When asked to describe the field of comparative oncology, Carolyn Henry says, “You would probably get a different definition depending on who you ask that question, [but] when we think of comparative oncology here at the Vet School, we think of treating animals that develop cancer on their own just like people do and finding ways to treat that cancer better and that may translate into better treatments for people as well.” Henry’s interest in oncology began while she was working in private practice as a veterinarian. “It seemed like the cancer patients were the ones I found the most interesting and the most rewarding to treat,” she explains of her decision to pursue training and certification in veterinary oncology.

M. Heather Carver is framed by her clown shadow—a black mannequin head wearing a pink camouflage hat and red clown’s nose—as she joyfully begins to describe her place at MU. “I come from a background of performing,” the Associate Professor of Theatre offers. “As a means of studying something, we perform it.” As a way of studying autobiography, for example, Carver performs autobiography.

Heather Carver describes herself as “a performance studies artist/scholar,” someone who investigates an issue through performance—“so we study autobiography, and we do autobiographical performance.” Carver teaches several kinds of creative writing, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in adaptation and performance of literature for theatre and the screen. She also co-directs the Writing for Performance Program, which helps students adapt different kinds of writing for the stage or screen, including poetry, short stories, autobiography, or ethnography. And Carver serves as creator and artistic director of the Life and Literature Performance series to showcase original and adapted work by MU students for the stage.

One of Carver’s research areas involves “auto-performance”—a style that “brings the self to task in writing and in performance.” Whether this involves the autobiography or autoethnography, “performative writing is very much a part of it, because you’re writing about yourself.” Rather than taking other people’s perspectives and points of view, Carver tries to make clear her position from the get-go: “What I try to do in my performative writing is say, ‘this is about me,’… Because I really just want to write about what I’m experiencing for people to understand as a way of opening the conversation.”

Henry explains that “when we think of comparative oncology here at the Vet School, we think of treating animals that develop cancer on their own just like people do, finding ways to treat that cancer better, and translating our discoveries into better treatments for people as well.”

Under the umbrella of the National Cancer Institute, 13 universities were chosen to participate in the Comparative Oncology Trial Consortium, which conducts research trials to develop new and better cancer treatments.

Henry is also involved in a number of research projects outside of the COTC, focusing on spontaneously occurring cancer in animals, more specifically breast cancer, bone cancer, and bladder cancer. Chuckling, she remarks, “so I guess any tumor that starts with a ‘b’ is what I’m focused on right now.”

Some of the collaborative efforts Henry has been a part of include research with pharmaceutical companies, the MU Research Reactor, and the Veterinary Cancer Society.

A prevalent attitude about comparative oncology at MU is the concept of one medicine: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a dog, a cat, or a person. If you have cancer you’re fighting the same disease, and so let’s work together and find a cure for it no matter what the species.”

The veterinary oncology program at MU is growing very quickly: “Right now we’ve got four boarded veterinary oncologists, a veterinary radiation therapist, and residents and interns that are interested in oncology.” In September 2006, the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital opened a Cell Culture Lab that has made tumor cell research easier to conduct. The Barkley House, Henry’s brainchild, is in the first stages of becoming a reality.

Henry gives a tour of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, including the Cell Culture Lab, the oncology ward, radiation therapy, and CT scans.

Whether their work seeks to counter domestic violence and ethnic genocide, identify cancer treatments, or employ literature and music to understand humanity, these MU faculty describe in their own words why this work is important to society.