Integrated Mathematical Oncology Personal Statement

Skipping through the corridors of the Chapel Hill laboratories at a young age, I peered through doors and windows mesmerized by researchers articulate and skillful completion of innovative experiments. Growing up my parents, who are professors in Cancer Center, exposed me to a background of thinking forward and observing intricate details. With this upbringing, I gained a curiosity in research and later leading to an interest in ecology of cancer.
This interest lead to an internship in the High School Internship Program in
Integrated Mathematical Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center. This internship provided me the experience of interacting and acquiring research skills and knowledge from faculty in the mathematical oncology department. As a person who is keen to pursue the medical career, I believe it is important to have a research background because it gives the critical thinking skills necessary to formulate decisions. This internship peaked my interest in pursuing a medical career in the future possibly specializing in oncology.

This uncontrolled growth of cancer led me to my summer project of treating Multiple Myeloma (MM) using Adaptive Therapy with online simulations with existent data. MM is an incurable plasma cell cancer. Usually, MM patients respond well to initial therapy. However, since there is no cure, evolutionary resistant phenotypes emerge causing tumor relapse. This relapse, if not treated, causes malignant cells to proliferate and metastasize. Adaptive Therapy is to moderate the evolutionary competition between chemoresistant and chemosensitive cells maintaining and moderating the tumor burden with various doses of chemotherapy and keep the chemoresistant population down into a quiescent state. This project was a gateway to peaking my interest in the field of