Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar, a cancer researcher, talks about how her professional life collided with her personal life when her daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After a number of confusing symptoms, Gayatri followed her motherly instinct when she felt something wasn’t right with her daughter’s health. Dr. Gowrishankar talks about what her daughter remembers about her experience at the age of 9, the power of positivity for kids with cancer, and reaching out for support as a caregiver. She also talks about ways to better the experience for childhood cancer patients in India.
Visit the Manta Cares website & sign up for the access list for our digital platform coming soon!
1. The power of imaging for cancer early detection
2. How a personal cancer diagnosis motivates and inspires professional work in the cancer research lab
3. Following motherly instinct to push for a diagnosis for your child
4. Caring for yourself when you’re a cancer patient’s caregiver
About the guest:
Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar is a research scientist deeply invested in the business of diagnosing diseases. After being awarded a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Hannover, Germany, she moved to California to continue her postdoctoral studies in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University where she was introduced to the power of using molecular information to diagnose complex diseases like cancer. She stayed on at Stanford University as a Research Scientist under the mentorship of the late Professor Sanjiv Sam Gambhir who was a pioneer in the field of Molecular Imaging and laid the foundations for early detection programs in Oncology. At Stanford, her work focused around developing novel diagnostic imaging agents, particularly positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for Oncology and Infectious Diseases. She has co-authored numerous scientific publications and participated in several scientific conferences. She is now working in the External Partnerships/Scientific affairs division of Visby Medical, a growing start-up in Silicon Valley with a mission of bringing diagnostics to the patients.
Key Moments:
6 minutes: On the science behind and impact of PET scan imaging - Cancer cells are continuing to grow, proliferate and divide, so they need energy and consume a lot of glucose. So that’s why they take up this glucose tracer. Then the patients go through the PET scanner and the area where the glucose has been taken up just lights up. And it turns out, it’s an exquisitely sensitive modality, or imaging technique, because it's able to pinpoint very small masses of cells all over your body. It tells you where all the cancer has spread in a patient.
22 minutes: On the uncertainty before test results - I think all the mother’s listening in will identify because you know when there is something really wrong. You know when there’s a simple thing like a scrape and they just need a bandaid. But you know when something’s not right with your child.
41 minutes: On reaching out for emotional support as a caregiver - So I made use of that because I felt like I needed to talk to someone. And it was hard to talk to my husband because we were both so emotional, and we would just break down talking to each other. So I had to reach out for help.
Visit the Manta Cares website
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
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By Manta Cares
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Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar, a cancer researcher, talks about how her professional life collided with her personal life when her daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After a number of confusing symptoms, Gayatri followed her motherly instinct when she felt something wasn’t right with her daughter’s health. Dr. Gowrishankar talks about what her daughter remembers about her experience at the age of 9, the power of positivity for kids with cancer, and reaching out for support as a caregiver. She also talks about ways to better the experience for childhood cancer patients in India.
Visit the Manta Cares website & sign up for the access list for our digital platform coming soon!
1. The power of imaging for cancer early detection
2. How a personal cancer diagnosis motivates and inspires professional work in the cancer research lab
3. Following motherly instinct to push for a diagnosis for your child
4. Caring for yourself when you’re a cancer patient’s caregiver
About the guest:
Dr. Gayatri Gowrishankar is a research scientist deeply invested in the business of diagnosing diseases. After being awarded a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Hannover, Germany, she moved to California to continue her postdoctoral studies in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University where she was introduced to the power of using molecular information to diagnose complex diseases like cancer. She stayed on at Stanford University as a Research Scientist under the mentorship of the late Professor Sanjiv Sam Gambhir who was a pioneer in the field of Molecular Imaging and laid the foundations for early detection programs in Oncology. At Stanford, her work focused around developing novel diagnostic imaging agents, particularly positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for Oncology and Infectious Diseases. She has co-authored numerous scientific publications and participated in several scientific conferences. She is now working in the External Partnerships/Scientific affairs division of Visby Medical, a growing start-up in Silicon Valley with a mission of bringing diagnostics to the patients.
Key Moments:
6 minutes: On the science behind and impact of PET scan imaging - Cancer cells are continuing to grow, proliferate and divide, so they need energy and consume a lot of glucose. So that’s why they take up this glucose tracer. Then the patients go through the PET scanner and the area where the glucose has been taken up just lights up. And it turns out, it’s an exquisitely sensitive modality, or imaging technique, because it's able to pinpoint very small masses of cells all over your body. It tells you where all the cancer has spread in a patient.
22 minutes: On the uncertainty before test results - I think all the mother’s listening in will identify because you know when there is something really wrong. You know when there’s a simple thing like a scrape and they just need a bandaid. But you know when something’s not right with your child.
41 minutes: On reaching out for emotional support as a caregiver - So I made use of that because I felt like I needed to talk to someone. And it was hard to talk to my husband because we were both so emotional, and we would just break down talking to each other. So I had to reach out for help.
Visit the Manta Cares website
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
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