An Open Letter to My Daughter

An open letter to my daughter.

The author writes a poignant "open" letter to her daughter about her experience with breast cancer, the family legacy of breast cancer, and the impact of learning there is a BRCA1 mutation in the family.

In defense of my lazy and entitled generation: an open letter to my elders.

That’s easy: 2001. My freshman year of college. I spent that year discussing religion and politics over eggs in diners at 2 AM. I found freedom in the simplicity of dorm life, comfort in the company of friends, and happiness in the occasional beverage. I learned to use a charcoal grill and to hit a Wiffl e ball, with great reliability, all the way over the bike path to the Tome Science Building...

Letting my daughter go.

I always knew Daisy would die before reaching adulthood. She was my fourth child, born prematurely in December 2004 with a severe form of rare genetic condition called Costello syndrome. Daisy required complex care, but every decision about her care was made on the basis of improving the quality of her life, which meant helping her do the things she loved, such as being at home with her family,...

An open letter to cancer researchers.

OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS, PANEL DISCUSsions have been held to propose recommendations to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) regarding critical initiatives in cancer biology. One outcome was a proposal for a new initiative, the Human Cancer Genome Project (HCGP) (1). This program involves systematically analyzing genomic alterations in large numbers of human tumors to determine both common genet...

An open letter to the scientific journals