Music Beats Cancer Shines Spotlight on New Cancer-Fighting Technologies in “After School Tech Talks”
What if new technology could make cancerous tumors more susceptible to chemotherapy? What if scientists could disrupt communication among cancer cells, thereby stopping their ability to metastasize?
These are some of the problems biomedical startups are trying to solve. Without adequate funding, however, these startups will run out of cash and be forced to shut down. The world will never know if their solutions could have worked, and patients will never benefit from their next-generation cancer-fighting treatments.
That’s why Dr. Mona Jhaveri, a former cancer researcher, founded her nonprofit Music Beats Cancer, which has successfully raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for biomedical startups working on cancer-fighting solutions. Her latest initiative, a series of entertaining YouTube videos called “After School Tech Talks,” inspires audiences with innovative ideas for fighting cancer.
The Importance of public awareness for cancer-fighting research
Dr. Jhaveri knows how disappointing it can be when real solutions for fighting cancer disappear due to lack of funding. Her own potential treatment for ovarian cancer, an extremely deadly disease for women, met that fate.
“As a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, my lab had discovered a novel DNA therapy that could potentially be used for the treatment of certain cancers,” Dr. Jhaveri shares. “To advance the innovation, I decided to launch a startup in hopes that this innovation would make it to cancer patients one day. In that journey, I realized just how difficult it is to translate science from a discovery to a real, life-saving solution. One of the biggest hurdles is simply raising enough money to prove principle, and that’s where my startup fell apart.”
Dr. Jhaveri has rededicated her life to raising funds for other biomedical startups working on promising cancer treatments. “Thousands of startups like mine fall apart every year,” she says. “There’s no shortage of great ideas, but there is a shortage of funding required to test the validity of these new discoveries. I started Music Beats Cancer to create an untapped funding stream for great ideas for fighting cancer.”
While Music Beats Cancer’s unique peer-to-peer model has proven itself over the years, Dr. Jhaveri faced a lot of skepticism in the beginning. Critics maintained the public wasn’t capable of understanding the science behind these innovations and, therefore, wouldn’t provide financial support.
Dr. Jhaveri disagreed. “The big question is: is it possible for regular people who are not academics to understand a new DNA treatment, a new cell therapy, or a new diagnostic and find it compelling enough to support?” she says. “I said yes, and the industry and others said no.”
According to Dr. Jhaveri, people do not need to understand the scientific minutia to grasp an innovation’s promise to benefit patients. To make it even easier for non-scientists to engage with these exciting ideas, Music Beats Cancer has launched “After School Tech Talks” on YouTube.
Music Beats Cancer’s “After School Tech Talks”
Seeking new ways to raise the public’s consciousness of cancer-fighting research and development, Dr. Jhaveri turned to a friend in marketing who suggested she host a question-and-answer session with the innovators.
“I thought, ‘A Q&A is a great idea,’” Dr. Jhaveri says, “except talking to scientific innovators tends to be boring. They speak monotonously about the details of their science. But what if the people asking the questions were kids? Kids are unfiltered, so this would force a more engaging and fun conversation. Plus, if kids understand the science underpinning the technology, then everyone will understand it. This would inspire the public to learn more and participate in the innovation process — something that has never been done before.”
The initial spark for “After School Tech Talks” had been lit. To date, Music Beats Cancer has released two piloted episodes of the show, which is hosted by comedian and former science teacher Chris Grant.
“The kids judge the scientist’s answer with a thumbs up or a thumbs down,” Dr. Jhaveri explains. “If the innovator gets at least five thumbs up, then Music Beats Cancer donates $5,000 to their campaign.”
If that wasn’t enough, each episode of “After School Tech Talks” ends with a surprise visit from a popular influencer. “They pop into the live stream to encourage the kids to keep getting involved, asking hard questions, and fighting cancer,” Dr. Jhaveri explains. “This is a great way to reach thousands of young people because the influencers post about the show and give their followers a chance to become student judges on it themselves.”
In addition to the two episodes currently available on YouTube, Dr. Jhaveri will add a new episode each month of the academic year starting in January 2025.
“After School Tech Talks” educate as they entertain
Music Beats Cancer’s “After School Tech Talks” provides an entertaining way for kids, parents, and the public to learn about cutting-edge biotechnology in the anti-cancer space. It also gives kids an unprecedented level of agency to question scientific innovators. Moreover, this free STEM experience can potentially reach thousands of young people, inspiring the next generation of anti-cancer pioneers.
Someday, cancer patients could actually take advantage of the effective new treatments and technologies that Music Beats Cancer’s campaigns support. If so, “After School Tech Talks” will be a large part of why.
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About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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