I hope you had a great weekend. As I write this on Sunday night, Georgetown’s basketball team just found out it is seeded #2 in its region, and will have a chance to go deep into this year’s NCAA tournament. Good luck to the Hoyas! Hopefully, the team got losing out of its system after it fell to the hated yet respected Syracuse Orangemen on Friday night. I wasn’t able to watch the game because we were out with friends at a new Russian restaurant in the District called Mari Vanna. It was quite an experience. And, they served food with the vodka!
Harriet walked with the CBCC-Lombardi team on Saturday morning in preparation for this year’s Avon Walk. As of this evening the team has 60 members and already has raised $52,000; this is the best showing yet. The passion of the walkers is quite remarkable. And, even if you can’t walk, you can help too. Not every walker will be able to independently raise all of the money ($1800) that he or she needs in order to actually do the walk. If you go to the Avon Walk’s website for the team, you can identify those people who are struggling to make their goals. If you can, and if you wish, you can select one of those fine people and click directly on their name to contribute. Even a little will mean a lot to their fundraising efforts. No amount is too small, and every bit helps.
I spent the weekend writing support letters and helping with protocols for two candidates for the annual Clinical Methods Workshop in Vail. Plus I have been looking over the current drafts of my sections and the program descriptions for the CCSG Competitive Renewal. We have an intense volley of conference calls scheduled with our external advisors who have read the various sections, setting the stage for the preparation of our final drafts. Carolyn Hurley and Ellen McLaughlin intend to send the final document to the printers at the beginning of May. I can’t wait!
But there is a lot more going on than just the CCSG. On Monday, I attended the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors meeting on the NIH campus. I learned some interesting tidbits – for example, the number of principal investigators has been trimmed over the past few years from 315 to 250 in response to budgetary pressures. And, while the specific issues are not the same for the intramural program, there is no doubt that they are feeling the pain caused by sequestration just as we do in the extramural community. I heard some extramural horror stories as well. I know that information provides cold comfort, but it’s nice to know that we are not alone.
After the meeting I hustled back to our campus to attend a “Thank You” reception for Lisa Krim, who served as interim general counsel for the University prior to the appointment of Lisa Brown in January. Lisa Krim will be returning to her previous duties, which include a lot of focus on the Medical Center. On Tuesday I participated in the Thesis Committee meeting of one of my students, Joe Murray, who continues to make me wish I could delay his graduation for a decade or two.
That evening, I headed downtown for a meeting of the Men’s Event for Prostate Cancer’s Kick-Off event. This event competes with our Women and Wine Event, which was held last week and attracted more than 400 participants, raising a record amount of money for research in cancers that predominantly affect women. The men are worried that they can’t catch up with the women, whose event has really taken off. However, Elena Jeannotte, who does a spectacular job with both events, and I are sure that the men can come through. Talk about a healthy competition!
The rest of the week was filled with productive work, highlighted by a visit to MedStar Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, as we identify new ways to strengthen the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Network. And this coming week promises to be quite busy, but productive too.
I hope you have a great week. And good luck to the Hoyas in March Madness!