10 Jan Battling colorectal cancer as a doctor, researcher and patient
Deming, ACI/Schwenn Family associate professor in the Division of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care at UW School of Medicine and Public Health, did not plan to treat patients when he started medical school — much of his experience had been in laboratory medicine, and he enjoyed it. It was having a faculty mentor who split his time between research work and seeing patients that gave Deming a new purpose.
“I got to see how the work I was doing in the lab provided hope for patients,” Deming said. “I could see how the time in the clinic provided new directions and urgency for the research in the lab. They kind of fed off each other, which I found extremely rewarding.”
His professional focus on colorectal cancer — the third most common cancer in the U.S. — took on a personal aspect in 2012, when he received his own diagnosis at age 31. Read more…