The University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center’s (MCC) Goldy vs. Cancer event aims to educate the public about cancer through exhibits from the center’s researchers.
The event will be held at the Science Museum of Minnesota on Saturday at no additional cost to museum attendees. The goal is to engage museum attendees through hands-on activities, according to the MCC website. It is particularly important for young children who may be interested in STEM careers, MCC events coordinator Elsie Aldrich said.
MCC is always trying to get the word out about different STEM careers, and the Science Museum is a great way to meet young scientists where they are, Aldrich said. The people who visit the museum tend to be families with young children, so it is a great place to reach that audience.
“It’s also a really lovely way for us to share information about the research that’s happening at the cancer center with the public,” Aldrich said. “I think a lot of times that work happens behind closed doors, and so folks don’t really know what cancer research looks like.”
Having different researchers from the MCC attend the event to showcase what they are researching is extremely helpful for the public to understand what work is being done by researchers, Aldrich said.
“To have scientists able to talk to kids about what they do on a day-to-day basis I think, can be really impactful,” Aldrich said.
According to MCC’s website, there are many exhibits for families and the public to explore, including exhibits on cancer fighting foods, genetically modified cells, cancer in animals, clinical trials and more.
Susannah Bartlow, community outreach and engagement manager for the Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network, has an exhibit at the event. She said she hopes the exhibit will help inform the public about the different cancer clinical trials available and what the treatment is like.
Sometimes people may be hesitant about cancer clinical trials just because they do not understand what they are, Bartlow said. She hopes to educate the public about it with this event.
“We just want to kind of start with that baseline, make sure people understand that clinical trials are safe, that people who do clinical trials are always also getting the standard of care,” Bartlow said. “So it’s not like you would do a clinical trial and not get treated. People are always also still getting treatment for whatever they’re going through.”
The Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network is part of the MCC and works with five different healthcare systems to bring cancer clinical trials throughout the state.
“We really want to bring clinical trials closer to home for more people across Minnesota,” Bartlow said. “So we have 24 different sites where people could participate in clinical trials.”
Educating people about clinical trials is the Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network’s mission, according to Bartlow. She is passionate about making sure everyone has the same opportunities and is educated about clinical trials.
“Sometimes it can be challenging for everybody to get good medical care or to get the information that they need,” Bartlow said. “The reason that I love doing outreach work in this field in particular is because it kind of levels the playing field, so that everybody can understand what we’re doing and understand the best options that are available to them.”
