Heather Law Is Looking to Crack the Code on Lung Cancer 

Seeking insights from the causes of lung cancer to support for family caregivers 

Heather Law, MA, is seeking answers. She wants to understand why some people get lung cancer and others don’t. She’s anxious to learn how treatments change over time and what improves a person’s quality of life. She wants to be more knowledgeable on how lung cancer impacts those who care for people with lung cancer. In short, Heather has many questions—and she’s in the right job to look for answers. 

Heather, a trained public health researcher, is an associate director in GO2 for Lung Cancer’s Research department, where she runs the Lung Cancer Registry. The Registry is a patient-powered research platform that collects a wide variety of information from people living with lung cancer and their family caregivers to help the research community develop new treatments and offer caregivers the support they need every day. 

“The Lung Cancer Registry collects and curates information from surveys for people with lung cancer, survivors, and family caregivers,” explained Heather. “The initial survey is broken down into bite-sized modules that only take about three to five minutes each to complete.” The modules can be completed at once or spread out over time. Once a person with lung cancer has completed the initial survey, they can choose to take additional surveys on topics ranging from the impact of COVID-19 to how lung cancer treatments affect women’s sexual health.  

There is also a survey designed specifically to understand the impact of a lung cancer diagnosis on those who care for people with lung cancer. What gaps in support exist? What are the emotional impacts of being a family caregiver?  

What do family caregivers need? 

“One of GO2’s priorities is focusing on caregivers,” said Heather. “There is not a lot published about lung cancer family caregivers and their needs. The main purpose of our international caregiver survey is to do a needs assessment and figure out how, as an organization that serves the lung cancer community, we can better help family caregivers.”

Heather presented some preliminary results at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in September. Not surprisingly, family caregivers said they experience mental and physical health issues. Specifically, the preliminary survey data found: 

• The top three mental health issues are: 

• • Fear 
  • Irritability 
  • Feeling uneasy 

• The top three physical health issues are: 
  • Trouble sleeping 
  • Trouble exercising as much as they would like 
  • And the third was a tie between fatigue and trouble maintaining intimacy with their partner  

Another insight from the survey? Most family caregivers preferred to receive information related to caregiving from nurses instead of doctors. 

A research passion driven by personal history 

None of this is surprising to Heather, who was the primary caregiver for her mother when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2018. After a two and a half year battle, she passed away in late 2020.

Her mother’s diagnosis drove Heather to learn more about the disease. She joined a community advisory board in San Francisco and discovered that female, Asian, never-smokers were getting lung cancer at nearly double the rate of their white counterparts. “I started to become interested in lung cancer research because I was concerned about myself,” she said. “Do I have an inherited risk?”  

In 2022, Heather saw a posting for her current position and jumped at the chance to work directly with a lung cancer advocacy organization. Now, she’s getting ready to launch a new Lung Cancer Registry survey that will be introduced in 2024. The survey will seek to understand inherited risks as well as focus on exposure to elements that are known to increase the risk for lung cancer. There’s also a newly launched survey targeted to people with small cell lung cancer to better understand any gaps in support services. 

When Heather isn’t working, you can find her with the Belgian Malinois dog she and her husband recently adopted. She’s training him to be an agility dog to channel some of his considerable energy.

A little-known fact about Heather—she is a huge Star Wars fan—and she’s putting that passion into action too. “I play the flute and piccolo in a community orchestra,” said Heather. “We have a concert on Nov. 1 where it’s all Star Wars music!”