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Purdue’s Search for the Cure

Anyone who has been even slightly involved or affected by a cancer case knows how difficult finding a cure for cancer truly is. Many researchers and scientists have dedicated their lives to searching for the cure for cancer; one such researcher in particular is Sophie Lelievre who works at Purdue. Purdue is one of the only seven centers in the entire world that does basic cancer research.

The multi-disciplinary nature of Purdue allows for experts of many different fields such as political science,

technology, engineers and nutrition to get involved and contribute to this long and complicated search for the cure for cancer, breast cancer specifically. This situation is especially unique because experts from varying fields have the opportunity to translate their knowledge and contribute and apply it to finding the cure for cancer, making the information and knowledge pool that is pulled from that much bigger and richer.

Her main focus currently is determining which environmental factors and nutrients that transform normal cells into cancerous cell and increase the risk and chance of contracting cancer. To achieve this, her research team is working on developing a database that lists and categorizes potentially harmful cancer causing agents. Lelievre’s theory is that people sometimes consume some of these cancer causing agents as children because of our societies lack of awareness of that cause cancer.

The goal of this research happening at Purdue is to make cancer preventable. As Jessica Shaw, senior head of marketing for the research group, stated, “Ideally, it should become preventable because we are finding the known causes.” The work is a long way from being finished, but headway is being made and hope remains to find the cure for not only breast cancer, but all kinds of cancer.

Sources: Purdue Exponent