We so often hear the term “research” as it relates to cancer studies; but what does that really mean? Who does the research and where? Why is it important?

Today’s filming involved thousands of zebra fish. We filmed in the lab at the Ibio (Integrative Biosciences) Center at Wayne State University with the research team of Developmental Biologist Dr. Ryan Thummel, Environmental Toxicologist Dr. Tracie Baker and Dr. Jeffrey Taub, the Chief of Children’s Oncology of Michigan Children’s Hospital in Detroit.

Together they are studying zebra fish during their first few days of life to understand how environmental toxins could be affecting the growth of leukemia in children. This is a real concern of Dr. Taub because in his 30 years of helping children and families navigate through this often life-altering disease, he has seen a dramatic increase since the 70s.

There is hope that through this research and passion for answers, physicians will ultimately understand how and why children develop childhood leukemia and become aware of the early stages of the disease as well as identify which toxins in our environment can cause this rare blood cancer.

None of the front line cutting edge research work could be done without the support of Kids Without Cancer and the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Michigan.