UCSC News: From Survivor to Scientist
A Sibling Duo's Fight Against Pediatric Cancer
Robert McCabe and his sisters. Robert has survived pediatric brain cancer and thyroid cancer.
Robert McCabe, a 15-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, has experienced the ravages of cancer first-hand. A pediatric cancer survivor himself, Robert was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a form of pediatric brain cancer, at the age of three. Sadly, his mother succumbed to melanoma a few years later. Notably, this summer, Robert delved into pediatric cancer research, working alongside his older sister, Molly, a junior researcher at UC Santa Cruz's Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative, to sequence and analyze a tumor sample. The goal of this initiative is to leverage genomics to improve outcomes for pediatric cancer patients. The siblings' efforts focused on the development of Treehouse's capability to sequence tumor specimens using a new DNA sequencer in the Colligan Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory.
Robert works in the lab alongside Treehouse Lab Manager Anouk van den Bout. (Photo by Krizia Chambers)
The McCabe family's tragic encounters with cancer have shaped Molly's academic and career pursuits. During her undergraduate studies at UCSC, she collaborated with Associate Professor Olena Vaske, primarily on a project highlighting an innovative technique for identifying brain tumors. Post this venture, Molly continued her work with the Treehouse Initiative, a project that had historically collaborated with institutions like Stanford Medicine for sequencing data. However, recently, with Treehouse Lab Manager Anouk van den Bout, Molly embarked on the mission to establish a protocol allowing researchers to extract and analyze RNA sequencing data directly from tumor samples. Working with Robert, they made significant progress, with their work potentially guiding treatment strategies in collaboration with pediatric cancer hospitals. Reflecting on her experiences, Molly plans to further her studies in medicine, aspiring to become a pediatric oncologist, drawing from her personal journey to aid children with cancer and their families.