Dr. Eric Singhi and Dr. Don Dizon | Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation

Dr. Don Dizon:
This podcast is brought to you by Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Our mission is to accelerate breakthroughs in lifesaving research and empower people everywhere to conquer cancer.

Welcome to Your Stories, a podcast where we hear candid stories from people conquering cancer. I'm your host, Dr. Don Dizon.

These days, it's all too easy to think about social media as an echo chamber, a wormhole of misinformation, and a place where it's often impossible to tell the difference between authenticity and a meticulously cultivated brand. And maybe all of the above is in fact true. But what is also true is this: research increasingly shows that when physicians use it properly, social media can actually have a positive impact on patients, their care, and their understanding of their own diagnoses and treatments. In fact, in September of 2024, a study published in the journal Pharmacy and Therapeutics found a correlation between physician social media use and their patients' treatment adherence and outcomes. In the cancer community, physicians are becoming increasingly ubiquitous on social media, breaking down complex diagnostic and treatment knowledge in easy-to-follow videos, hosting podcasts, and in the case of thoracic oncologist Dr. Eric Singhi, helping non-scientists navigate an ocean of cancer research and what it means for the patients at the heart of it. He's here and with us today to discuss how he is using social media to raise awareness, educate patients, and occasionally show off some dance moves.

Welcome, Dr. Singhi. Is it okay if I call you Eric?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Absolutely. Thanks, Dr. Dizon, or Don. Excited to be here.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Call me Don. Really, really happy to have you here. We usually begin these podcasts in the same way. Tell us where you are joining us from today.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Of course. Yeah, so I am a thoracic medical oncologist and academic medical oncologist in Houston, Texas, and excited to spend some time with you.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Eric and I share a passion for social media, and so I'm very excited to hear his take on things and how things have evolved for him. But why don't we start with the beginning here? So, much of the content you posted, and let's just actually frame this in terms of the annual meeting which just concluded in the first week of June of 2025. For anyone who doesn't know about the ASCO annual meeting, it's the largest gathering of oncology professionals in the entire world. It's a packed meeting with back-to-back research and knowledge sharing that's between colleagues in oncology, but also between patients and advocates amongst themselves, and also crosstalk among all of us. And while it's important, it's not something that the average social media user is tuning into. So, it is great always to see someone like you, Eric, taking things that are discussed at ASCO, which can be very complex, sort of esoteric, and breaking it down to a way that normal people in their day-to-day lives can actually understand, make sense of, and provide that knowledge.

So, I have to ask, what was it like for you walking around the convention center full of your colleagues, full of scientists, recording videos, trying to create and share patient-centered content in real time?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah. So, this is a really good question. I'm laughing because I'm visualizing myself doing this during the conference. Honestly, Don, it's just a mix of excitement and pure chaos, to be honest. Like you said, ASCO is the world's largest cancer conference, and so there's over 40,000 attendees that are there. So, it's massive. The scale is huge. But also with that scale comes this powerhouse of information. And yes, there's lots and lots of people there, but there's also lots of people that aren't there, right? Like particularly patients, particularly their loved ones. And so you do feel this sense of responsibility when you're engaging on social media routinely to find a way to take what you're learning and then translate it into digestible real-time updates for those that can't be there. And so, yes, I was walking through a sea of posters, especially the lung cancer ones, and all these oral abstract sessions with my phone out, looking a bit odd. But if even one person can take what I'm putting out there content-wise to better understand their diagnosis or their treatment options, it's absolutely worth it.

Dr. Don Dizon:
I remember back in the day, I don't know, I won't ask how old you are, but back in the day when social media was relegated to really one very big platform, and it wasn't that common to see us at these meetings in social media, there used to be these prohibitions in the meetings where you couldn't share anything on social media. You could not take pictures of the slides. You could not take pictures of posters. There was actually guidance that if you were found with your phone taking snapshots, you could be removed from the meetings. It's probably 10 to 15 years ago, but it's interesting how things have changed. And I do remember even back then, the argument was that this is all sort of copyrighted and unpublished material. And the concern was, if you're putting it on social media, it's sort of publication. So it's interesting to see how places like ASCO have really embraced social media as a way to get more information out. And then seeing the challenge, which I would love to get your take on it. The challenge is, how do you make it engaging and entertaining? So how did you do that during ASCO?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Wow, yeah. First of all, I'm really excited just to be able to pick your brain and talk to you. You are a pioneer, a champion of thinking of innovative, really creative ways to engage, educate, and entertain. So, just excited to spend some time with you.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Well, thank you for that. Thanks.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Of course. Initially, when I got into the social media space more in a professional way - I was using social media for my personal engagement and travel tips and things like that - but when I said I want to shift my focus using social media specific to oncology, I did it during the peak of COVID. I was in my training, my hematology-oncology fellowship, and the communication just wasn't there, right? Because we were all so isolated and we were quickly trying to learn about all these changes that were impacting us and our loved ones and our patients in real time. And so I sought out information just trying to educate myself about what was going on and how I can learn more about cancer care in this really difficult time. And so I got onto a platform like Twitter, which is now called X, and there was a lot of academic chatter, still is there. And just learned about this whole community of colleagues and professionals that are out there educating themselves, educating others, and it was mind-blowing. It was a really cool way to be able to just connect with other people in a time where we couldn't connect physically.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Yeah. That brings up one of the things that's almost a misperception about social media professionally. It's, and I agree with you, it was one of the best places to meet people you'd never met before and form these really deep professional bonds with people, even publish papers with people that you'd never met before. It was quite exciting. But there's also a very public aspect to this because, you know, one thing that I appreciate about social media, but also am cognizant of about social media, is that there's no way for me to target my colleagues on social media, that everything you read, you hope it's going to be read by colleagues, but it's something that everyone will be able to access because it's that open. Has that ever sort of entered into your mind about how to engage?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Absolutely. You can't really take back what you put out there. And so, yes, you have to be very thoughtful about the message that you're displaying. I think the content I've created is definitely professional, but it also reveals this personal side of me. I want to show the human aspect of the oncology care team, of the oncology provider, to say, “You know, it's not just about the science, it's also about the art of oncology delivery, right?” And so if there's a way to sort of lift that barrier and show patients and show their loved ones what it looks like to be an oncology provider even outside of the confines of clinic, I think that's just as important. And I'm curious what you think about that.

Dr. Don Dizon:
I absolutely agree with you. There's still this sense, I think, of the oncologist being sort of a deity. It's such an interesting time where the flow of information is so unfiltered that you have groups of people who become experts in their own disease and can have a conversation with you much like you're having a conversation like this, just colleagues talking, but they're that adept at the science. But on the other hand, you have folks who just look at you and say, "Just tell me what to do. You're the doctor." And both of those kinds of populations and everyone in the middle are on social media.

And what's worked, I think, for me is exactly what you're saying. It's like if you approach this as a scientist in your silo and you create scientific information, there's going to be a lot of people who tune out. But on the other hand, if you just focus on the things you love to cook or the books that you love to read on BookTok or whatever, you're going to get that, and this whole other population isn't going to tune in. So the sweet spot is exactly what you're talking about. It's sort of, how do we engage authentically and teach at the same time? And I think that is a skill that a lot of people struggle with.

But let's go back to sort of the information and the motivation that you've had. So I saw in one of your videos that one of the things that motivated you to go onto social media was this plethora of misinformation that we find ourselves facing. And maybe you can sort of, for the listeners, just tell them what that looks like in your day-to-day, but also how you've chosen to use social media to respond to that.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, so initially when I engaged in social media, I was mostly using these colleague-facing platforms like X or Twitter. And then I started for just sort of personal use using Instagram and TikTok and things like that, and I started to see all of this misinformation about cancer, specifically lung cancer, which is what I specialize in. And it was frustrating. It was people that did not have true board-certified medical training in medical oncology or other oncology disciplines, offering guidance and their thoughts and supplements and all these things that didn't have the data and the evidence to back it up. And I realized we can't get rid of it. So what we should do is we should drown it out with credible information from experts who do have the training, right?

Because let's face it, our patients and their loved ones are learning in a very different way than we used to and they used to, right? So now they're digesting this information, they're learning from social media, they're learning from online resources. And so if we aren't there, if a credible voice isn't there, then that gap, that void is filled with others who are spreading misinformation. And so that's why I jumped onto more patient-facing platforms like Instagram and TikTok to put out information because misinformation can really impact a patient's decision, their trust, their outcomes, and their cancer care. And so I wanted to be a credible voice to meet people where they are. And that's on their phones or that's on their computer screens, right? And offer facts while also balancing context without all that medical jargon that we talk about and use with our colleagues.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Have you had any blowback? I got verified on social media during COVID on what ended up being X, but back then it was Twitter. And I remember mentioning certain things about COVID or, you know, misinformation. And there was almost this organized response that came after people. And I certainly felt that myself at some point. It's actually something that terrifies a lot of people. But I'm wondering if you've had that kind of experience and how you responded to that.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
I personally haven't gone through that experience. I think the content that I put out, when I'm thinking about what to put out, is I take practice-changing data that's shaping guidelines, that's affecting NCCN recommendations, ASCO guidelines. I take the primary data and I say, "Okay, let me simplify it in a way that patients can understand. This is who was studied in this really important study. This is what the study showed, and this is why it's practice-changing." So, I'm always falling back on evidence-based data and presenting it in a way that people can understand. And so I think that's been a way to sort of set up this barrier in terms of being attacked by some of the online trolls or cyberbullying. But I empathize with people that have, because I've seen my colleagues, my friends who have really stood up to try and combat misinformation and they've felt it. And so I'd love to hear a little bit more about how you sort of navigated and the advice you have because maybe that's something that could come or happen and I want to be prepared.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Well, I think what you just said is really, really important. You sometimes - and I've certainly felt this way - that if you're going to confront misinformation, you confront it. And that's really where the blowback comes in. If you're going to confront someone who's a vaccine skeptic, use their video, create a response directly to that video, you are almost welcoming that response and almost opening yourself up to sort of what could be a very organized campaign to drown you out or to provoke a reaction from you. But I think, Eric, the way you're doing it is actually the other way you combat misinformation. It's not to say, "I want everyone to vote this thing down because it's absolutely incorrect and this is craziness." You're actually doing what I think is a more thoughtful way to do that. Instead of saying, "You might have heard that this is out there, this is wrong, and I'm going to show you what's right." You're actually saying, "This was just presented, this is practice-changing, and this is why." So, I think if you see a lot of stuff that is not true or not verified, one way to do it is exactly what you're doing. It's, "I'm going to create more content that is verified. I'm hoping that people see this and counterbalance what they're reading, which may not be.”

I think where it has happened is when I try - I have this thing where I'm trying to do like really fast facts, and it's like myth or truth or whatever. And you know, one of them, I remember I posted, "No, you cannot alkalinize your body. You just cannot do it. That is not possible." And then all the comments came in, it was like, "Well, that's not true," and "This is what they said," and "If you drink enough alkaline water, it's going to..." You know, and so you see this. You asked me how- I have one rule for myself, which is, if you're getting criticized or blowback, you're allowed to respond once, and then I step back out and I never go back in. And they can do whatever they want. What's nice is that I'll see people defend it in the periphery. They'll come in and then they will start having these conversations and I'm out of it completely. I'm following, but I'm out of it.

But I think, Eric, this is what actually scares a lot of people about social media. We go in with the intent of being altruistic. We really want to help people. But then I'm sure you've heard it from not even just older colleagues. You've probably heard it from people who are in your own peer group, who are trying to promote academically, who are trying to get a grant, or really hang on to what are traditional milestones and success. And they are not on social media, or they're really against social media. What do those conversations look like where you sit, and how have you responded to those folks?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Being an academic oncologist, being at an academic medical center, really the way we get our street cred, if you will, the way that we promote and move forward in the ranks of academia, it's measured by the number of peer-reviewed publications that we have, the number of times that we've given talks at the big stages and podiums, and the number of grants we were awarded. So, when you have an interest that's novel and beyond those things to deliver a real impact to patients and their loved ones, of course colleagues are going to raise their eyebrows and say things like, "Is that really the best use of your time?" I've had that happen to me.

But for me, it's all about witnessing the direct impact at the bedside that social media can deliver for patients. So whether it's patients bringing in questions from my posts to their oncology team or even their own clinicians sharing my posts to educate their own patients, I think that's what it's all about. For me, it is not about self-promotion. It's truly about patient education in a language and a format that people can understand. Yes, there's always going to be chatter and I feel like some judgment when you're engaging in a new way to educate, but for me, it's all about that direct impact at the bedside.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Well, I'm going to encourage you to continue to do that. Certainly, in the time that I've risen through the quote-unquote “academic ranks” and made professor, I can honestly say my social media efforts didn't hurt me.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Oh, that's good to hear.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Yeah. But I just think for everybody who's listening, I think the audience, right - and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts - the audience can tell authenticity from not, and they can tell motivation if it's altruistic or if you're trying to be an influencer and get these brand deals, you know?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Don Dizon:
There's a way to segregate that. And the public, and I use that in the broadest term possible, can tell if someone is authentic. That's your badge. I mean, that's what gets you people who want to engage with you.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, no, I agree with that too. Especially just remaining the same person that you are on social media and off social media. So when we go to ASCO, the big conference, and we have the social media meetup, or you have the opportunity to meet patient advocates that you've connected with online, one of the first things that people tell me is, "Oh, you're the same person that you are online." I was like, "Yes, that's what I'm trying to be. That's who I'm trying to convey. I'm not trying to be someone different." And so I think authenticity and being organic and the way you're delivering your message and the message you're delivering is so important, Don. And so I 100% agree.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Tell us about your audience. And since you are on multiple platforms, do you have different audiences on these platforms? Is the mix different? Clinical versus general public? Tell me a little bit about who you engage with.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, this is a really good question, Don. It's a mix, to be honest, and it really depends on the platform that I'm engaging on. So, as I mentioned before, on X, it's more of an audience of colleagues. But on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which are still very new to me - I've only been on it for less than 2 years, still trying to learn how to create more visual content as opposed to primarily text-focused content - I have colleagues on there, I have trainees as well that are following from around the nation, and then patients and their caregivers. And I let those conversations that I'm witnessing on those platforms guide me on what type of content to create. So, if multiple people are asking about a new treatment or bringing up some type of common myth, that's a post just waiting to happen. And so that's really the audiences that I lean into and how I cater the content that I create.

Dr. Don Dizon:
I think that's fantastic, actually. It's sort of what I think about when I talk engagement, right? It's one thing just to put it out there and let everybody else interact with it, but you're done. It's like once it's out there, I'm done. But I actually do the same thing as you. I actually look at the conversations that are going on. Sometimes I even insert myself into some of those conversations. But I think it's important for me, at least, to know, I want people who are seeing my stuff to know that I've also seen it. I think there is something about just completing the circle. It's almost like a responsibility that I take on myself. I don't know about you, but you know, I just want people to know that I have seen that you saw it.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
No, I agree. And sometimes it's like sort of finding that balance of responding, being thoughtful in sort of the content you're creating and making sure that of course you respect things like HIPAA and privacy and all the legal things and compliance. It's a lot to juggle, to be honest, especially as your following starts to increase. But I'm curious like how do you deal with those boundaries and professional lines and I would love some advice as sort of a newbie in the social media space.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Back in the day, we formed this group called the Collaboration for Outcomes Using Social Media in Oncology. And it was like, is it 2017? So it was pre-2020. It was pre-COVID, you know, it's just sort of like dated, right? But we did this landscape analysis of what institutions were putting out there as guidance for us so that we could remain safe. And it was exactly what you talked about. It was like, "Don't talk about patients online. Maintain your stature in your community as a physician in this institution." You know, it's like, this is what institutions really cared about.

I'd say, I've been to multiple institutions. None of them have ever tried to sort of hold me back. But I think it was because there was some effort that I was putting into it, just like you're doing. I knew what I wanted to be or put out there. And I'll be honest about it - I wasn't ever going to be viral. That was never the intent, right? And I was also never going to buy followers to increase that count. I don't even know, understand why one would. And I was also going to stick to the oncology aspects that I really was passionate about. So it was those kinds of things. It's like if you let your passion drive you, if you're going to be authentic, and be very cognizant of what you're putting out, everything that you've just said is sort of the - if you want to call it that - it is the strategy for those of us who want to engage. I mean, we're living in a world, you know, we can talk about this too, is there's a lot of eyes from every aspect of society looking, and they're looking for either validation or they're looking for us to make a mistake. One could view this as a very dangerous medium, but I think if you have a good sense of what you want to accomplish, I think you can actually still do good things.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
No, I like that. And I like that sense of being cautious but optimistic at the same time with using social media.

Another really interesting aspect of it is my research interest focuses on patient education in lung cancer. And then I also focus on young-onset lung cancer, so patients that are under the age of 50, largely women, largely patients with no smoking history. And if you think about those two interests that I have, patient education and young-onset lung cancer, an intersection of those two is social media, to be honest, right? So, patient education, a really great way to advance that is by using online platforms and social media. And then many of my young patients, young patients around the nation, are utilizing it to try and learn more about their disease and treatment options. And so, it's really cultivated some of the research questions I have and how we can maybe optimize some of the education that we want to improve upon in the lung cancer space.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Yeah, and I think that's a really great example of what you can do. And it actually leads into another question then. How do you go about, once you've, say, cultivated that community, in whatever platform it is, how do you balance being authentic, approachable, with being professional?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, okay, that's a really hard one. So I'm going to have to bounce it back on you in just a bit. But I think what I've learned on my short time being on some of these patient-facing platforms as well is that being authentic doesn't mean you can't have boundaries. I never give personal medical advice online as an example, but I do respond with general guidelines or I can direct people to reliable resources or published evidence-based data that's out there and readily available, and of course encourage them to talk with their own oncology team. But I think the way you stay authentic is about being warm and being real, but you can still honor professional lines. That's what I think. What do you do about that?

Dr. Don Dizon:
Well, so I have come to recognize that professionalism can be yielded as a weapon. Sometimes I think that there is still this perception of what a physician in America looks like. And it's not, and it's not coming from institutions necessarily. It may be coming from the general public. And professionals, physicians, are tall, they're Caucasian, they're Harvard-educated, they wear a tie, a white coat, and Oxfords. And if that's the perception of what professionalism is, I don't meet any of that criteria. To me, professionalism is not in the way you appear necessarily, but it's on how you treat people. That's what determines professionalism.

You can be authentic. You know there are boundaries because there are things you wouldn't do in your sphere as an oncologist, as a physician in this country. You would never talk about a patient and break their privacy rules. That's just something that we all should know without even going to our institutions and saying, "Hey, can I talk about this patient on my TikTok?" There's professionalism involved in decisions you make on social media. But if you go to my Instagram and TikTok, I always ask, it's like, "Should I wear the tie? Should I not wear the tie?" It's about that authenticity. But you will also not watch me saying, "Is this the bathing suit I should wear, or should I wear this one?" There are just things that I think are appropriate to who we are in our communities. And I think that's something that I've learned to sort of understand, and I use those bars internally when I think about what I'm doing.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
I love your... I had goosebumps, actually, when you described your definition of professionalism because I really resonate with that. I don't know how many professional oncologists are out there dancing to educate, and that's what I do sometimes, and it's okay. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. We know that, right? And so people need hope and they need positivity. And if I can bring that while also educating, and I love dancing, I'm going to be honest, I'm okay doing it. And maybe we need to redefine our definition of professionalism. And I I love that you're leading that, and I love that you are also embracing your hobbies and your interests on your TikTok and on your Instagram. You are a fashion icon in the oncology field. So thank you. Thank you for setting an example and being a role model for the next generation of oncologists like myself and saying it's okay to redefine professionalism.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Well, you know what, here it is. So I think for anybody listening, Eric is who I want to be in oncology. You are exactly who I think we need in the field because you're not confined to a silo. You exist in academic medical centers. You are standing on your own, furthering the field of lung cancer, and you're approachable. Those two things are not necessarily antithetical to each other. In fact, if there's anything, I'm sure it's happened to you. One of the benefits of social media, I think, is everybody gets Googled. So, I'm going to see this doc. I don't know who he is. I'm going to look him up. And there's just this immediate familiarity that comes with people finding you on Instagram and TikTok. And you go into a room and you're not dealing with that 30-foot wall of people who you've never met and they've never met you and they're not sure what you're going to say. And they're trying to listen while they're trying to feel you out. That's gone because they've seen who you are. And all of a sudden, it's just like they're there, you know, it's a relaxing moment. They're like meeting someone they've already met, and it just makes the visit easier.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah. That's such an interesting perspective. Yeah, you're so right.

Dr. Don Dizon:
You know, actually there's a study in there somewhere, Eric.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Yeah, let's talk. We have to talk offline.

Dr. Don Dizon:
We should. Okay, so, let's see. So, one final question then, and there's a question we always end these conversations with. We know that conquering cancer means different things to different people. And as a physician scientist on social media, what does conquering cancer look like to you?

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Oh, I love that question, Don. To me, I would say conquering cancer isn't just about developing new drugs to cure cancer, though to clarify, that is absolutely the goal. It's also about giving every patient and their loved one hope about their disease type, clarity about their disease type and their options, and to know that no matter where they are in their cancer care journey, there's support and there's positivity and there's a community that's there to help them. So if I can help someone feel seen or empowered by the content that I'm making, that's in itself a victory too. And so I'm really honored and humbled to be able to do that.

Dr. Don Dizon:
I love that. And I think you're right. We tend to think of this sort of the war analogy as literally winning or losing. But that's no longer true in oncology. First of all, no one ever loses, but even if at the point where the cancer is no longer curable, at the point where it's recurred or it's become metastatic, that is just not a death sentence these days. And lung, I think, is one of the areas that's proven, if you're curious enough, you investigate this tumor, there are ways to manage disease these days.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Absolutely.

Dr. Don Dizon:
And I think that the work you're doing in education will help people understand as clear a way as possible that there are things you need to ask for. I applaud what you're doing. And thank you so much for joining me.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Thanks Don for your time, and really excited to just sit down with you and have such an organic conversation. I really appreciate it.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I look forward to it.

Dr. Eric Singhi:
Sounds good. Take care.

Dr. Don Dizon:
Take care. So thank you for listening to this podcast brought to you by Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Conquer Cancer is creating a world where cancer is prevented or cured and every survivor is healthy. You can make a gift at conquer.org/podcast. The participants of this podcast report no conflicts of interest relevant to this podcast. Full disclosures can be found on the episode page on conquer.org.

The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions.

Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.