Sara M. Nolte
Sara Nolte holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and Masters of Science in Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences from McMaster University. Her MSc research focused on developing a cancer stem model to study brain metastases from the lung. She then spent a year working on developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. Throughout a highly productive graduate career, Sara became interested in scientific communication and education, and later pursued a career as a Physician Assistant (PA) in order to build medical expertise. Working as a PA in Emergency Medicine helps her find ways to bridge the gaps between laboratory and clinical science, and to improve scientific and health-related communication with the public. Outside of science, Sara enjoys participating in a variety of sports, and is a competitive Olympic weightlifter hoping to compete at the National level soon!
Posts by: Sara M.
A PSA for prostate cancer stem cells
> In honour of Movember – men’s health awareness month – I’m going to talk about prostate cancer. Not in the usual way – PSA (prostate-specific antigen) screens and clinical exams – but rather, from the perspective of cancer stem cells (CSCs), and their role in prostate cancer. This focus is for several reasons: 1) […]
Back to basics: BRCA1 and breast cancer
> May 14th, 2013 marked an important day for breast cancer awareness. This was the day Angelina Jolie revealed that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy. Her decision was motivated by her positive screen for BRCA1, the “breast cancer gene,” and a family experience with cancer. She was quoted saying “I can tell my […]
Cancer stem cells – because sex sells (and specificity doesn’t)
. We know that success in research is dependent on public interest and funding, among a great many other things. Public interest helps drive long-term support, but to get that interest you need to generate excitement. So how do you excite people – many of whom are non-scientists – about scientific research? How about sex […]
Why research? The personal foundations of cancer research
. My interest (maybe even fascination) in cancer began when I was six years old: I was diagnosed with acute myeloblastic leukemia (a cancer of white blood cells), and am now able to say that I am a childhood cancer survivor. After realizing that I was no longer interested in going to medical school to […]
The thing about research is…
. The thing about research is that it’s an exciting and rewarding, but oftentimes complex and infuriating, cycle of asking questions and finding answers. Through some simple, yet expressive “Rage comic” illustrations (adapted from an online source; see further note about the illustrations at the end of this post), I thought I would share some […]