Doctor Shares What It Means To Push Limits While Cycling 260 Miles
Key Takeaways:
- Ghassan El-Haddad, MD, took on an extreme cycling challenge with a bigger purpose
- El-Haddad used his journey to spotlight the Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine (FORGE)
- His message: Progress comes from pushing boundaries, whether in sport or in medicine
Ghassan El-Haddad, MD, usually spends his days treating patients as head of the Radionuclide Therapy Program at Moffitt Cancer Center. This summer, he embarked on another meaningful mission: a six-stage, 260-mile road cycling event in the French Alps.
His goal was to push his own limits and to think about the limits that need to be pushed in the field of oncology, all while documenting his journey on LinkedIn. Heavy on his mind was the recent launch of the Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine, or FORGE, a new regional coalition led by Moffitt and its Speros innovation hub. The coalition aims to transform the Tampa Bay area into one of the United States’ leading centers for radiopharmaceutical development, manufacturing and precision oncology.
“What Speros and FORGE are building is exactly what this field needs: a complete ecosystem where companies can move from discovery to production to clinical use in one location. Faster to market. Stronger supply chains. More patients treated,” El-Haddad wrote during his journey.
Faster. Stronger. More. It’s a challenge El-Haddad took on during his 40,249 feet of climbing. And it’s a challenge he’ll continue to take on back home for his patients.
“I came to the Alps to push my limits in road bike climbing. But I also came to think — about what it means to push limits, in medicine and in sport,” he wrote. “Each climb has something to teach us about precision oncology, about building something that lasts, and about why the hardest problems are always worth the effort.”
