In honor of Vicky Bae-Jump, MD
Dr. Vicky Bae-Jump has one foot in research and the other in clinical care. But she’s focused on one thing—finding better treatments, cures and preventive measures for women with cancer.
While an undergrad at Duke, Dr. Bae-Jump had a part-time job working with cancer patients who were in the hospital for long-term stays. She’d organize concerts, games, and craft-making events for patients and their families.
“I was very motivated by this experience,” Dr. Bae-Jump says. “ I saw that many of the treatments for these patients failed to work and others had some terrible side effects. And that’s when I decided to be an oncologist and do research.”
She earned her PhD, but also her MD. And she’s glad she did.
“During my PhD training, I learned quite a bit about cancer in cells and in mice, but not about cancer in people,” she says. “I think that actually treating patients who have the kind of cancer I’m studying gives me a great perspective about the cancers we’re trying to cure.”
Her ultimate goal is to translate her lab findings into treatments.
“Then I’ll be able to take these to my patients,” she says. “That’s my hope. That’s the idea I like best about my job.”