From a graduate student who couldn't reliably spell ”genetics” to the scientist who provided the first experimental evidence for the class of gene now called ”tumor suppressors” — Dr. Webster ”Web” Cavenee's career changed how we understand and treat cancer.

In this episode, Dr. Cavenee sits down with NFCR President & CEO Dr. Sujuan Ba to trace a friendship and scientific partnership that's spanned more than 25 years — starting with a name Cavenee accidentally botched at a conference podium. From there, the conversation moves through his landmark discovery of the first tumor suppressor gene, the family who inspired it, and a moment in a Stockholm operating room that changed the direction of his entire career.

They also dig into the origin story of GBM AGILE — the adaptive clinical trial model that took over a decade, $100 million, and no shortage of skeptics to get off the ground, and is now running in more than 100 institutions across the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Canada.

A conversation about risk, collaboration, and what it actually takes to move cancer research from the lab to the patient.