Meet Gen.t

The postdoctoral scientist at Cancer Research Malaysia explains how big data is helping researchers discover new ways to treat the disease

Pan Jia Wern of Cancer Research Malaysia explains the role big data plays in discovering new ways to treat the disease

There is evidence, through studies from cancer researchers, that ethnicity and genetics sometimes help doctors predict how diseases progress, thus affecting how patients respond to specific medicines.

For Pan Jia Wern, a postdoctoral scientist with Cancer Research Malaysia, learning these nuances helped him realise that cancer is a far more complex disease. This posed a challenge, making it both exciting and daunting at the same time for him.

The non-profit research institute focuses on cancers that are prevalent in Asia and works to translate the latest research findings into the local context, with the objective of reversing the negative impact cancer has on society. Pan explains about the work he has done with Cancer Research Malaysia and his vision for cancer treatment in the future.

I am pleased to be part

of a team that found that breast cancers in Asian women appear to stimulate a stronger immune response compared to Caucasian women. Given the importance of immunotherapy in cancer treatment, we think it is an important find that may become clinically relevant in the future.

I did not study about cancer

while I was abroad, I only started researching the disease when I joined Cancer Research Malaysia. I think one common misconception among scientists abroad is that cancer is a ‘firstworld’ disease, but in actuality, the majority of cases and deaths occur in developing countries.

It is rewarding to know

that our work has already led to the initiation of a number of new clinical trials for Malaysian breast cancer patients, helping them get access to therapies that would otherwise be unaffordable to them.

Our goal is to

complete the genetic database that we have built, publish it and make it available to other researchers. We are building collaborations with other researchers in order to analyse the unique features of breast cancer among Asians.

One key lesson I learnt

is the importance of inclusivity and diversity in science, especially for research in the field of health and biological sciences. It is too easy to generalise research findings conducted on one population. But scientists are becoming more aware that is not the case and it leads to bad outcomes. To avoid biases and reduce disparities in health outcomes, it is critical that we try to include as many types of people in our research process.