Catherine E. Lai, MD, MPH, an associate professor and physician leader of the Leukemia Clinical Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, moderates a discussion with Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, on the leukemia treatment legacies they hope to be remembered for.

Karp is Professor Emerita of Oncology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she was a professor of oncology and the director of the Adult Leukemia Program in the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, until her retirement in 2013. Raza is a professor of medicine and the director of the MDS Center at Columbia University. Le Beau is the Arthur and Marian Edelstein Professor of Medicine and the director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In this episode, Karp, Raza, and LeBeau discuss their proudest career accomplishments, including the investigation of potential treatments using a patient’s first cancerous cell, advances in cytogenetics, and a rational design for clinical trials involving cell cytokinetics, all of which have ultimately contributed to improved leukemia treatment.

Additionally, the 3 experts share their thoughts on inspiring fresh faces in leadership positions and upholding integrity in their work. They also emphasize the importance of developing therapies using human cells and the crucial nature of treating patients with empathy and understanding during every step of their disease.

Videos

Judith Karp, MD, Azra Raza, MD, and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, discuss their proudest career accomplishments, including the investigation of potential treatments using a patient’s first cancerous cell, advances in cytogenetics, and a rational design for clinical trials involving cell cytokinetics.. 

Women in Oncology: Leukemia Therapies in Humans, for Humans 

Catherine E. Lai, MD, MPH, an associate professor and physician leader of the Leukemia Clinical Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, moderates a discussion with Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, on what it’s like to be a woman working in the oncology field.

In this episode, Karp, Raza, and LeBeau discuss how their gender has shaped their professional lives, from working as some of the only female clinical faculty at their institutions to being compared to their male colleagues and denied opportunities and fair pay when working independently from men. They also highlight the ways their careers impacted their personal lives, including the external challenges they faced when making family-oriented decisions and the encouragement they felt when recognized as valued members of their communities.

Additionally, the 3 experts reflect on the strides they made to be taken seriously by their peers, the difficulty of navigating stereotypes and discrimination, and the patient-focused advice they have for future generations of female oncologists.

Judith Karp, MD, Azra Raza, MD,, and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, discuss how their gender has shaped their professional lives, from working as some of the only female clinical faculty at their institutions to being compared to their male colleagues and denied opportunities when working independently from men.

Women in Oncology: Finding Strength and Support in Community 

Catherine E. Lai, MD, MPH, an associate professor and physician leader of the Leukemia Clinical Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, moderates a discussion with Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, on the challenges they have faced throughout their careers, as well as how they overcame them and how they continue to work toward a better future for leukemia treatment.

In this episode, Karp, Raza, and LeBeau share the challenges they chose to mold into career goals, including developing a new technology to study cell cytokinetics in humans instead of in mice, the difficulties of identifying genes and their phenotypes to develop the best treatments, and recognizing that the variety of leukemia diseases stem from the same root issues in DNA.

Additionally, these experts highlight the creative methods they’ve found to garner support and funding for their work, the ways in which different disease causes and treatments inform each other, and how the challenges they face can open new doors for more targeted leukemia treatment.

Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, share the challenges they chose to mold into career goals, including developing a new technology to study cell cytokinetics, identifying gene phenotypes, and recognizing that leukemia diseases stem from the same root issues in DNA.

Women in Oncology: Career Obstacles Turned Into Opportunities  

Catherine E. Lai, MD, MPH, an associate professor and physician leader of the Leukemia Clinical Research Unit at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, moderates a discussion with Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, on what the field of leukemia treatment looked like when they began their careers.

In this episode, Karp, Raza, and LeBeau highlight the decades-long evolution of the leukemia field and express challenges such as defining the causes of leukemia and developing therapies to treat the disease and mitigate adverse effects like bone pain. They also discuss how the limitations of resources such as technology, effective treatments, and supportive care for patients affected their work and continue to do so.

Additionally, the 3 experts explain the importance of having female mentors in a male-dominated field, the excitement they felt when novel therapies emerged, and how many past issues, such as a lack of new treatments, are still relevant today. In looking to the past, they elaborate on the foundations for their subsequent career successes, many of which were directly related to overcoming the challenges they faced early in the leukemia treatment landscape.

Judith Karp, MD; Azra Raza, MD; and Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, highlight the decades-long evolution of the leukemia field and express challenges such as defining the causes of leukemia and developing therapies to treat the disease and mitigate adverse effects like bone pain. 

Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD

Articles

Women in Oncology: Leukemia Therapies in Humans, for Humans

Women in Oncology: Finding Strength and Support in Community

Women in Oncology: Career Obstacles Turned Into Opportunities

Women in Oncology: How Leukemia Treatment has Changed and Stayed Stagnant Over the Years