Patients, Survivors, and Scientists Want to Find Out if Silicon Valley and A Dose of Comedy Can Help.
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON and PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- It sounds like the opening to a classic joke: "A cancer survivor, a scientist, and a doctor walk into a bar," but instead it's a groundbreaking 8-week Mindset and Metastatic Cancer Research Study utilizing artificial intelligence to investigate personalized stress reduction strategies for women with living with advanced cancer. This study is the brainchild of Saranne Rothberg, a stage IV cancer survivor and founder of The ComedyCures Foundation.
"Humor, laughter, play, meditation, yoga, breathing and visualization techniques were critical in reducing my stress, giving me more energy and hope as I fought through three cancer surgeries, 44 radiation treatments and two-plus years of chemotherapy beginning in 1999," recounts Rothberg, who is now cancer-free.
As part of this study, she is inviting others living with a metastatic diagnosis to create an individualized stress management and relaxation self-care plan, informed by artificial intelligence, to improve their quality of life. Rothberg sought out the help of Dr. Katherine Grill, a neuroscientist and co-founder of Neolth, an award-winning Silicon Valley digital health platform. Dr. Grill explains, "Mental health is often overlooked when clinicians create treatment plans for cancer patients. I wanted to make mental health support more accessible to patients. We are excited to be adding Saranne's expertise and fun strategies, plus original ComedyCures content, to our Neolth platform as part of this important study."