Changing the shape of leukemia research and clinical care by TheoryLab published on 2020-01-24T19:09:00Z A physician-scientist and thought leader whose research has helped change the clinical care of leukemia patients, Kevin Shannon, MD, continues to shape the field. In this conversation, Dr. Shannon takes us through the challenges and hopes of leukemia research and describes what has him most excited about the state of cancer research. Kevin Shannon, MD, is Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, where he holds the Roma and Marvin Auerback Distinguished Professorship of Molecular Oncology. For his seminal research accomplishments, Dr. Shannon was named an American Cancer Society Research Professor. 2:09 – What are leukemias? 4:37 – What people should know about the state of leukemia research: “Leukemia has been one of the diseases where we’ve been able to apply the principle of understanding the underlying molecular basis of the disease to developing better treatments, and then implementing those treatments in the clinic.” 7:13 – How he decides which mutations in the DNA are the most important to study 9:53 – The difference between a DNA mutation and chromosomal abnormality, the problems they cause, and how they can even occur together 16:06 – What it means to say something is “druggable.” 18:36 – How leukemias become resistant to treatment 21:48 – How do you treat a disease that’s constantly changing? 25:12 – How his research provides insight into some of the broader questions in cancer research, beyond leukemia 27:56 – What excites him most about the state of cancer research today 32:19 – The impact of American Cancer Society funding on his career 36:35 – The outsize value of Institutional Research Grants, small pilot awards that the American Cancer Society awards to organizations such as the University of California at San Francisco 39:25 – His thoughts on the partnership between the American Cancer Society and St. Baldrick’s Foundation “to raise $11 million to fund the most innovative biological and clinical laboratory studies that have the greatest potential to quickly deliver new and improved treatments for kids with cancer.” (http://pressroom.cancer.org/StBaldricks2019) 42:26 – A message for cancer patients and caregivers Genre Science