I am writing this blog on Sunday, as Harriet and I prepare to go to the Kennedy Center for Georgetown’s annual Rev. Martin Luther King celebration. This is always an inspiring event, and we very much look forward to it.
We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday, staying at the Historic Rosemont Inn in Berryville, Va, as a gift from our children. We visited a nearby winery, and learned that there now are more than 250 wineries in Virginia, some of which now make outstanding, world-class wines. We did not know it before we got there, but Rosemont is the former home of Senator Harry Byrd; we stayed in a cottage that had served as his office. In 1954, his political organization controlled Virginia politics. Senator Byrd promoted the “Southern Manifesto” opposing integrated schools, which was signed in 1956 by more than one hundred southern officeholders. In 1956 he called for what became known as Massive Resistance. This was a group of laws, passed in 1958, intended to prevent integration of the schools. You can read more about this troubling period at this link. Learning this history made the juxtaposition of the Saturday and Sunday events more than somewhat ironic for us. But, we had no ambivalence about our dinner at the nearby L’Auberge Provencale in Boyce. It was a genuinely wonderful meal.
The work week was plenty busy. I did have an out of town engagement on Tuesday, but spent the rest of the week in meetings. On Wednesday morning I had a make-up clinic because I expected to be at a MedStar sponsored symposium at MedStar Washington Hospital Center on Thursday afternoon; however, it turns out that the flu epidemic at the Hospital Center is so severe that the symposium was postponed. Moral of the story: get your flu vaccine…
Going back to Wednesday, there was a joint meeting of the ET and CPC programs that identified a number of opportunities for collaborations.I also met Dr. Lisa Boyle, a thyroid cancer surgeon who has been at the Hospital Center and is now the Vice President for Medical Affairs at MGUH, succeeding Steve Evans, who is now the VPMA for all of MedStar Health. On Wednesday evening we had a very nice reception in the Lombardi Atrium to welcome Beppe Giaccone to Georgetown; it is great to have him here.
So, my Thursday suddenly opened up. This gave me time I need to complete the review of the CCSG application of another cancer center, which I site visit next month. I also am working on the competitive renewal of my R01; we have had some exciting results, but have a lot to do before its due date in March. In CCSG-related news we had a review by external advisors of the Molecular Oncology program’s write up, and we received much positive feedback and many helpful suggestions. We had a different external review of the Director’s sections by other advisors on Friday, with generally positive feedback.We still have a ton of work to do, but are light-years ahead of where we were at a similar point in 2009.
I hope you enjoyed your long weekend, and that you have a great week.