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From left to right: UNMC scientist, Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., Dr.Sc., with friends, Angie Miller and her husband, Dave, in 2005. Dr. Kabanov said Angie Miller’s struggle with cancer has given him greater conviction in his research of the disease. |
Miller and Dr. Kabanov are from different worlds. Miller grew up in Omaha, and Kabanov in Russia under communist rule. In the 1990s, Dr. Kabanov pursued opportunities in the United States and now is a researcher at UNMC. The friendship between their families began with their daughters’ involvement in figure skating then became stronger when Miller was diagnosed with cancer four years ago.
“We’re the same people. We care about the same things,” Miller said. “We thought of Russia growing up as our enemy and he was thinking bad things about the United States. Medicine is not just about the people in Russia or the U.S., it’s helping mankind across the world.”
Dr. Kabanov, a scientist trying to find better ways to treat cancer and other diseases, was reminded of the personal struggle of cancer when Miller received her diagnosis. When he was young, both of his grandmothers died from cancer.
He didn’t understand, but he remembers one of his grandmother’s coming home from the hospital after treatment. It was clear she would die. It’s still painful for him when he talks about the loved ones he’s lost to cancer, and the battle his friend, Angie, and her family, experienced.
Knowing her friend “Sasha” worked at UNMC, Miller called him right after she was diagnosed.
She wanted a second opinion. He led her to Dr. Ken Cowan, who she went to see the next day. The UNMC physician spent two and a half hours talking to her about her diagnosis — stage II breast cancer with spread to some lymph nodes — and her treatment options.
She endured six months of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and removal of some lymph nodes.
“I saw her and members of her family suffer. Now I understand the gravity and implication of this struggle, and the importance of the struggle. It gave me an additional impetus in realization of the need of our work,” Dr. Kabanov said.
Miller said she has noticed a difference in Sasha.
“I have seen him be more charged with his research and maybe more vocal about cancer because he has seen me go through it,” Miller said. “He’s excited about the possibilities of what he can cure. I appreciate there’s someone like him out there being motivated. It just tells me there’s a cure out there.”