麻豆原创

In episode 10 of the 麻豆原创 podcast, Knights Do That, we speak with Annette Khaled, a 麻豆原创 professor and the head of the Division of Cancer Research at 麻豆原创. Khaled discusses her expertise on breast cancer research 鈥� specifically in breast cancer metastases. Khaled shares her personal experiences that drive the passion for her work, the collaborative culture of teamwork, optimism, and humanity at 麻豆原创, and some of the biggest mysteries of breast cancer that we鈥檙e still trying to solve.

Produced by 麻豆原创, the podcast highlights students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni who do incredible things on campus, in the community and around the globe.

Transcript

Annette Khaled: We need to do research to better understand what happens when we don鈥檛 catch cancer early, when a patient now has metastatic cancer that has spread, and can we develop better ways of helping these patients.

Because that鈥檚 where death occurs. Death and breast cancer are linked to the cancer spreading. So, understanding that process is essential for research.

Alex Cumming: Hey Knight Nation, what an interesting and enlightening conversation that I got to have with Dr. Annette Khaled from 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Medicine. Dr. Khaled is the head of the Division of Cancer Research at 麻豆原创 and has been recognized for her breast cancer research specifically in breast cancer metastases. In today鈥檚 episode, we speak about the personal experiences that she鈥檚 had that drive the passion for her work, collaborative culture of teamwork, optimism, and humanity here at 麻豆原创, and some of the biggest mysteries of breast cancer that we鈥檙e still trying to solve. Let鈥檚 jump into.

So to begin, how did your interest with medicine, specifically working with breast cancer, develop?

Annette Khaled: Yeah, that鈥檚 a great question.

So my background 鈥� I鈥檓 a basic scientist. I really don鈥檛 work directly in medicine 鈥� I ask those basic biology questions. Why do things happen? Years back, I was working to understand how cells die. What causes a cell to die when it鈥檚 happily growing and suddenly all its growth signals go? What鈥檚 happening inside of that cell? And it really was in the process of understanding the molecular events that were happening in these dying cells that led us to discover what could potentially be a therapeutic for cancer. And that鈥檚 how we ended up now jumping into breast cancer and really working on both a therapeutic and a diagnostic for breast cancer. Moving from those basic discoveries to some application in medicine.

Alex Cumming: Wow. How cool?

So as of this year, the World Health Organization has found that breast cancer is the most common cancer globally. Can you share with me some of the importance of early screenings for breast cancer, as well as the need for continuous research of the disease?

Annette Khaled: Both those aspects are tied together. So early screening – cannot emphasize enough the importance. Any cancer, especially breast cancer, if you find it early, when it鈥檚 still inside the breast, it’s still localized to one place in the breast, it鈥檚 much easier to treat. You can remove it surgically. You can treat it, and outcomes are like 90% or 99% survival. So early screening is essential.

And then, why do we have to do research? Well unfortunately, for some people, they don鈥檛 catch it early. Sometimes they catch it when it鈥檚 already showing symptoms and spreading. It may be in the liver, it may be in the brain and the bones. And at that point we don鈥檛 have enough of an understanding about how that happened, why that happened. So we need to do research to better understand what happens when we don鈥檛 catch it early, when a patient now has metastatic cancer that has spread. And then can we develop better ways of helping these patients. Because that鈥檚 when death occurs. Death and breast cancer are linked to that cancer spreading. So understanding that process is essential for research.

Alex Cumming: Are there things you can notice within somebody that maybe they should say to themselves, 鈥淚 should get checked because I鈥檓 having this symptom or I鈥檓 feeling this sort of lump or I am just feeling off.鈥�

Annette Khaled: Cancer is hidden. Cancer is your own body. It鈥檚 your own tissues, doing bad stuff to you. And so it鈥檚 really hard to wait for symptoms. That鈥檚 why screening is much more important. You should be screening yourself. And there鈥檚 guidelines, you should be screening by a certain age, by a certain risk factors.

You can do genetic testing, but it鈥檚 only a portion of cancers that are linked to a genetic outcome. So from my perspective, and it鈥檚 my own personal opinion, I think early screening is the best way. Get your mammograms every year. When you鈥檙e due, get your mammograms. Don鈥檛 wait for the symptoms because sometimes when the symptoms show up, it鈥檚 too late.

Alex Cumming: That鈥檚 good to be proactive instead of being forced to be reactive, sort of getting ahead of the curve.

Annette Khaled: Exactly.

Alex Cumming: What you鈥檙e saying it sounds as though a lot of people are forced to enter that reactive phase due to maybe outside circumstances that prevented them from being proactive on the situation. And when you鈥檙e in that reactive phase, it sounds like you have go all in on focusing on how can I give myself the best opportunity to treat this. And it sounds like from what you鈥檙e saying is that a lot of people don鈥檛 go into this alone. They have these circles in these groups that support them and help them along the way.

And as mentioned, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers found globally, support to know that you鈥檙e not alone in this situation, you find that鈥檚 an important 鈥�

Annette Khaled: And not to be 鈥� it鈥檚 scary, right? You get a cancer diagnosis. I have cancer. 鈥淲hat did I do? Why has this happened to me? Did I do something?鈥� Disease just happens sometimes. And having support, having an understanding that there are great therapies out there. The survival is so much better now than it was in the past for breast cancer. There鈥檚 lots of treatment options and just get the support you need. You鈥檙e not doing this alone. We have great support systems for breast cancer. So I鈥檓 glad you said that. We can do things if you have, unfortunately, that cancer diagnosis. There are many avenues available.

Alex Cumming: My grandmother is a breast cancer survivor, so breast cancer awareness is a very personal topic for me. Of course she had it, I鈥檓 so thankful that she survived, beat it. I was younger, so I wasn鈥檛 fully able to grasp how it affects somebody鈥檚 body, but I saw firsthand how it affects the lives of my own personal family and herself. I鈥檓 so thankful that she lives in Florida, so we鈥檙e able to visit her and to be there for her in this time. And I mean, there鈥檚 just this weight that comes off of just this collective of people when we found out that she had overcome it.

Annette Khaled: It鈥檚 beating it that gives you that, 鈥淲ow, this is not the end of my life. This is something that happened along my life.鈥� And that鈥檚 what drives the research as well, as being able to advance that. Hopefully to the point where your grandkids will no longer see cancer as a threat. Cancer happens, there鈥檚 treatments. It goes away, we鈥檙e done. And hopefully take that threat from our lives.

Alex Cumming: When my grandmother was affected by it, she was in, I believe, late 60s, early 70s. And when she beat it she was in her mid, I believe, mid-70s. So, we have this joke, nothing鈥檚 going to keep her down. Nothing鈥檚 going to stop her from beating breast cancer in her 70s. It was a really just something that you don鈥檛 forget. You don鈥檛 forget that period of your life, where it was in the back of your head. We were like, 鈥淭his could be just any day, this could happen.鈥�

Annette Khaled: So true.

Alex Cumming: So to transition from that, and that you spent nearly a decade studying ways to inhibit breast cancer metastases, which happens when cancer spreads to all other parts of the body. What have been some of the most important discoveries that you鈥檝e found?

Annette Khaled: I think the most important discovery we found, I was telling you earlier that we were studying this death pathway of cells and came up with a therapeutic. Trying to understand how, why the therapeutic was killing, really led us to discover a protein that hadn鈥檛 ever been associated with cancer before. And it鈥檚 a protein that helps other proteins fold – basically to get the right three-dimensional shape. Proteins have three-dimensional functionalities and so this protein that we found that our therapeutic was targeting was involved in this folding process. That had never been associated with cancer, and especially with metastatic cancer, like you said, the cancer that spread throughout the body. Really finding how this protein was working, how it was contributing to cancer spreading  – that has been probably one of the best discoveries that we have made in the last few years and really drives our research now.

Alex Cumming: Seeing that there鈥檚s these links between parts of the body and how they react when cancer is discovered in the body, is that what you’re saying?

Annette Khaled: Yes. So you think about cancer when it鈥檚 inside the breast, when it鈥檚 localized, has certain needs, right? , but once the cancer leaves its home in the breast and it travels and it goes through the blood. I mean, the stresses in the blood are horrendous. Most cancer cells die when they hit the bloodstream. But if they do survive, and those that survive need different survival factors than they did when they were in the home, in the breast. And then think of that, they have to now land in a new place, like they end up in the liver and the liver is very different from the breast, and it鈥檚 very different from the blood. They have to learn to adapt to that new environment. So the protein that we鈥檝e been studying, we think helps those cancer cells do exactly that 鈥� survive while they鈥檙e in the bloodstream, survive when they get to the new site in the liver to grow and colonize again.

That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 of interest to us. Because if what we鈥檙e discovering is true, then we do have a really great target as a therapeutic target for these types of metastatic cancers.

Alex Cumming: We spoke about the community aspect of this. Do you find the mental well-being of a patient can be akin to the medical wellbeing?

Annette Khaled: Oh, that is so true. I think just having hope. And I think that鈥檚 part of. I mean I really enjoy interacting and talking, like I am today with you, talking to anybody who interested in what we do. Because I think it gives people hope to know that my laboratory and all the other people in the cancer division, we鈥檙e all working hard on trying to find cures for cancer 鈥� that we have their back. We鈥檙e doing this because we want to be able to give them hope that maybe we can鈥檛 cure cancer today, but we鈥檙e working hard to find new discoveries that will lead to new treatments for cancer in the future.

Alex Cumming: I love what you鈥檙e saying about the hope and the optimism and to know every day students are waking up and going to places like 麻豆原创, where their focus is cancer research. And that there鈥檚 this generation of students worldwide who are working, again individual types of cancer, but that every day students are going and that cancer research departments are still prominent and are funded and are in a vital aspect of health departments at universities.

Annette Khaled: I love that you said that because that鈥檚 so true. Sometimes you forget because you鈥檙e taking classes and you鈥檝e got deadlines and you鈥檝e got to write your papers and your dissertation or whatever. But at the end of the day, what you鈥檙e doing is bringing hope to people.

It鈥檚 doing research that鈥檚 going to lead to new advances that one day, it may take five years, it may take 10 years, 20 years ,who knows how much it takes, but that someday you can say, 鈥淚 was part of that,鈥� or 鈥淚 was there when that happened, I was contributing to that process.鈥�

Alex Cumming: What鈥檚 so nice, and this goes to most, all forms of medicine, is that a lot of these kids are doing it between the ages of 18 to [when they become] doctor, maybe mid-to-late 20s.

Annette Khaled: Or early 20s. Yeah.

Alex Cumming: Have their whole lives to work, to develop all these various research and treatments and it鈥檚 so cool. And to repeat what you said, hope, optimism.

On top of all your own research and your duties as a tenured professor, you鈥檙e also the head of the Division of Cancer Research here at 麻豆原创. What鈥檚 it like to oversee such an important division?

Annette Khaled: Oh that鈥檚 a lot to say in one sentence. I really enjoy working with people and being part of helping to lead the cancer division. There鈥檚 about, I want to say 11 or 12 researchers that fall under that division. It’s part of what I do every day. It鈥檚 not separate. I do my own research, but I also have that eye on the division as a whole to bring them together. So it really integrates very well with my current duties. I don鈥檛 see it as a separate thing, but it really falls alongside the things that I do every day. I teach students, I teach classes, I run my own lab. But part of that process is also keeping that global idea of how I can help my fellow colleagues in the cancer division also be successful. And so it鈥檚 all aligned together.

Alex Cumming: That you have to manage and understand what鈥檚 going on with everybody outside of yourself, but then also focusing on your own work, I can imagine that鈥檚 a lot to juggle at some times.

Annette Khaled: Well, like I said, it happens in parallel. We鈥檙e very collaborative. And so, as I said, it鈥檚 not really more work for me. It just aligns with the work that I currently do. The success in my lab extends to the division and the division successes feed back into mine. It鈥檚 become like a synergy. We鈥檙e all in it together. One person鈥檚 success is everybody鈥檚 success.

Alex Cumming: I love that. I imagine in a cancer research department egos are probably set aside and there鈥檚 not this competitive drive because one person鈥檚 success is everybody鈥檚 success.

I mean, in my own theatrical experience, yeah there鈥檚 egos every now and then. But it鈥檚 like, if you鈥檙e good for the show and the show was good, that鈥檚 on everybody.

Annette Khaled: Yeah, we鈥檙e a team.  Everybody鈥檚 doing their research and their thing, but cancer is very collaborative. It鈥檚 a field where you really lean a lot on each other. Everybody鈥檚 got an expertise, I don鈥檛 have to be the expert of every single thing. I can go to my colleagues and say, 鈥淚 want to do this experiment you鈥檝e done it in your lab. Can you help me do it in mine?鈥� And this is, the ideal situation you鈥檝e got this great team of folks that all have that joint vision of, yeah, we鈥檙e going to cure cancer one day. Not today, maybe, but down the road that鈥檚 our very ambitious goal. But we鈥檒l help each other today to do the things that we need to do.

Alex Cumming: It sounds like collaboration, teamwork and synergy are what helped you balance your responsibilities.

Annette Khaled: Exactly. You got it. Exactly.

Alex Cumming: That seems to be a running trend here at 麻豆原创. With all of the amazing people I鈥檝e had the pleasure to speak with, is that 麻豆原创 is just such a, and again this is not a new thought, but it鈥檚 just a great place for collaboration and teamwork are two of the big takeaways that you mentioned.

Everybody has their departments, but all the departments work together. And when all the departments are doing is great that just makes 麻豆原创 look great.

Annette Khaled: I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 just because of the way 鈥� we鈥檙e a young institution, right? In many ways, even biomedical research is barely a decade old, so we are still building our reputation. We鈥檙e building our credibility in the state. And that part of that helps us lean on each other more maybe than if we were in a nice established, fully funded institution with all the bells and whistles. Most people can thrive on their own better, but you know here we really rely on each other to help each other move forward.

Alex Cumming: That鈥檚 why I love this place. A moment ago, we spoke about my personal experience with breast cancer, how it affected my life in my younger years. Have you been able to meet families of breast cancer patients through your work?

Annette Khaled: Oh, yeah. I work with two very important organizations for breast cancer in the state of Florida and in Orlando. The Florida Breast Cancer Foundation is a fantastic organization of folks, breast cancer survivors, as well as researchers, doctors, all sorts of individuals, who are really focused to eliminate breast cancer for the state of Florida. And so I鈥檝e been working with that organization for a number of years and really get a chance to interact with all these folks 鈥� as I said, breast cancer survivors, breast cancer advocates, for folks that go all the way to Tallahassee and just do their best to get funds to help breast cancer survivors and breast cancer patients in the state of Florida, researchers like myself. So that鈥檚 a great organization, the Florida Breast Cancer Foundation.

But I also work locally with the Orlando Sports Foundation and they鈥檙e also an organization that鈥檚 led by Alan Gooch, who was one of our first football coaches at 麻豆原创. He runs this fantastic foundation that is really trying to use sport and sport venues, like football, golf, even bowling, all these venues to drive awareness for breast cancer and fund breast cancer as well, generate funds for breast cancer. So working through that organization. I鈥檝e met great people who really have a big heart and want to make an impact in our community.

So, like I said, I鈥檓 really blessed to have those two organizations that I can interact with and meet people

Alex Cumming: You鈥檙e wearing the pink, most people won鈥檛 be able to see it, but we know wearing pink to signify, to recognize, to honor the work people have gone through and to recognize the hard work that still goes into breast cancer awareness. And to have individuals that promote breast cancer awareness is so special to see is. That this is not just underground, subculture. It is in the general, it is in the zeitgeist. Again, you run into individuals who have experiences with breast cancer, like myself. Most people would be totally unaware that affected me in my younger years. It鈥檚 not something that since then I often reflect, but it鈥檚 in my memories. And you run into people that you might not realize have had an experience, had a breast cancer scare, had a surgery to maybe remove a piece of themselves. And you don鈥檛 realize that wearing pink is so special because it just, it鈥檚 there, it exists. You want to recognize it, the pink bracelets that individuals wear. When you noticed it on somebody.

Annette Khaled: And it鈥檚 so true because it really says, 鈥淲e鈥檙e here, you鈥檙e not alone. This is not a fight you鈥檙e doing by yourself and you鈥檝e got all of us wearing pink because we all want to be part of that team, that big universal team that goes beyond Orlando beyond Florida.鈥� That really is a global team that works toward, supporting, and helping, and eliminating in the long run breast cancer.

Alex Cumming: From the families and the patients that you have met, what have you been able to learn?

Annette Khaled: Well, a lot of how they cope. I remember sitting at a lunch one day and talking to a lady who had breast cancer. She鈥檚 a survivor and she鈥檚 [been] taking treatments for decades that give her hot flashes. Now, you鈥檙e young, you鈥檙e a man, you don鈥檛 know how hot flashes affect women, but I’m going through that and I can tell you it鈥檚 miserable. And I cannot imagine dealing for the rest of my life with hot flashes, but she has to because of the treatments she鈥檚 getting. And I remember sitting there going like, “Gosh, I wish I could make a therapeutic this woman could take in place of what she鈥檚 taking right now and help her have a better quality of life so that she鈥檚 not living with these hot flashes.”

It鈥檚 just things like that. But I found, just interacting with people made me appreciate really how it鈥檚 not just surviving.  It鈥檚 about quality of life, and making sure that what I do in my laboratory and the therapeutics and diagnostics that we move forward are always about quality of life as well. We don鈥檛 want to put something out there that is going to make people sick more than they are from the cancer that they鈥檙e dealing with.

Alex Cumming: That鈥檚 so special. To touch back on to the young students working to cure breast cancer, everybody has maybe their own motivations and their own stories of what inspires them, but it鈥檚 also this one larger goal.

Annette Khaled: Exactly. And I think it鈥檚 important. If I could just make one more plug here. I think it鈥檚 important that as a researcher, it doesn鈥檛 matter what discipline you鈥檙e working in 鈥� whether it鈥檚 infectious disease or neuroscience, whatever field you鈥檙e in 鈥� to always connect with the people, right. Connect with individual. You know that if you鈥檙e working in disease, Alzheimer鈥檚 connect with those. You鈥檙e working with infectious disease, connect with people, HIV, because that connection really brings your research home. It really helps you focus your research on things that are going to impact people, not just something that鈥檚 your own. Like you said, ego, right? It鈥檚 something that you鈥檙e doing to do that鈥檚 going to help the community. So I really love, not just for myself but also have my students connect with breast cancer survivors for that reason.

Alex Cumming: Humanity, that the individual in that room is not patient number 52. They are, John Doe from Longwood, Florida.

Annette Khaled: Exactly.

Alex Cumming: I have a personal experience with what you鈥檙e saying. My involvement at 麻豆原创 I鈥檓 with an organization called Playback 麻豆原创, which we began with our focus, it鈥檚 people tell stories and we鈥檒l present them back through an improvised form. And we started with students and of course, young college students have a lot of feelings. They feel things very strongly, and it was very special to perform back, to get to know my cohort better. But then we transitioned and we work indefinitely with the Aphasia House here in the 麻豆原创 area. And really the one-on-one experience of people who live life with aphasia it touches you in a way that you don鈥檛 expect going in. You might have an idea, but once you鈥檝e experienced it firsthand you don鈥檛 forget.

Annette Khaled: And I think it helps, put perspective to things. It really helps you say, 鈥淥kay, maybe what I was thinking wasn鈥檛 so bad. My own little problems in my own little world, I can give perspective to them.鈥�

Alex Cumming: It does. It鈥檚 sort of, a humbling, but not in a humbling, 鈥淟ike, oh man, now I feel bad.鈥� It’s a humbling like, 鈥淲ow, I get to wake up every day and not worry about these sorts of things.鈥�

Annette Khaled: And in value, when these individuals are waking up every day and they鈥檙e doing their lives and their things, and really the strengths that they have I always admire that tremendously.

Alex Cumming: Seriously to go back to another point, we have hope. The students have hope, but the individuals who are living with this day to day, their hope is what I want to believe. Their hope is what inspires the hope of the younger generations to continue to work. Because when they get afflicted by it, they don鈥檛, sit down and say, 鈥淲ell, let me count down the clock.鈥� It鈥檚, 鈥淣o, I know that somebody is working for me. There鈥檚 somebody out there who has me on their mind.鈥�

Annette Khaled: And getting to a point you addressed earlier about your patient鈥檚 point of view and individuals鈥� hope and point of view, your mental wellbeing. If you have hope that whatever treatments, whatever therapy, whatever you鈥檙e going through, you have a chance of doing better because your mental wellbeing is healthy. Right?

And so that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so critical not just to have the treatments and then whatever you鈥檙e supposed to do, your doctor tells you is critical to do, but also along those same lines, you have the hope, you have the mental wellbeing because those two together 鈥� the treatments and the mental wellbeing 鈥� is what鈥檚 going to lead to ultimately a treatment outcome, a success.

Alex Cumming: I love it. Do you have any other experiences or stories that keep yourself inspired?

Annette Khaled: Oh, there鈥檚 so many of them. I have to pick and choose.

Alex Cumming: Any highlights?

Annette Khaled: It鈥檚 really just being a survivor, and then not knowing if a cancer鈥檚 going to come back. And that鈥檚 the other big thing is 鈥� somebody tells me, 鈥淚 had breast cancer 20 years ago and then it came back and now it鈥檚 metastatic. And now I have five years, survival is really bad at this point, it鈥檚 20% or less.鈥� So it just talking to patients who have metastatic cancer and the way that they know they have almost a death sentence on their heads and yet they still have the hope, still have that enthusiasm. I鈥檓 going to be here for my grandkids. I鈥檓 going to be here for my daughter鈥檚 wedding. So many of those stores really inspire me and say, what we do every day. What we wake up in the morning, go to the lab, go to work, go to school, whatever we鈥檙e doing, thinking of those people is really what drives a lot of that for me

Alex Cumming: Humanity, the one common that we all have, we鈥檙e all humans.

Annette Khaled: Yep. When you鈥檙e faced with a crisis like that humanity is even stronger. It comes out more.

Alex Cumming: So I want to move on to this next question of what are some of the biggest mysteries of breast cancer that we’re still trying to solve?

Annette Khaled: It comes back to what I was telling you, cancer recurrence, why after you鈥檝e had treatment and the cancer was removed and you got all this therapy and you were given a clean bill of health 鈥� and then whammo five, 10, 20 years later, it comes back. We really do not know why, what changed. And a lot of times when it comes back, the treatments that work the first time don鈥檛 work anymore. It really is a real challenge for physicians to know what to do for these patients. So that鈥檚 one. And then the other one is the last few years immunotherapy, that鈥檚 basically taking your body鈥檚 immune system and turning it on so it can kill cancer cells, has really been an exciting new research and therapeutic direction and great successes for patients. But it doesn鈥檛 work for all patients. In fact, it works for maybe under 30% of patients. When it does work it鈥檚 amazing, it鈥檚 a cure, but why doesn鈥檛 it work for everybody? That鈥檚 the other big question. Why can鈥檛 we get this immunotherapy that has been so successful in this group of patients to work for everybody? How can a doctor know, do I give my patient immunotherapy or not?

Those are kind of the two big things for me, is that, why does cancer come back and then how do we figure out to give the patients their best treatments?

Alex Cumming: Those are both two things that are, what a wild thing to think about. So what advice would you give to somebody who wants to do what you do?

Annette Khaled: Oh, you have to have a passion for it. Doing research is not something that you can just open the door and do. I think you really have to have a passion and a love for discovery and have a thick skin that you can put up with disappointment and struggle and the negative parts of it. But always have that passion for discovery and know that those moments when you have that, 鈥淎ha, well we just discovered something really cool.鈥� To be able to live for those moments and enjoy them. So I can say it鈥檚 a vocation almost to do research.

Alex Cumming:

Annette Khaled: Yes, endurance, lots of things that go with it 鈥� and surprisingly optimism. I think you also have to have an optimistic mind frame because if you鈥檙e pessimistic and you look always at the hole and not the donut, you鈥檙e going to struggle. I think having a little bit of optimism is always good.

Alex Cumming: Yeah. I believe that translates to most everything that people do. Is there a profession you can have where you can just be a pessimist? If you鈥檙e like a critic?

Annette Khaled: Yeah, you can be a critic. I think there鈥檚 some professions that work well with that, but I would say definitely in ours, because we have so much pessimism and there鈥檚 so much negativity sometimes associated with doing medical research that I think, every little bit of optimism you can bring to it is important.

Alex Cumming: Totally. So what鈥檚 one thing that you’re still hoping to do here at 麻豆原创, and then on a personal level?

Annette Khaled: Actually those two things are tied together. We鈥檙e building a new cancer center and this has been something that鈥檚 been in the works for now going on three years. I鈥檓 hoping to be able to be part of the process that we build our cancer center and hopefully make it a place that鈥檚 not only a place for students, a place for professors, like myself, to do research, a place for patients to come and get cutting-edge therapies. Really a place where all that鈥檚 integrated, where we really have a flow of knowledge from all these levels of students, to professors, to patients, to doctors, to everybody involved in treating a cancer patient.

So really it鈥檚 ambitious, but I do see hope one day that we can be sitting here maybe 10 years down the road and saying, 鈥淵eah, that Lake Nona Cancer Center that鈥檚 one of the top 10 cancer centers in the country for everybody to come to.鈥�

Alex Cumming: I鈥檓 looking forward to it. I love the sound of a place where just knowledge healing growth is all just wrapped into one, based out of here in central Florida.

Annette Khaled: And has that unique 麻豆原创 culture, right? We were talking about earlier that collaborative culture that infuses our cancer system.

Alex Cumming: True that. I think everything we spoke about today can be found at 麻豆原创, the collaboration, the teamwork, the optimism, the growth for the future, the humanity, it鈥檚 all here at 麻豆原创.

So Annette, I want to say thank you so much for speaking with me today. loved our conversation. Thank you for letting me speak about my own personal experiences and for sharing your own experiences. It鈥檚 been such a pleasure to get to learn more about something that I’m aware of, I have memories of, but to dive a little deeper into it. To get a better understanding of it. So it鈥檚 been a pleasure to get to speak with you and thank you for coming on.

Annette Khaled: Well, thank you for asking me. I really enjoyed it. And I’m so happy to hear about your grandmother.

Alex Cumming: She鈥檚 still here. I’m certain she鈥檒l love this episode.

Annette Khaled: Wish her well for me.

Alex Cumming: I certainly shall. Thank you.

Annette Khaled: Okay. Thank you. Take care.

Alex Cumming: Hey, thanks for listening. I鈥檒l see you, you, on the next episode of the Kights Do That podcast. If you鈥檙e doing something cool, whether that鈥檚 at 麻豆原创 or somewhere, you took 麻豆原创 that we should know about. Send us an email socialmedia@ucf.edu, and maybe we鈥檒l see you on an episode in the future. Go Knights and Charge On.