Mary Jue Xu, MD

News reports by Joanne Silberner and the work of the Global Task Force for Cancer Care and Control initially highlighted the growing global needs of cancer patients.  Learning how a diagnosis of curable breast cancer, for example, was a death sentence in resource-constrained settings, even though affordable therapies existed, was infuriating to me.  So when I was given the opportunity to learn from mentors such as Franklin Huang, Ami Bhatt and Amy Judd in the Global Oncology community, I was grateful for a chance to help spread awareness of global cancer care needs to the Boston community.

Working with Amy Judd, I helped organize the inaugural GO Talk featuring Dr. Paul Farmer in November 2012.  Franklin Huang was my research mentor at the time, and I was lucky to have met him when he and Ami Bhatt, the co-founders of GO, were creating their organization.

I have been most grateful for the mentors and friends I have met from the GO community. Role models such as the co-founders of GO and classmates like Mounica and Shekinah Elmore show me how they navigate their careers and incorporate their passion for global oncology.