Brave Bears was a Barrett creative project that operated under local non-profit organizations, Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels and Arizona Women’s Recovery Center. Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels provides support and education for children fighting cancer and their families. Arizona Women’s Recovery Center provides rehabilitation programs for women fighting substance abuse and housing for the women and their children. The Brave Bears Project was focused on helping children in these situations cope with the trauma they are experiencing. The children received a teddy bear, which is a transitional object. In addition, a clay pendant with the word, “brave” pressed into it was tied around the bear’s neck with a ribbon. A poem of explanation and encouragement was also included.<br/><br/>The teddy bear provided comfort to children experiencing emotionally distressing situations as they receive treatment for their illness or as their mom undergoes rehabilitation. This can be in the form of holding the teddy bear when they feel frightened, anxious, lonely or depressed. The “brave” pendant and poem seek to encourage them and acknowledge their trauma and ability to persevere.

Stress is a necessary and functional part of human physiology. From responding to life-threatening situations to getting people out of bed in the morning, stress serves a major purpose in human survival. However, when consistent and high levels of stress are experienced, it can pose a threat to human health. One of the major mediators of physiological stress is a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a well-defined substance and its function in normal physiology is well understood. Scientific research indicates that consistent and high levels of this hormone may be an aid in cancer’s ability to evade the human immune response. Despite this, there is not much known about its relationship with cancer. I used immunofluorescence to determine cell-to-cell variability of vimentin expression and DNA content for cells that were exposed to cortisol at consistent and frequent doses overtime and those not exposed to cortisol to determine if cortisol altered the variability of vimentin expression and DNA content. I observed no change in the variability in vimentin expression across both cell conditions. I did observe variability in DNA content across both cell conditions, with more variability in the population affected by cortisol. These results suggest that there might be a relationship between the stress induced by cortisol, taking place at the genomic level but may have no impact on specific protein expression. Potential implications of the research conducted are looks to preventative medicine in the context of stress experienced by members of marginalized groups as a way of preventing cancer development.