MARP 2023: Stephanie and Garhett
Stephanie Walker, Advocate and Garhett Wyatt, Researcher
From a Researcher’s Perspective – Garhett Wyatt
The Metastatic Breast Cancer Research Conference (MBCRC) has become my favorite conference to attend for a number of reasons but working with patient advocates is by far the best part. At the 2017 conference in Houston, I met Dr. Traci Lyons, and we have been collaborating ever since. In 2021 and 2022, I was introduced to a number of patient advocates, specifically Julia Maues and Christine Hodgdon, the GRASP co-founders. This past MBCRC, I was partnered with Stephanie Walker in the inaugural Advocate Researcher Program (MARP). We immediately hit it off during the introduction portion of the conference. It was truly an honor to sit with Stephanie during the conference. As a researcher, it is rather easy to not realize the “real-world aspects” of the diseases that we study. In 2022, Julia and Christine mentioned the drug I was treating cells with have horrible side effects for patients. We can read about them in clinical trial reports, but to be completely honest, I had no idea how awful grade 2 and 3 diarrhea can be. Stephanie did not hesitate to further explain life with metastatic breast cancer. I was surprised to learn that screenings and biopsies are often out of pocket expense for patients, a huge endeavor for many patients and families. Throughout the talks, Stephanie would ask questions about the data being presented and I tried my best to explain the science and research behind the data. This conference and the work that is done by other PI’s and Patient Advocates help to bridge the gap between the science bench and the real world. I only hope to continue these relationships here at Texas A&M by bridging the science we uncover daily to the reality of the disease we seek to understand. Stephanie and I also connected on our combined dislike for statistics. Stephanie said, “Oh, I do not like p-values”. I laughed pretty hard because statistics are also the bane of a scientist’s existence. We ended up chatting about clinical significance opposed to statistical significance. Furthermore, Stephanie elaborated on her disdain for stats and numbers. She made it clear that no patient wants to be “just a number” in a data set. While this seems obvious, it is still eye opening from a researcher’s standpoint. As I prepare experiments that take place in a plastic cell culture dish, I think about the impact these studies may have one day to improve therapeutic treatments and overall prognosis of women like Stephanie. There is no doubt in my mind that every single person doing research would benefit from conversations and interactions with patient advocates.
From a Patient Advocate’s Perspective - Stephanie Walker
The Metastatic Breast Cancer Research Conference initiated a new program that pairs researcher and patient advocates. Finally, my own researcher who sat beside me during multiple presentations of new research regarding MBC.
I was able to ask Garhett Wyatt questions that I didn’t understand or was able to share lived experiences regarding a discussed topic. I continue to be amazed that researchers are just as nervous to ask us (patients) question as I am of asking them questions. I hope that I was a bit more relaxed later on the first day after again expressing my dislike of statistics related to MBC. Patients aren’t numbers, we are living breathing people who struggle each day to have a good day. Some struggle more than others. The struggle is why we need to have up-close relationships with those in the lab. We want them to put a face on all of their research and know it will help us one day.
Garhett was very open about his limited experience with patient advocate even though he had participated in a GRASP program. Our conversation circled around to the dreaded p-value conversation and I was able to finally get some understanding regarding clinical significance and statistical significance. I’m hoping to continue our relationship and maybe be able to visit the lab is works in at Texas A & M.
