My News

By Shiv Patel

This week’s blog invites me to reflect under the metaphor of a compass. Here’s where I’m currently standing.

N = New Information

One of the most surprising realizations I’ve had is how tenuous equity conversations are in precision oncology. I began this summer thinking the biggest challenge would be technical access – i.e., cost or availability of genomic classifiers in low-resource communities. That is certainly part of the calculus, but I have come to realize that an even greaterchallenge is representation within the data itself. What I’ve discovered in readings and discussions here is that the very algorithms we praise as “precise” can be blind to patients who were never seen in the first place – too frequently Black, rural, uninsured, or immigrant communities.I’ve also learned how complex implementation is. Even if a model performs well, it takes enormous interdisciplinary coordination for those innovations to be meaningfully adopted in clinical practice.

S = Self-Reflection and Evaluation

Since the start of Global Scholars and this internship, I’ve evolved from being just curious about equity in medicine to feeling urgently invested in it. My understanding of my community-based interest – closing access gaps in oncology for marginalized groups – has become more personal and multidimensional. I view myself as a bridge between two worlds: the world of cutting-edge clinical research and the communities that are left out of it. I’ve also become more comfortable owning what I don’t know. Early on, I attempted to “prove” I belonged in this space. But now I’m learning that humility and  listening are more valuable skills in research and advocacy than expertise in and of itself.

E = Environmental Influences

My environment this summer has been radically different than anything I’ve experienced before. I’m working at one of the most advanced cancer centers in the world, surrounded by technologies and researchers at the bleeding edge of science. But the contrast with my hometown in Florida – where oncology care is fragmented and limited – is striking. These two environments are shaping my capstone in real-time. Conversations with physicians and data scientists here have enabled me to understand institutional obstacles, and my own life experience enables me to filter those lessons through a health equity lens. My encounters have been both formal (lab meetings, interviews) and informal (hallway conversations, coffee discussions), but all have influenced how I frame my research question.

W = Where Do I Go from Here?

I have decided so far to center my capstone around two axes: access and implementation. I have begun developing an outline that examines not only the clinical potential of AI-powered radiation personalization, but also which populations it leaves out and in what ways. My objectives for this summer are to complete at least two interviews with Mayo clinicians who are working with precision planning and to generate an organized set of field notes detailing how decisions are made in real time during the treatment planning process. Looking ahead, I’m exploring the potential to submit a version of this project to an undergraduate research journal or health disparities conference. Most of all, I hope to carry this reflexive practice with me—because asking “why not here?” or “why not them? ” might just be the most important questions that I can keep asking.”.