Genetically changing a patient’s cells, leaving friends and family with only memories, implanting everlasting worry in the minds of loved ones – cancer truly changes everyone it touches.

I lived through sixteen years of naivety, only hearing what cancer can do, until my sophomore year in high school when an email arrived from my middle school in Delaware. My eighth-grade math teacher had just passed away from breast cancer. Thinking back, there was a period of two weeks where she had gone away for “vacation” and returned with a buzz cut; none of us thought anything of it at the time. Now understanding its significance, I truly realize how amazing she was, always greeting us with a smile and teaching us with such enthusiasm. She was easily the best teacher I had back then, driving me to always continue learning and growing. But she was so easily reduced to a simple memory and a name in an email; no one deserves that.

She wasn’t the only one. One of my gym teachers and their entire family. One of my cousin’s best friends. The patient I observed while shadowing last November. Cancer has always been a dense topic and sometimes even felt taboo making patients fight for their lives alone in fear and pain. And those of us who aren’t directly affected kept walking through our lives in ignorance. “Ignorance is bliss,” they say. Not this time. These patients and their families need to know they aren’t and will never be fighting alone.

More than anything, I am a scientist aspiring to fight at the front line of oncology both in the lab and by the patient. In my research team, we are developing a novel delivery mechanism to target and deliver anti-cancer agents to brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma multiforme. Aside from my own work, I continuously stay up to date with the latest progression within the realm of oncology. There have been 40 new FDA approvals in oncology, and rapid developments in CAR-T, exosomes, epigenetics, gene therapy, and immunoengineering. New technologies like spherical nucleic acids, and even “vaccines” are being rapidly developed and adapted for cancer. These words may not mean anything significant to the general public, but to me, they are the newest revolutions that have worked and fully ridden tumors in animal trials and are ready to proceed to clinical trials. As scientists, we are pushing harder than ever to make it happen for humans. The end is almost here.

So, I ride for hope. Hope that scientific innovation will soon help our communities beat cancer forever. But specifically, I ride for my math teacher. I ride for my gym teacher and his family. I ride for all my teammates. I ride for every other patient who feels even slightly alone in their fight against cancer.

If cancer has impacted you/your family, or anyone you know, I would be honored to hear your/their story and ride for you/them as well. Please reach out to me at gupta.maanas@utexas.edu