Courtesy: Emily Burns. When this happens, it sets off signals that help cancer cells stay alive, grow and avoid treatments meant to kill them. “It meant a lot to my mom and me.”Spartans helping SpartansThe extended Burns family is full of MSU students, alums and future Spartans. Hong’s interaction with the Burns family was more than just a medical professional helping a patient and her family. The Burns family boasts a long legacy of MSU grads: Emily and her husband, Bill, met as students at Michigan State.