STEAMLabs International<\/a>, the nonprofit behind Tumor Tactics. He has conducted cancer biology research at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and at Cambridge University\u2019s Cancer Research Institute, and lives in Carmel Valley with his parents and younger sister. He took some time to talk about his interest in science, the kind of work that went into creating their card game, and how critical it\u2019s been to his success to have supportive people who share your passion and are committed to the same goals.<\/p>\nQ:\u00a0Can you briefly walk us through how Tumor Tactics works?<\/p>\n
A: In the game, each player acts as a doctor, so the goal of this game is to play a bunch of different cards in order to, ultimately, treat your own cancer patient. Each player starts with three tumors in front of them\u2014a lung, colon, and skin tumor\u2014and the players will then have to draw different types of cards to be able to target and deal damage to each tumor, essentially. They\u2019ll be able to use tactic cards or utility cards, as well as event cards. Tactic cards represent tumors and cancer-fighting actions, like chemotherapy or surgery. Utility cards include cards that don\u2019t deal direct damage, but would include cards like diagnostic scans or an increase in research funding, which will allow someone to gain more tactic cards to deal direct damage to the tumors. Event cards will introducing things like a new breakthrough discovery just came out, or new results from a clinical trial.<\/p>\n
For example, chemotherapy can deal damage to any tumor, but it requires a dice roll because, just like broad treatments in real life, it would be something that doctors don\u2019t know exactly know how it would work out. There\u2019d be some uncertainty in the clinical trials, as well as event cards like a new carcinogen that would introduce new cancer cards into the deck. Or, an IT outage would scramble everyone\u2019s hand, which would represent the real unpredictable nature that doctors would have be able to navigate every day if there was an outage at the hospital, or patients records were scrambled. We\u2019re trying to simulate what happens in real life to try to make it as accurate as possible. Then, utility cards include advanced screenings or a second opinion; these would reward you for planning ahead because you\u2019ll be able to see the next three cards coming up. If you see a tumor card, or you see a very strong tactic card, you\u2019ll be able to plan around that to choose the strongest cards to treat your patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0This project came through your STEAMLabs International organization? Tell us about it.<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0STEAMLabs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by youth, for youth. We aim to bring free experiment kits, fun events, STEM-in-a-box activities, science camps, library events, and school workshops to underserved youth across the United States, and even internationally, to help bridge that STEM access gap that I experienced growing up and seeing how our teachers cared about us, but how overworked they were, how they often didn\u2019t have the most funding or access to the best resources to have the hands-on approach that we strive for in STEAMLabs. At my high school, we\u2019re given those resources for these amazing, rigorous STEM classes, and I\u2019m so grateful that I\u2019m able to have that experience, but I also know that the resources at Title I schools are so much thinner. There are very few after school programs, and reduced time for science classes, very little access to hands-on activities in biology or chemistry. I moved around a lot\u2014from China to Portland to Houston to all of these different cities. We jumped around a lot because my dad was a postdoc, so we had to move whenever there was job instability, but I was able to connect with all of these friends in these cities, so we have chapters for STEAMLabs. We\u2019ve been able to expand to a total of 18 chapters across 11 cities in seven states, and we also have a partnership with Henosis International, based in Nigeria, where we\u2019ve shipped experiment kits to primary school students there. We\u2019ve hosted over 150 events, including summer camps and workshops, and we\u2019re presenting at the Science Summit at the end of this month, educating kids about biology and chemistry, and how they can make an impact in their own communities by starting their own organizations.<\/p>\n
What I love about Carmel Valley\u2026<\/p>\n
Just the fact\u00a0that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so close to everything. I walk everywhere\u00a0and if I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0walk, I take a bike. I can get to my school, to the park,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a gym, there\u2019s The Village, the mall is right there, Trader Joe\u2019s is right there.\u00a0There are a ton of restaurants around, and all of my friends live pretty close, as well.\u00a0Having everything so close is so awesome because whenever I want, I can just hit my friends up and be like, \u201cHey, you\u00a0wanna\u00a0hang out?\u201d and it takes 10 minutes\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0hanging out.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0super convenient.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0Can you talk a bit about the process for conceptualizing, designing, and producing this game? It seems like it would take a long time and a lot of research to make sure it was sensitive to the seriousness of cancer while still being something kids would want to play and enjoy playing, while also making sure the complicated science was simple enough to understand and remained accurate.<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0Oh yeah, it took us a lot of time with iterations, I think we probably went through 10 or 20 different iterations of it. We really started around August of last year. We started with the idea of we love card games, we love teaching about science, so how can we combine that? We came up with this idea to make a card game teaching kids about different cancer treatments. That was our inspiration.<\/p>\n
We started off by doing a ton of research about different cancer treatments. Also, we had a lot of help from Zach\u2019s mom (Tumor Tactics co-creator, Zachary Tou), who\u2019s a physician, as well as our AP Biology teacher, who answered all of our questions. We\u2019re learning about all these different scientific terms in her class, and she was also a club advisor for Tumor Tactics and STEAMLabs, so she really helped us come up with the best way to explain all the different cancer treatments. We really started off with just a giant spreadsheet with all of the colors we wanted in the game, and to keep track of all the cards that we had. Once we had a good draft of that, we made prototypes of it. We literally just designed in on Canva, modeling it, the name of the card and one sentence about what it does in the game, and then we\u2019d go to the local library and book a room after school. We\u2019d bring snacks or buy some pizza for everyone, and then brainstorm over dinner and just play test the game for 30 or 40 minutes, or an hour. We\u2019d just repeat this over and over again. After about a month or two, and constant iterations, we printed it out and cut the cards out, and had a solid prototype. Our official art for the game was designed by Carina Wu, our chief design officer, and she\u2019s such an amazing artist. She designed all the sketches for the art and then we literally modeled it up on Canva. Then, we just started reaching out to a ton of card game manufacturers, pitching our idea. We were very nervous being high schoolers; we were not expecting anyone to really respond. We really just wanted to give kids the explanation that we never really had growing up and experiencing cancer personally, in a way that they would enjoy it, that kids would want to pick up and play, so we really were nervous when we were reaching out. We hopped on calls, we met with a bunch of these manufacturers, and two of them were super amazing supporters and helped us. It was such a blast, but it was also so difficult because we were just building this entire game from scratch. We\u2019re all just teenagers, balancing junior year, very intense extracurriculars, but we grew so much closer during this whole process. Our whole team, we would just hang out, laugh and play the card game, start new strategies, and it was just such a fun process to be able to see a product that we made really come to life after such a long amount of time prototyping it and doing all that. It was so awesome.<\/p>\n
Before that, we had no idea if this was going to work. We were super stressed out through the whole prototyping process, we wanted to give up at times. We\u2019d have to start over at ground zero, but Zach and the team were encouraging me, giving pep talks, we gave each other pep talks. If we were feeling discouraged after a long session where we felt \u00a0no progress, it was like, \u2018OK, do we even want to continue with this? Is this even possible? Like, we\u2019re high schoolers, what can we do?\u2019 But, as we saw it really come to life and we got those \u201caha\u201d moments, it really pushed our confidence so much. Now, I feel like I can like handle anything. I\u2019m so excited for college or for what\u2019s next because I really believe that if you just put your mind to it, no matter what your age is, you can do anything that you put your mind to. Within reason, of course, but that was truly such a life-changing experience. I really would recommend anyone who has an idea for something you want to make, just go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I think it truly is such an invaluable experience, I would not trade this for anything. I\u2019m so grateful and I could not have done it without all my friends. It was such a blast throughout the whole process.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0How are you defining success at it relates to Tumor Tactics?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0I really do think our primary metric of success is just seeing that \u201caha\u201d moment in these students. For example, this summer when we were hosting workshops at Deer Canyon Elementary School, or going to the San Diego County Fair, we start all of our workshops with a short like quiz that asks them what chemotherapy is, or what they know about cancer. They fill that out and pass it in, and after our lesson and after they played through the game, we\u2019d have a slideshow teaching them more about different cancer treatments in a way that\u2019s accessible. They\u2019d take the same quiz again, and we were able to see huge jumps in their levels of education. I believe our averages for most of our events were around 37% to 43%, and at the end they were scoring 85% to 90%. We were able to see those kids discuss what they were learning, seeing how the game would prompt these very thoughtful questions in these children, where they were asking if they could combine chemotherapy with a surgical scan, or a biopsy to identify tumors before they come up. We\u2019d see them have these conversations with their friends and laughing when they realized how it works, or celebrating when they were able to successfully treat the tumor. We always have open discussions at the end for 10 or 15 minutes where the kids can share any experiences they\u2019ve had with cancer, and we were shocked at how many of them just wanted someone to be there to listen to them and relate to them, to hear their stories of grandparents or parents, aunts or uncles, going through cancer. It was so touching and it made me think that even if Tumor Tactics fell apart tomorrow, which I don\u2019t think it will, I know I made a difference in these kids\u2019 lives. That, truly, is our definition of success.<\/p>\n
Also, the kids are so creative. When we were playing and testing the game, we thought we were identifying all the different loopholes or combinations and strategies that someone could come up with. Then, our first workshop back in March at Deer Canyon, the first time the kids played through the game, we were shocked at how many different combinations and loopholes they found, ways to quickly treat their tumors. Honestly? It humbled me a lot because we thought we were going to go in and teach these kids, but they have so much they can teach us, as well. We\u2019re not just pouring into these kids, they\u2019re pouring into us, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0What are your plans after high school and for your career?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0I really do want to explore anything. I really want a liberal arts curriculum where I\u2019m exploring and taking classes in every subject. I am interested in science, in writing, business, economics, and I also love biology and chemistry. I really want to be able to pursue a field that would allow me to do scientific research, as well as being able to have face-to-face interactions with students or patients. Right now, my plan would be to go to the healthcare field, being a doctor, but I\u2019ve really been looking at joint programs for MD\/PhD programs. Being a physician-scientist would be the goal because I do want to have that ability to do breakthrough discoveries in fields that are able to really make an impact in people\u2019s lives, as well as being able to like help explain those complicated topics to patients. I really just want to be able to do something interdisciplinary. I love just learning about random things, getting lost in rabbit holes or on Wikipedia, or whatever. I would love to be a teacher, as well, especially in elementary school because I do think that teachers can be so influential in kids\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0What other kinds of activities are you involved in, or do you even have time for?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a great question. I definitely have so many other interests. I love playing piano and I\u2019ve been playing for 11 years now. I\u2019ve performed at a bunch of different venues, and I was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall this year, so music has been such an influential part of my life. I also love just hanging with my friends. I love playing sports, I love playing badminton with my dad, and I love running. I love working out, hitting the gym, and I\u2019m also very interested in policy and politics.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m part of the Youth Advisory Board for the California Coalition for Youth, which is a nonprofit for youth homelessness and housing insecurity, which is something that I felt very close to growing up on food stamps, and seeing so many of my friends struggle through youth housing insecurity issues. I\u2019ve been able to testify at hearings at the California State Capitol, as well as being able to advocate for new policies and bills. We were actually just able to successfully get a bill passed for the creation of the California Office of Youth Homelessness Prevention. That was an awesome experience that we had.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also the president of the peer tutoring club at my school, as well as HANG (Healing the Aged with Notes and Gratitude). Every month, we perform at senior homes and we bring classical music to these seniors every month. I\u2019m also the executive editor for the Catalyst Science Magazine at my high school, where we publish articles about cancer, about AI, new scientific developments that are happening all the time. I\u2019m so grateful; the only reason I can even handle all of these things is because I have such an amazing, supportive network of my friends and other people who we\u2019re all able to rely on and depend on each other. You can get so much done with a group of three to four core friends.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0What is the best advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0Figure out what you love to do, and surround yourself with people who are just as motivated and passionate as you are. Having a group of people who share your same interests, share your same motivations and goals, being able to have that support group around you to so they can pour into you and you can pour into them, that is just so helpful. I would not be able to do anything that I have now without the support of the people around me, especially with my parents. I\u2019m so grateful to them, they\u2019ve always been so supportive. So, just surround yourself with a group of people who are just as motivated and passionate as you are, and just go for it.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0Obviously, I\u2019m very STEM-y, but I love just goofing around. I know I can be very serious when I\u2019m teaching or doing all this heavy science stuff, but I always saw myself as more of the class clown. I always want to make people laugh. I always want to find ways to make these kids laugh, make them have fun, break the tension. I think that might be something that isn\u2019t as apparent at first because I\u2019m very serious if you don\u2019t know me as well, so I think that\u2019d be pretty surprising\u2014I\u2019m a goofball.<\/p>\n
Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0Wake up at 9 a.m., get breakfast, go to the gym with my friends, hang out and grab lunch in The Village (at Pacific Highlands Ranch). I love Burger Lounge; their kids\u2019 meal is such a great deal. You get a huge burger, fries, ice cream, and a giant drink, all for only like $9. I\u2019m not sponsored, I promise (laughs). That\u2019s my ideal lunch, I get it every week. After lunch, I\u2019ll go to the park and play with my sister because we\u2019re very close. Since I\u2019m a senior now, I\u2019m working on college applications for a couple hours, even though that\u2019s not an ideal weekend. Plan out any events for Tumor Tactics or clubs at school, meet with my STEAMLabs board of directors on Sunday, getting updates on how our chapters are doing, news from our collaborators. Then, just hang out with my family, watch a movie, chill at home with my parents. Honestly, just very low key.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Zhang remembers sitting across the table from his grandma when he was 4 years old, playing mahjong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[1919,181,23,100,592,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":["post-461709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-columns","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-people","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-top-stories-sdut"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}