Months After Chemotherapy, MD/PhD Student Bikes 50 Miles for Cancer Research

Bryan Weselman (M'30, G'30) is pursuing a dual MD and Ph.D. degree program at Georgetown. Photo by Alyssa Bielinski.

Halfway through his 50-mile bike ride, Bryan Weselman (M'30, G'30) looked up.

Dotted along the side of the road were signs. They had quotes like, "My dad taught me how to ride a bike. Today I am riding for him," written by family members of people who had had cancer. He began to tear up. He remembered why he was biking BellRinger, a ride to raise money for cancer research.

"I started to think how fortunate I am to continue with my life, and there are a lot of people who aren't that lucky," he said. "I want people to have the same opportunity that I do to bounce back and have the sigh of relief that it's over."

Just a few months earlier, Weselman had been a cancer patient himself.

A year and a half into medical school at Georgetown, he was diagnosed with cancer. Weselman was pursuing his M.D./Ph.D. in the Tumor Biology program, and was a few months away from beginning the Ph.D. track of the dual degree program.

While his classmates studied for an exam, he underwent chemotherapyat Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. He couldn't play soccer or see friends as often as he used to. He had trouble focusing while studying. He was exhausted just walking around his house.

"I was much more restricted than I thought I'd be," he said. "I was isolated from a lot of people, which is a small price to pay, but small things I didn't know."

Weselman had taken courses on cancer in medical school and worked in cancer research labs prior to coming to Georgetown. Medically, he knew what was happening to his body. He just didn't know how it would feel.

"I would watch my white blood cell counts fluctuate, and sometimes I thought it was cool," he said. "Other times, it was frightening, because I know how few cells that is to have."

Weselman took time off for treatment, and when he finished, he studied at an expedited rate to stay on track. He passed the first of his medical boards, and in April 2024, began the Ph.D. track of his program alongside his classmates.

Sharpening His End Goal

This fall, Weselman began researching cancer at Georgetown Lombardi, the same place he was treated as a cancer patient.

Working in the lab of Alejandro Villagra, he's trying to better understand how a specific type of immune cell can help or hurt a tumor. The research team aims to identify cells in human tumors and predict whether a patient will be responsive to immunotherapy treatment - and if not, can they choose a treatment with fewer harmful side effects?

That question is always in the back of Weselman's mind.

"How do we figure out how to do the least damage to the rest of our body and the most damage to the tumor?" he said. "Having experienced it, I know what side effects bothered me the most. That's something I'm thinking about when I'm investigating potential new therapeutics."

Weselman's experience with cancer has motivated him to pursue oncology. And, he said, it will make him a more empathetic oncologist.

"Everybody has a completely different background and completely different experiences, but at least I have a small taste of what it's like," he said. "I think I'll be better able to hear patients' concerns and address those concerns."

A Survivor's Win

Photo by Nina Shelton. Courtesy of Bryan Weselman.

Back in the ride, Weselman rounded 35 miles. He had 15 to go. He started to think about what his body had gone through, and what it was doing now. He kicked it into high gear.

"I wanted to push myself and do it for all the people who can't."

Weselman finished the ride in three hours and celebrated with classmates afterward. He walked away with a feeling of pride in his body for accomplishing this physical feat. And he was excited about the funding raised for cancer research - $4.3 million since 2022.

"Hopefully our research and fundraising will eventually get people to this point where they can bounce back from such a low to such a high and be able to spread that ability through generations of people to come," he said.

Weselman doesn't plan to stop riding. He's eyeing the 100-miler next year.

"I don't see why not," he said.

Photo courtesy of Bryan Weselman.

Editor's Note: The first photo in the story is by Alyssa Bielinski.

Tagged

• Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
• School of Medicine