Sigourney Bonner: Insights from Black in Cancer Conference
Sigourney Bonner, Postdoctoral Associate at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I’ve written and unwritten this post so many times, trying to come up with the words that adequately describe the Black in Cancer conference from just 3 weeks ago. I’ve finally decided that there really aren’t many that fully encapsulate the fruition of 18 months of conversations, meetings, flights back and forth from DC and the incredible speakers and delegates that came together.
I’m still in awe of what our team in collaboration with Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, in particular Crystal Canja, Maggie Scully, Vladimir Popov, and Ethan Dmitrovsky, achieved in bringing the conference to the US for the very first time. (also huge shout outs to Mary Ellen Matava Hackett, Elayne Smith Lowe and Chanelle Case Borden, and the many others who were involved in putting this all together!)
Each session had its own highlight and there are far too many to mention, but a few extra special ones were:
Presenting John Carpten with the declaration of a day named after him in his hometown.
The brilliant day two opening from Kimryn Rathmell (NCI director!)
Handing out our annual PostDoc and early career investigator awards to Michael Oliphant, Whitney Henry and Cornelius Taabazuing (who are all now associate professors – congratulations!) and of course having our awesome current distinguished investigator awardee Paula Hammond!
Learning about how we can advocate for those who are deaf when it comes to conversations about cancer with Emmanuel Perrodin-Njoku.
Hearing about the work being done for us and by us on an international level with team SAMBAI led by Melissa Boneta Davis and further highlighted by Tiffany Carson, PhD, MPH and Ricki Fairley.
Most of all as usual, it was the bringing together of community, the laughter, the tears and the solidarity. We have come a long way, but still have a long way to go, but being able to grow this community piece by piece, providing visibility for budding scientists, funding for emerging ones and helping people to be informed about their healthcare decisions is what we’re all about.
Finally, this would be nothing without the team. Without the heroic fundraising efforts of Elshaddai White, Ph.D. the logistical support from Jordan Bonner, creative insight from Briana White, comms strategy from Tumie Ntereke and of course the consistent work from Mamadou A. Bah, Julia Morris, and Henry J. Henderson III.. I have so much love for you all.
We’re excited about what’s next and if you’re interested in collaborating with us or just getting to know about us a bit more, drop us an email: [email protected]!”
Source: Sigourney Bonner/LinkedIn
