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M ARTIN L UTHER K ING J R .
January 14, 2015
2015 special edition
Flu Season May
Become Worst Ever
continued
from page 21
2013. The flu usually peaks in
January and February, meaning
that this year's batch could be
worse than all previous years
Gallup has tracked.
One reason of concern is that
this year's influenza vaccine isn't
as effective as previous years.
The flu could also be peaking
early this year, like it did in 2009-
2010 when swine flu (H1N1)
was prevalent in October.
The Center of Disease Con-
trol says it’s not too late to get a
flu vaccine for this year’s un-
usually serious flu season.
Hispanics and lower-income
Americans were more likely to
report having the flu than blacks,
whites and people with higher
incomes. The Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention say
that 43 states are currently ex-
periencing a widespread flu out-
break, including Oregon and
Washington.
Cutting Edge Cancer Research
continued
from page 20
The research he is doing has
resulted in his start-up com-
pany, called Nzumbe, which
focuses on research designed
to accelerate the discovery of
breakthrough therapies in chal-
lenging diseases such as can-
cer.
“To accomplish this,” says
Pham, “we focus on a root cause
linked to many forms of cancer
known as epigenetic gene si-
lencing. When critical genes are
silenced (e.g., tumor suppressor
genes), a cancer cell can arise
and grow to form a tumor that
may spread throughout the body.
The niche we look to fill is to
identify drugs and other chemi-
cals that can restore stable life to
these zombie genes.”
In addition to heading up
Nzumbe, Pham works for Nike
as a patent liaison, where he
helps identify and capture new
innovation for the company based
in Beaverton. He also spends his
free time helping the Children’s
Cancer Therapy Development
Institute.
Pham was valedictorian at
Benson. He attended University
of Portland from 2004 through
2011.
Darkness cannot
drive out
darkness: only
light can do that.
-- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.