Two former directors and the current director of the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center appeared in a special episode of the Cancer Luminaries podcast. This series was launched by UCCCC to mark its 50th year as an NCI-designated cancer center.
This episode’s guests included:
- Kunle Odunsi,
director since 2021, - Michelle M. Le Beau,
director from 2004 to 2021, - Richard L. Schilsky,
director from 1991 to 1999.
Odunsi, Le Beau, and Schilsky spoke with Camilla Frost-Brewer, UChicago’s program manager for diversity, equity, and inclusion, about what it was like to run UCCCC.
“I think one of the major responsibilities and opportunities for the cancer center director is to make connections among faculty who would not necessarily gravitate toward each other,” Schilsky said. “To do that, you have to understand what everybody’s doing, and you have to be able to envision how they might benefit from working together. And then you have to cajole, incentivize, twist arms, and so on to actually get them to collaborate.
“But if you can do that successfully, sometimes something magical happens, because you bring together people from disciplines that wouldn’t naturally have found each other—and that’s sometimes where the spark really occurs,” he said.
The podcast recording and transcript of the interview with Schilsky, Le Beau, and Odunsi are now available on the Cancer History Project:
Cancer Luminaries Podcast: Fireside Chat with Past and Present Directors
By University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Oct. 18, 2024
In this special episode, Camilla Frost-Brewer held a fireside conversation with two former directors and one current director to learn what it is like to lead a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and how they approached the opportunities and challenges of the role.
Medical oncologist Richard L. Schilsky, MD, director from 1991 to 1999, drove initiatives to modernize and organize the cancer center. Cancer geneticist and cancer biologist Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, director from 2004 to 2021, not only helped the cancer center achieve comprehensive status, but she strengthened our programs in population research, created educational programs, and enriched our community outreach. Physician-scientist Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, director since 2021, is leveraging resources, advanced technologies, and partnerships from across the university network to take a pipeline of discoveries to the clinic where they can make an immediate impact.
Together, they reflected on what is unique about the intellectual environment at the University of Chicago and predicted where cancer research is going next.
Two more Cancer Luminaries podcast episodes are also available on the Cancer History Project, in addition to those highlighted in past issues of The Cancer Letter.
All published episodes can be found on UCCCC’s contributor page.
Cancer Luminaries Podcast: Dr. Angela Bradbury and the Power of Genetic Testing to Improve Health
By University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Oct. 15, 2024
Host Camilla Frost-Brewer has a conversation with Alumni Star Angela Bradbury, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Bradbury is a medical oncologist with specialized training in clinical cancer genetics, cancer prevention and medical ethics. Her research focuses on integrating genetic medicine into the clinic to reduce the burden of cancer and improve the health of individuals and families.
In 2012, she started the Penn Telegenetics Program based on research evaluating remote phone and real-time services for cancer genetic counseling and testing. In this episode, she explains how technology has enabled greater access to genetic counseling for people in the community. She also repeats the career advice that keeps her grounded, including the importance of saying “no” to avoid overextending yourself.
Cancer Luminaries Podcast: Dr. Stefani Spranger on Moving the Field Forward
By University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center, Oct. 3, 2024
Host Camilla Frost-Brewer gets to know Alumni Star and cancer immunologist Stefani Spranger, PhD, associate professor of biology at the Koch Institute for Integrative Biology at MIT. Dr. Spranger studies how the body’s immune system interacts with growing tumors to harness the immune response to fight cancer.
In this episode, she recounts how a mind-blowing paper led her to a career in cancer immunology and the advantages of being an immunologist surrounded by cancer biologists and engineers. She also talks about the collaborative nature of scientific research in the United States, the joy of seeing a mentee blossom, and learning to trust that you are doing enough at home and at work.
This column features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
The Cancer History Project is a free, web-based, collaborative resource intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act and designed to continue in perpetuity. The objective is to assemble a robust collection of historical documents and make them freely available.
Access to the Cancer History Project is open to the public at CancerHistoryProject.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @CancerHistProj, or follow our podcast.
Is your institution a contributor to the Cancer History Project? Eligible institutions include cancer centers, advocacy groups, professional societies, pharmaceutical companies, and key organizations in oncology.
To apply to become a contributor, please contact admin@cancerhistoryproject.com.
