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Daniel Flora: Discovering the perfect name for my Substack

Daniel Flora, MD, medical oncologist and medical director of clinical research at St. Elizabeth Healthcare

Feb 1, 2025, 17:56

Daniel Flora: Discovering the perfect name for my Substack

Daniel Flora, Medical Director, Oncology Research and Hematologist/Oncologist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“I spent way too much time trying to name my Substack. Hours, probably more than I’d like to admit. I had a long list—some names were too clinical, some too vague, others just didn’t feel right. I wanted something that captured what I truly wanted to convey: the intersection of oncology, innovation, and hope. But nothing clicked.

Then, I was telling my son about the concept. He’s 15 and has this way of thinking that’s refreshingly unfiltered. The first word out of his mouth? Curative.

Immediately, I knew. It actually gave me chills.

I had spent all this time searching, overthinking, and within seconds, he landed on exactly what I was trying to articulate.

Curative doesn’t mean that all cancer can be cured—if only it were that simple. But it carries the essence of hope. A possibility. A direction. It speaks to the work we do every day in oncology, pushing forward, trying to find better answers. It’s about more than just treatment; it’s about intention. About striving for something better.

And then I looked deeper into the word itself. Curative comes from the Latin root curare, which means to care for or to heal. It’s a word that carries both the idea of treatment and the deeper intention of care—something that goes beyond just the mechanics of medicine.

That’s part of what makes it so fitting. It’s not just about the science of curing but about the act of caring, the relentless pursuit of better outcomes, and the hope that fuels it all. It holds space for both the medical and the human side of oncology—the precision and the compassion.

So, in a way, my son didn’t just find the perfect name. He tapped into something fundamental about why this work matters.

Thanks, bud. I’d still be sitting here staring at that list.”

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