Nieman ’12 is Cancer Researcher at U. of Chicago
August 8th, 2010As an intern at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Kerry Nieman ’12 has the opportunity to observe a gynecological surgery. As the surgeon removes some tissue the omentum (a large fold of the peritoneum), Nieman takes it immediately to her lab station and begins to run experiments on it. With support from the Jeffrey Fund for Science Internships, Nieman is spending the summer researching ovarian cancer.
One of the least-understood types of cancer, ovarian cancer is extremely difficult to diagnose in its early stages. It is called the “disease that whispers” because, by the time women display symptoms, the cancer is already far advanced. It is because of its difficult detection that ovarian cancer has a mortality rate of almost 80 percent—the highest mortality rate of all gynecological tumors and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the U.S. According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 21,880 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 13,850 women will die of it this year alone. Researc Read more…
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