The Minnesota State Fair presents an incredible opportunity for doctors and researchers statewide to showcase their work, and help visitors understand the implications and meanings of different health topics. Many University of Minnesota Medical School doctors spent their time at the fair, not only to host exhibits, but also to conduct research.

On Thursday, August 30, the university held Goldy vs. Cancer Day to help draw awareness and highlight the work that doctors are conducting to prevent and treat different forms of cancer. Among them were Drs. Noah Goldfarb and Ronda Farah, both with the Department of Dermatology, who ran a booth which provided free skin cancer screenings to visitors.

"Sometimes I can say you have melanoma, but we caught it early, it's going to come out. We're going to take care of you," said Dr. Farah in an interview with Kare11.

By noon, they provided over 70 free screenings.

Meanwhile, Drs. Logan Spector and Bharat Thyagarajan ran a booth, located in the Driven to Discover building, that aimed to enlist participants for their 10,000 Families Study. The study seeks to understand how genetics and shared habits contribute to health and disease. The goal is to enroll 10,000 families with young children, their parents, siblings, and grandparents. 

"This will be a foundational study in medical science," Dr. Logan Spector told KSTP in an interview. "The whole town, state, community in general, I mean, I think everyone's affected by it in one way or another," he said.

The study recently received $1 million from the Masonic Cancer Center to begin their research.