TheoryLab

What do we know about how tobacco use affects risk and outcomes for coronavirus patients? Jeff Drope, PhD—the American Cancer Society’s Scientific Vice President of Economic and Health Policy Research—explains what we know, what we don’t know, and what we recommend. (2:10)

Then Dr. Drope takes us through a fascinating look at how tobacco farming impacts the developing world. How is global tobacco farming changing? What is daily life like for the tobacco growers in developing countries? How does the tobacco industry incentivize farmers and governments, and what other options do the latter have? (9:25)

Finally, Alex Liber (Senior Scientist on the Society’s Economic and Health Policy Research team) joins us to describe his new paper showing that JUUL sales recovered within weeks following a dip after the company withdrew some flavored products from stores, eventually surpassing sales from before the change as consumption shifted to the menthol/mint and tobacco flavors that remained on shelves. (41:12)

How do vaccines work? What are the challenges and opportunities around developing vaccines against cancers not caused by viruses, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer? How can we harness all of our technology and understanding to create a vaccine for COVID-19?

Nora Disis, MD, has made truly seminal contributions to our understanding of vaccines for cancer, and she helped us understand what needs to happen for effective cancer and COVID-19 vaccines to be developed.

Dr. Disis is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean at the University of Washington, and she’s an American Cancer Society Research Professor.

5:18 – On how she is holding up and how she and other researchers are helping out their clinical colleagues

6:37 – How her research has been impacted by the pandemic

8:55 – “We have a lot of projects and we’ve been going at breakneck speed, generating data and generating data…sometimes it’s good to slow down and think about your data rather than jumping on to your next experiment.”

11:45 – How does a vaccine against, for example, the measles work?

16:42 – How vaccines against cancer are different and what challenges are involved in this space

20:18 – The biggest question when developing a vaccine against common cancers not caused by viruses

25:01 – Are there some cancers that are better candidates for a vaccine?

29:30 – On where her team is in the colorectal cancer vaccine space

36:11 – What needs to happen for an effective COVID-19 vaccine to be developed?

42:14 – The impact of ACS funding on her research

45:42 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

How do vaccines work? What are the challenges and opportunities around developing vaccines against cancers not caused by viruses, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer? How can we harness all of our technology and understanding to create a vaccine for COVID-19?

Nora Disis, MD, has made truly seminal contributions to our understanding of vaccines for cancer, and she helped us understand what needs to happen for effective cancer and COVID-19 vaccines to be developed.

Dr. Disis is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean at the University of Washington, and she’s an American Cancer Society Research Professor.

5:18 – On how she is holding up and how she and other researchers are helping out their clinical colleagues

6:37 – How her research has been impacted by the pandemic

8:55 – “We have a lot of projects and we’ve been going at breakneck speed, generating data and generating data…sometimes it’s good to slow down and think about your data rather than jumping on to your next experiment.”

11:45 – How does a vaccine against, for example, the measles work?

16:42 – How vaccines against cancer are different and what challenges are involved in this space

20:18 – The biggest question when developing a vaccine against common cancers not caused by viruses

25:01 – Are there some cancers that are better candidates for a vaccine?

29:30 – On where her team is in the colorectal cancer vaccine space

36:11 – What needs to happen for an effective COVID-19 vaccine to be developed?

42:14 – The impact of ACS funding on her research

45:42 – A message she’d like to share with cancer patients and caregivers

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld on the COVID-19 epidemic's effect on cancer research and treatment moving forward.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld on the COVID-19 epidemic's effect on cancer research and treatment moving forward.

How is cancer research being affected by COVID-19? Susanna Greer, PhD—Scientific Director, Clinical Cancer Research and Immunology, at the American Cancer Society—describes conversations she’s had with ACS grantees across the country about how the pandemic has affected their research and their labs.

Then we were joined (11:16) by Anthony Leung, PhD, an American Cancer Society grantee and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Leung’s research focuses on how gene regulation impacts diseases such as cancer and virus infection. His work has never been so timely, and in this conversation he helps us understand why RNA is so important, what can happen when RNA regulation goes wrong, and how a deeper understanding of RNA could be critical to fighting cancer and COVID-19.

For information and resources about cancer and COVID-19, please visit cancer.org/coronavirus.

11:16 – How the research community has been impacted

15:07 – How the members of his research lab are supporting each other

18:35 – What is RNA? A really helpful analogy to help us understand why it’s so important.

21:18 – How a deeper understanding of RNA is so important to developing treatments against cancer and COVID-19

26:14 – How RNA regulation changes in stressed cells. One thing that cancer cells and cells infected by a virus such as COVID-19 have in common is that they are stressed.

29:30 – A particularly important way that protein is modified, and what that matters in cancer and COVID-19

31:58 –PARP inhibitors are currently approved by the FDA to treat multiple cancers. How do these drugs work? In which cancer types are they used?

35:30 – How the protein modification that his lab studies is important, not just in cancer, but also in coronavirus infection.

40:31 – A message he’d like to share with cancer survivors

Photo credit: Harry Giglio/Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health

Also pictured: Judy Ochs

How is cancer research being affected by COVID-19? Susanna Greer, PhD—Scientific Director, Clinical Cancer Research and Immunology, at the American Cancer Society—describes conversations she’s had with ACS grantees across the country about how the pandemic has affected their research and their labs.

Then we were joined (11:16) by Anthony Leung, PhD, an American Cancer Society grantee and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Leung’s research focuses on how gene regulation impacts diseases such as cancer and virus infection. His work has never been so timely, and in this conversation he helps us understand why RNA is so important, what can happen when RNA regulation goes wrong, and how a deeper understanding of RNA could be critical to fighting cancer and COVID-19.

For information and resources about cancer and COVID-19, please visit cancer.org/coronavirus.

11:16 – How the research community has been impacted

15:07 – How the members of his research lab are supporting each other

18:35 – What is RNA? A really helpful analogy to help us understand why it’s so important.

21:18 – How a deeper understanding of RNA is so important to developing treatments against cancer and COVID-19

26:14 – How RNA regulation changes in stressed cells. One thing that cancer cells and cells infected by a virus such as COVID-19 have in common is that they are stressed.

29:30 – A particularly important way that protein is modified, and what that matters in cancer and COVID-19

31:58 –PARP inhibitors are currently approved by the FDA to treat multiple cancers. How do these drugs work? In which cancer types are they used?

35:30 – How the protein modification that his lab studies is important, not just in cancer, but also in coronavirus infection.

40:31 – A message he’d like to share with cancer survivors

Photo credit: Harry Giglio/Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health

Also pictured: Judy Ochs

The American Cancer Society's acting COO, Kris Kim, describes how ACS is continuing to help cancer patients and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also announced a new initiative: The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge COVID-19 Response Fund.

This fund will help the Society use Hope Lodges to provide health care workers (such as doctors, nurses, and first responders) with rest, comfort, and care during the pandemic.

Visit http://cancer.org/coronavirus for more details.

3:21 – What it’s like living in New York City right now

6:36 – Ways she has seen the spirit of the American Cancer Society coming through during the pandemic

9:33 – The American Cancer Society’s COVID-19 Response Hope Lodge Emergency Operations Fund

12:29 – Why Hope Lodges are so important to cancer patients and caregivers, and why the risk of coronavirus entering Hope Lodges led ACS to make difficult decisions

17:54 – How ACS has been impacted by COVID-19, and how ACS is getting creative to confront some of these challenges

20:51 – How the ACS Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) has engaged during the pandemic to protect vulnerable populations

24:45 – A message for cancer researchers

27:29 – What ACS supporters can do to keep up the fight during the pandemic

29:42 – What she hopes cancer survivors and caregivers can take away from this conversation

The American Cancer Society's acting COO, Kris Kim, describes how ACS is continuing to help cancer patients and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also announced a new initiative: The American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge COVID-19 Response Fund.

This fund will help the Society use Hope Lodges to provide health care workers (such as doctors, nurses, and first responders) with rest, comfort, and care during the pandemic.

Visit http://cancer.org/coronavirus for more details.

3:21 – What it’s like living in New York City right now

6:36 – Ways she has seen the spirit of the American Cancer Society coming through during the pandemic

9:33 – The American Cancer Society’s COVID-19 Response Hope Lodge Emergency Operations Fund

12:29 – Why Hope Lodges are so important to cancer patients and caregivers, and why the risk of coronavirus entering Hope Lodges led ACS to make difficult decisions

17:54 – How ACS has been impacted by COVID-19, and how ACS is getting creative to confront some of these challenges

20:51 – How the ACS Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) has engaged during the pandemic to protect vulnerable populations

24:45 – A message for cancer researchers

27:29 – What ACS supporters can do to keep up the fight during the pandemic

29:42 – What she hopes cancer survivors and caregivers can take away from this conversation

R. Sean Morrison, MD, is a leading voice in geriatric medicine and a pioneering palliative care researcher. He joined the TheoryLab podcast to talk about the steps Mount Sinai Hospital is taking to help patients and what we can all do to lower risk for cancer patients and older adults. He also emphasized the importance of doing things every day to lift our spirits and provide each other with social support.

R. Sean Morrison, MD, is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor. He is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair for the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also the Director of the Lilian and Benjamin Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute and the National Palliative Care Research Center.

2:27 – What he would say to people who think coverage of COVID-19 has been overblown and exaggerated

3:40 – How Mt. Sinai Hospital has reorganized to confront the pandemic

5:25 – The two subsets of people who appear to be at higher risk for complications from COVID-19 infection

8:44 – What we can all do to reduce risk

11:20 – What patients living with cancer should do

13:09 – On the importance of keeping your anxiety and worry at a manageable level

15:53 – How older adults can maintain social support during this time

20:50 – Where older adults should turn to for up-to-date information

22:45 – What we can all do to make things safer for cancer patients and survivors