​Welcome to Binge Thinking. We invite professors and experts to give lectures in bars around Boston, NYC, and DC!

In a world of AI slop, doomscrolling and brainrot, Binge Thinking brings real experts into real places for nights of learning, conversation, and community.

Think Responsibly.

​TOPIC:
A Wrinkle in Time: How Aging and Sunlight Fuel Skin Cancer

SPEAKER:
Dr. Ashani T. Weeraratna, Johns Hopkins University

​Melanoma is one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer, and it’s becoming more common. And no, it’s not just “a mole that got a little weird.” Here’s the plot twist: everyone has skin, and everyone is aging. That makes this story about all of us.

​Getting older changes more than your face in the mirror. It reshapes the “soil” where tumor cells grow. Aged cells start sending different signals, the immune system’s security patrol gets sleepier, and tumors can turn more aggressive. Meanwhile, the sun has been quietly adding to the tab for years.

​In this talk, Dr. Ashani Weeraratna reveals how aging and UV exposure team up to fuel melanoma, and why the sunscreen you skip today could matter decades from now.

​Topics include:

​What melanoma really is, and why it deserves your attention

​How aging transforms the skin’s microenvironment into a tumor-friendly neighborhood

​Why melanoma tends to be more dangerous and faster moving in older adults

​How UV damage both speeds up skin aging and directly causes cancer-driving mutations

​Why your sunscreen habits in your 20s and 30s shape your risk later in life

​Practical moves: SPF, reapplication, protective clothing, dodging peak UV hours, self-checks, and dermatologist visits

​Aging is inevitable. A sunburned future doesn’t have to be.

​This talk will leave you with the science, the strategy, and maybe a new respect for your sunscreen bottle. Prevention plus early detection is your best defense.

​About the Speaker

​Dr. Ashani T. Weeraratna is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Cancer Biology and E.V. McCollum Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Director of the Life Sciences Research Initiative, and Associate Director for Laboratory Research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

​Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Lesotho, she moved to the US in 1988 to study biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, then earned her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Oncology at George Washington University Medical Center. She was among the first researchers to study how the aging microenvironment drives metastasis and therapy resistance in melanoma, and was appointed by President Biden to the National Cancer Advisory Board. She has also served as president of the Society for Melanoma Research and wrote the book Is Cancer Inevitable?

​Agenda

7:00 PM - Doors Open (Grab a seat and drinks!)
7:30 PM - Lecture Begins
8:10 PM - Audience Q&A
8:30 PM - Drinks & Conversation
9:00 PM - Event Ends

​Lecture Teaser
Join us and grab a drink as we explore how aging and sunlight team up to fuel skin cancer. Is your sunscreen habit enough?