapeutics. Biosci Rep. 2015;35(4):e00225. Published 2015 Jul 14. Available at: http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26182432/. 

Veeva ID: Z4-54020
Date of preparation: April 2023