Empowering Progress: How Patient Advocacy Moves Cancer Research Forward

Weaving the perspective of our patients into our research is an important focus for the team at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, because it ensures our work centers on the needs of those we serve. Patient and Investigator Voices Organizing Together (PIVOT for short) is KU Cancer Center’s program, which unites scientists and advocates to advance patient-centered research. On this episode of the Bench to Bedside podcast, we are sharing a conversation between two special guests, Dr. Joan Lewis-Wambi, associate professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center and member of KU Cancer Center’s Cancer Biology research program, and Dr. Alison Banikowski, an educator, community organizer, cancer survivor and PIVOT member, who has found a multitude of ways to give back to the cancer community in the Kansas City area. She formed the group Alison’s Allies in 2010, which raises funding to support breast cancer screening, health equity, care and research, including research that Dr. Lewis-Wambi conducts in her lab. We invited them to discuss their work together and share how having the patient perspective has moved cancer research forward.

Do you have questions about cancer? Call our Bench to Bedside Hotline at (913) 588-3880 or email us at [email protected], and your comment or question may be shared on an upcoming episode! If you appreciated this episode, please share, rate, subscribe and leave a review. For the latest updates, make you are following us on social media by searching for KU Cancer Center on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Links from this episode:

Learn more about Dr. Joan Lewis-Wambi Learn more about Dr. Banikowski and her advocacy group, Alison’s Allies Find information on PIVOT, KU Cancer Center’s patient research advocacy group Watch “The Future of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatment” with Dr. Priyanka Sharma on YouTube Learn more about triple-negative breast cancer on KU Cancer Center’s website