Colon Cancer Clinical Trial

Presenter: Kendall Myers, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars

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For my scholar's practicum, I worked at a gastroenterologist's doctor's office in Greenbelt, MD. I work currently under Dr. Mostaghim and Dr. Rattan of GI Med Health. At the office, we are currently working on clinical trials through the IRB and CTNx. Before being hired, I was asked if I would be interested in joining their team because a spot had recently opened up. At first, I was hesitant because I have no research experience or no idea where to begin. I said yes and quickly got on board. My title is the site's coordinator, so essentially I overlook all of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the trial while I am in training to do the certified research aspect of it. The clinical trial examines and compares blood draws between those who have been diagnosed with colon and/or colorectal cancer to individuals who are deemed as “healthy”. The main part that is done onsite is the blood draws from patients that we see day-to-day. From this, I quickly learned how extensive research truly is and how much time and effort is put in behind the scenes. I also learned how important surveillance screening is when it comes to colon cancer, screening can save lives. This relates to the public health connection; through this study, we are hoping to be able to discover a way that colon cancer can simply be diagnosed by a blood draw rather than a colonoscopy or a cologuard. By making it easier to determine if an individual has colon cancer, mortality rates would be able to significantly decrease and allow it to be caught quicker and treatment can be done sooner.