One key area of expertise for Dr. Hurlbert is translating complicated science into terms that all audiences — the general public, patients, donors, media, and partners — can understand. A critical component of successful scientific communications is incorporating visualization tools to help viewers and readers understand the content.
Contact meTo engage patients and the public in scientific research, it is key to translate the science into terms they can understand. For example, in explaining "next-generation drugs," Dr. Hurlbert uses the analogy of smartphones. The first iPhone was released in 2007. That is the "first generation" of a completely new class of phones. Today, the iPhone 11 is the latest generation of that class of phones.
Another technique is to lay out "breakthroughs" along a timeline. While at BCRF, Dr. Hurlbert helped the organization educate the public through its Impact Timeline, as well as prepare customized updates for donors interested in prevention research, new treatments, and how math and artificial intelligence is being deployed in breast cancer research.
Cancer patients interested in clinical trials often find it challenging to identify trials that might be a fit for them. The federal listing of all trials - ClinicalTrials.gov - is known to be challenging to navigate.
To simplify identifying clinical trials for patients with metastatic breast cancer, Dr. Hurlbert and collaborators developed an innovative "bubble chart." Using bubbles of different colors and sizes, and unique sorting functions, a user could identify trials in a matter of a few seconds. Shown here, for example, are Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for patients with HER2+ breast cancer (the blue and green bubbles under HER2+ shown below.
Users can hover over a bubble to pull up more information, and also click on the bubble to be taken to a site with more detailed information and how to contact the clinical trial coordinators.
