UAB cancer biology undergraduate student presents at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium

UAB cancer biology undergraduate student Emma Hendrix attended the ASCO Quality Care Symposium October 27, 2023, to present her research poster “Evaluating shared-decision making among women with metastatic breast cancer.” One detail made this opportunity uniquely special however: She presented her research with her grandfather, oncologist Patrick Daugherty, M.D., in attendance.

Hendrix reflected that her grandfather’s legacy of cancer treatment was an inspiration to her when she first decided to study cancer biology, citing the summers she worked in his clinic as foundational to her interest.

“It made me really love that environment and feel drawn to doing something with oncology,” she said. “When I told him my abstract was accepted and I was going to have a poster presentation, he said, ‘Well, I want to come.’” Daugherty has been a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology for more than 30 years and was one of the first oncologists to establish a practice in Florence, Alabama; he is an oncologist at Florence’s Clearview Cancer Institute.

At the event, Hendrix presented her poster alongside the rest of her team and her mentor, Dr. Gabrielle Rocque, M.D. “She’s the best mentor,” Hendrix said. “I’m so impressed by all the work that she does, both on the clinical side and in the research world.”

Hendrix graduates from UAB in the spring of 2024, and she is planning to continue her research on Rocque’s team while pursuing a master’s degree. “I love what I’m doing, and I love our team,” she said. “You have moments in your life that remind you that you’re on the right path or kind of point you in a direction or fuel these passions and make you see what’s important to you.”

—Mackenzie Sexton