{"id":15808,"date":"2017-11-29T14:51:54","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T19:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?p=15808"},"modified":"2021-12-03T08:52:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T13:52:10","slug":"siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the field of cancer treatment, what if a \u201ccure\u201d is the wrong goal? What if, asks fourth-year PhD candidate Daniel Lewis<\/strong>, we focused instead on controlling the disease in much the same way we manage diabetes or high blood pressure?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can keep the tumor the same size and in check, it wouldn\u2019t impact quality of life,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cThe patient can live with it. Essentially, that\u2019s a cure, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an area Lewis has been researching for almost eight years now, starting in his freshman year at Johns Hopkins. After earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering, the Greenwich, Connecticut native continued his investigations while pursuing his doctoral degree in the same department. In October 2017, he was named a Siebel Scholar, an honor recognizing 100 top graduate students around the globe in business, bioengineering, computer sciences, and energy science programs for their outstanding academic performance and leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing, prestigious award,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cThe best part is that they host an annual conference for all new and past winners, which gives you a community of people on the forefront of thought who think about problems on a larger scale, allowing you to think with them and develop ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis\u2019s studies center on oxygen gradients and cancer cell migration. Researchers know that when cancer cells outgrow their oxygen and nutrient supply, they migrate in search of more nutrients, spreading the disease throughout the body. Lewis and his colleagues model that process in the lab using hypoxic hydrogels to mimic the extracellular matrix environment of the primary tumor site, allowing them to test novel therapeutics to inhibit cell migration under varying conditions of oxygen deprivation. Preventing the cells from metastasizing could permit the disease management Lewis believes could be the future wave of cancer treatment. They recently published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences<\/em><\/a> and ACS Biomaterials<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lewis expects to finish his doctorate in the spring, and eventually hopes to work in business development for a biotech firm. \u201cThat way, I can still see cool new science, and have the ability to look into new ways to repurpose existing technology,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He chose Johns Hopkins because he wanted to do cutting-edge science in a chemical engineering program with a large biological component. His undergraduate years\u2014especially design class\u2014helped him develop skills in looking at problems. \u201cIt\u2019s about actively knowing the design process,\u201d he says. \u201cHow to set up the problem, recognize what do you know and not know, what can you deduce, and how to put it all together to figure out how to answer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis says he will take from his doctoral research a mindset of creativity, of knowing how to approach a problem by the books while also remaining willing to come up with innovative designs in the name of elegant solutions. \u201cThe ability to creatively solve problems and to find solutions that get around them is how you push faster and discover things quicker,\u201d he says. \u201cNot a lot of people look for that, but that\u2019s what\u2019s important with problem solving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of the lab, Lewis enjoys traveling with friends, windsurfing and sailing, and attending jazz concerts, having played the trombone in the JHU Jazz Band as an undergrad. He serves as intramural sports chair for ChemBE\u2019s Graduate Student Liaison Committee and\u2014though few know this about him\u2014earned his black belt in karate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-15808","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSiebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the field of cancer treatment, what if a \u201ccure\u201d is the wrong goal? What if, asks fourth-year PhD candidate Daniel Lewis, we focused instead on controlling the disease in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T13:52:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","og_description":"In the field of cancer treatment, what if a \u201ccure\u201d is the wrong goal? What if, asks fourth-year PhD candidate Daniel Lewis, we focused instead on controlling the disease in…","og_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/","og_site_name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","article_modified_time":"2021-12-03T13:52:10+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/","name":"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2017-11-29T19:51:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-03T13:52:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/siebel-scholar-works-toward-new-model-cancer-control\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Siebel Scholar works toward new model of cancer control"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/#website","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/","name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","description":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}