It has been a crazy busy week. I put the finishing touches on a new R01 proposal that focuses on NK cell migration in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. I gave two lectures for grad students, and had wall-to-wall meetings every day of the week. After Alex Lekan, an MD/PhD student in my lab, gave his excellent Data Meeting presentation on Thursday morning, I had a busy clinic that afternoon and then gave a joint presentation with Ben Weinberg about our pancreatic cancer research to the Immunotherapy and Heme Malignancies Working Group at the end of that day.
I then went up to Hackensack on Friday with Sharon Levy for meetings to discuss our consortium plans moving forward. My train left DC at 7 a.m., and I returned at 6 p.m. and went straight from Union Station to the Kennedy Center, where Harriet, I and some friends had dinner before we saw the musical “Tick, Tick, Boom.” It was very good, but I must say that I preferred Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” which we saw in New York City the previous weekend.
On Saturday, Harriet and I went to the Georgetown basketball game, where I and a group of BellRinger stalwarts accepted an oversized check at a half court ceremony at halftime for the proceeds from our ride in October. The Capital One Center was buzzing with a pretty big crowd (they came for the Hoyas, not for our BellRinger group!). Even though Marquette thumped the Hoyas, it is clear to me that Coach Cooley has his team playing hard and has the program on the right track.
By the way, almost 230 people have signed up already to ride in BellRinger 2024, less than two weeks after registration for the event opened. What a great way to answer the bell! We are way ahead of last year’s pace. Let’s keep it going!
It was wonderful to take a break on Sunday to have people from the lab over for a brunch to celebrate Sandy Jablonski’s retirement. I wrote about her last month, but as I finished off the grant this week I thought about all we’ve accomplished, and so much of it happened because of her. I’m looking for her successor, though she will never be replaced. Speaking of BellRinger, we have a few of the small bells that were handed out at the finish lines of the 2023 ride. Every time someone has a good result to share at our lab meeting, they get to “ring the bell.” It’s a wonderful new lab tradition.
I have to head out to the West Coast later this week to chair the University of California, Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center EAB meeting. That will be a lot of work too, but I look forward to catching up with some recreational reading on the plane. I finished off Michener’s “Chesapeake” a couple of weeks ago and am now plowing through Walter Isaacson’s biography of Henry Kissinger. Fascinating stuff.
Finally, congratulations to Jeanne Mandelblatt for being one of the small cadre of cancer research superstars to receive an R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the NCI. The awards were just announced. It is a testament to her exemplary work and to the confidence of rigorous peer reviewers that her remarkable, highly impactful productivity will continue.
Sometimes, crazy busy can be good. Have a great weekend, and remember to stay safe and be well.
Lou
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.