I hope you had a good weekend, and were able to dance between the raindrops. Last week was surprisingly busy in this usually sleepy summer season. On Monday, I had a planning meeting for a U01 in new target identification that I am submitting with Subha Madhavan, Milt Brown and others.
I also met with Joy Drass to discuss our ongoing work with MedStar Health. The cancer network is taking shape nicely, and there are many encouraging developments around our collaboration. I hope to provide everyone with a more formal update at the end of the summer. These collaborations extend beyond clinical care and encompass clinical research, development, marketing and communications. It’s an exciting time. Continuing this theme, I had a very productive conference call on Tuesday morning with Linda Winger, Pete Monge (President of Montgomery General Hospital) and John Deeken about our growing efforts at that site.
After filming a video Tuesday afternoon for the Capital Breast Care Center’s upcoming “Gift of Life” fundraising breakfast, scheduled for October 13, I capped the day by going to dinner with a candidate for the position of Chief of Surgical Oncology. Lynt Johnson, who chairs the Department of Surgery, is leading that search. Remarkably, I learned at dinner that the candidate had trained at Temple University, and one of his children was a student at Cheltenham Elementary School (just outside of Philadelphia), where Harriet was his art teacher. Small world!
Wednesday was highlighted by that evening’s Lombardi Gala Committee reception at the home of Vic and Biani Seested. Other Lombardi representatives included Shawna Willey, Claudine Isaacs, John Marshall, Todd Waldman and Jeanne Mandelblatt. We had a wonderful time, and were of course very appreciative of the support we receive from the committee. Importantly, we not only saw old friends, but also met many new supporters who have joined the committee. However, two late nights in a row are never easy.
Thursday was a clinic day, and even though the day ended by 6 pm, I was ready for some down time. So, after a Friday morning breakfast meeting with a candidate for a major position at Childrens National Medical Center (he is an immunologist, and would be invited to join Lombardi), I joined Tod Greene for our yearly round of golf at Renditions, in Maryland. Tod is a much better golfer than I am, but although neither of us played well that day, I somehow beat him by one stroke when I sank a four-foot knee-knockeer on the final hole. While Tod denies it, I am convinced he let me beat him, because there is no other way that could happen in this particular space: time continuum. Thanks, Tod. But, don’t think that means I’ll root for the Redskins when they play the Eagles!