For cancer researcher, the American dream is the freedom to investigate

Through July 4, The Post, in conjunction with the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, is featuring US citizens explaining what the American dream means to them in 2026.Among them is Felix Feng, the Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, UCSF Department of Urology.The American dream for me means the freedom to investigate, pursue, study, chase — whatever you.  I think that everyone’s dream is different, and that’s what’s special about the American dream — that my dream is different than my neighbors’, but that we both have the chance to pursue it. For me, personally, as a doctor who treats cancer, my dream is studying, investigating different ways to cure cancer.My family is originally from China.

My grandparents [on] my father’s side, my paternal grandfather, was a factory owner in China.My maternal grandfather was a general in the Chinese army, and what happened was that when the communist revolution occurred, both of them had to leave China.

So, they fled to Taiwan.My parents moved from Taiwan to the States to pursue their graduate degrees.My father studied chemical engineering and my mother [studied] library science.

My parents raised both my sister and I with a big emphasis on education … basically developing ourselves into, for me, a doctor, for my sister, a lawyer … They sacrificed a lot for the purposes of our education. They had much more comfortable lives in Taiwan, but I think that part of the reason they came here was to chase that American dream, to give us the freedom to be broad, open and broad in the ways in which we approached life … not only academic freedom, but political freedom …As a researcher, as a physician, I think quite [a bit] about the sacrifices they made for me to be able to pursue this dream … I’ve been able to make contributions to advancing prostate cancer, not only in the laboratory, but also in the clinic …I think that the American dream will always flourish as long as there are peop...