Black Pepper Archive : This interview was originally published in the March Issue 2020 titled, Story-makers : 4 Women You Need To Know
You and I are familiar with Chemotherapy . Whether it’s through our dear friend or even your parent or through an article like this, the word ‘ Chemotherapy ’ is not new. In this paragraph I will explain how cancer appears in the body and how Chemotherapy works. A healthy body regularly replaces cells through a process of dividing and growing. When cancer occurs, cells reproduce in an uncontrolled manner. As a part of the body produces more and more cells, they start to occupy the space that useful cells previously took up. They’re basically forming a mass at one area that is also commonly known as the point of origin. Chemotherapy drugs interfere with cancer cell’s ability to divide and reproduce. Some treatments aim to stop the growth of new blood vessels that supply a tumor in order to starve it. This invasive treatment can have severe adverse effects both during the therapy and for some time after.
Why ? This is because the drugs often target both cancer cells and healthy cells.. Some scientists are concerned that this strategy might encourage the growth and spread of cancer in some cases. However, early treatment of chemotherapy can achieve a complete cure. Depending on the type and stage of cancer, the treatment can range from one day to a few weeks, even months.
When uncertainty arises that’s when Dr. Hadiyah- Nicole Green comes with a solution. With her solid background in physics, mathematics, and in the medical field combined, she’s a force to be reckoned with. Dr. Green’s technology promises to kill cancer cells with nanoparticles, laser and heat (thermal ablation) in just 15 days. Only 15 days to cure cancer ? Yes. The cancer treatment is working in mice and ready to be tested on humans, but one thing is still missing, your support . This interview deserves the best introduction for you to understand what she is talking about and eliminate the uncertainty you may have before donating to anything. Before you give your money away, you have to trust first, right ? Now , make yourself comfortable, prepare your cup of tea and enjoy this insightful interview.
The name ‘OraLee’ is in memory to her aunt who raised her and who passed away due to cancer. Dr. Green’s ultimate goal is to translate these treatments from laboratory into humans to demostrate efficacy in 12 cancer models (breast, lung, ovarian, cervical, colorectal, pancreatic, anal, prostate, skin, brain, head and neck) . Here's the medical physicist, Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green !
The Mastermind Behind A Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment
At what age did you discover your passion for STEM ?
DrHG: At first, I was excited about math. It started in Kindergarten. I had a brother who was in 4th grade, Nathan and he actually got me excited about calculating. He showed me how to substract, multiply etc. So funny, he got excited, so I can do his homework. And that leads to my foundation in STEM, mathematics. It wasn’t until I was in college that I embraced science and physics
Why did you decide to specialize in cancer treatment?
DrHG: Great question ! I’ve decided to specialize in cancer treatment as a way to be an answer to a problem. I’ve asked myself if there was a better way to treat cancer. That’s because after I graduated with a 4.0 in physics, my aunt who raised me was diagnosed with cancer. She said to me that she would rather die than to go through Chemotherapy. 3 months after she passed away my uncle who also raised me was diagnosed with cancer, too . I was iniatially planning to revolutionize the way we receive cable and internet, but the only parents I knew, my aunt and uncle, were impacted by cancer. It devastated our whole family. That’s why I’ve decided to dedicate my life to the way cancer is treated. If a satellite in the space can tell whether the ground is face up or down, why can’t we treat cancer inside of a tumor ? All these side effects didn’t make sense to me as a physicist
How does your treatment work ?
DrHG: The treatment is working in mice and now we are raising funds to begin human trials. I’ve designed a nanoparticle (ultrafine particle, that requires the use of electron microscopes), that absorbs a very specific wavelength of light. The light that I’m using, to excite these nanoparticles is very low power like a laser pointer. So, this laser heats up the nanoparticles inside of a tumor. The heat is hot enough to kill the cell. It’s a very localized therapy that would be considered as a thermal ablasion ( “cutting out” the cancer cell with heat)
Does your cancer treatment work for all cancer types ?
DrHG: No it’s designed for solid tumors. I have clinical partners who are ready to begin human trial in a variety of cancers including : breast, lung, ovarian, cervical, colorectal, pancreatic, anal, prostate, skin, brain, head and neck cancer. Solid tumors are tumors you can feel. There are cancers which circulate the blood like leukemia. This is not designed for leukemia per say, but for tumors you can touch, because they form a mass on one area
I’ve lost a close family member due to cancer , where its roots couldn’t be detected even after 2 months chemotherapy. The chemotherapy didn’t help that much because the cancer cells traveled rapidly to the brain. It was too late and she died. And my question is , could your treatment detect “the invisible cancer cells” or how would you handle this situation?
DrHG: First of all, my condolences to your family member and that’s the reason why we fight. Too often people got diagnosed with cancer when it’s too late. That means the cancer has advanced so far that chemo- and radiation therapy don’t work anymore. In your situation, they couldn’t detect where the point of origin was. It could have been breast , liver or pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy is normally created for targeting cancer cells. So, when it’s travelling through the neck area and up to the brain, it’s not effective anymore. It’s like your GPS is locating you to your neighbors house, but they’ve moved away and you can’t find them.
The way my team and I would handle it, is finding the point of origin where the cells forms a mass, that way we should be able to treat it. I’m saying this in a hypothetical scenerio . Every patient is different, so therefore every treatment is different. I don’t want to say that my treatment is the solution for all, ‘cause it isn’t. That’s also why we are raising money to begin with the test on humans to see what works for each patient the best
How long did your research process take ?
DrHG: That’s an interesting question, because in order to enter a race, you have to count all the hours of practice. So, for me it would be more than 11 years of academic achievements, proper research training and prayer. It took all those previous years of expertise combined to put all of this together
Have you experienced any setbacks in your career so far ?
DrHG: Yes, when my aunt and uncle ,who raised me , were diagnosed with cancer I stopped going to school. I went home to take care of my family. People would say “You have full scholarships and so on, your career...”. But my faith at that point was that God will provide for me and everything else will work out. My faith allowed me to put my family first. I was blessed with this idea that I will help millions of people. I would call it a setback over my initial account, but in high sight a set-up. A set-up for God’s purpose in my life. If that moment didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be where I am right now
Well, this so called pandemic COVID-19 is literally going “viral” , do you have any piece of advice for us ?
DrHG: Let me give a disclaimer that I’m a scientist and not a medical doctor, so I will speak from my perspective as a scientist and a medical scientist professional. We all need to self-quarantine for as long as possible. If we must interact with people who are not self-quarantined with us, we need to cover our airways and that in addition to all the recommandations like social distancing, washing your hands, and staying away from large crowds. Covering our airways is something the US has been downplayed and now we’re experiencing a shortage of facemasks . That is causing the virus to spread unneccessarily. I support to save those facemasks for medical and clinical workers. For us a bandana, scarf, schal is better than nothing. Even if it’s not that effective, it’s better than nothing, right ? The best advice I’ve heard was that everybody needs to act as if they already have the virus in order to protect others. Some may have it already without having symptoms
Lastly, we want to know about your foundation
DrHG: OraLee Cancer Research Foundation is on a mission to change the way cancer is treated and reduce the suffering of cancer patients by providing care that is affordable, accessable for all, and most importantly, effective. We are raising money to begin human trials with the technology that has shown complete elimination of tumors in mice. We are relying on the generosity of everyday donors and philantropists to make us their cancer charity of choice. With churches, organizations, and individual gifts to remember us as part of the legacy. Even shopping with us on Amazon Smiles and making us your charity of choice
website : https://oralee.org/drgreen/
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