Sorry I missed doing a blog last week. Lots of stuff is going on, of course.
I returned from a trip to South Korea early last week, where I finalized a scientific research collaboration with scientists from the Samsung Advanced Institute of Research near Seoul. We’re going to conduct synthetic lethal screen of a c-met directed antibody using our EGFR siRNA library and a new c-met directed siRNA library. And no, they did not throw in a flat screen TV. It should be an exciting collaboration. It took a little while for me to recover from jet lag, because it was a very short trip!
Then, last Friday I had the honor of speaking at John Potter’s retirement ceremony from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. It was a full military event, and was both impressive and moving.
On Monday, I was delighted to celebrate our new faculty and those who have been promoted at a reception in E503. The rest of the week has been something of a blur, with rapid fire meetings and dinners on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. There can be too much of a good thing…
Tuesday’s highlight was a morning press conference — organized by American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network — at the Capital Breast Care Center given by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), U.S. Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-CT), and Tanya Snyder, breast cancer survivor and wife of Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder.
Hosts included CBCC Executive Director Beth Beck and Michelle Fenty (who chairs the CBCC Advisory Council). The passion of all the speakers was genuine, particularly an inspiring talk by Stacey Ferguson, a CBCC patient whose description of the impact of cancer on she and her family was truly moving. This was an extraordinary event.
Later, I was also incredibly excited by my chance to finally give a lecture to Georgetown medical students! I really had a ball giving that talk, and I look forward to doing it again. Thanks to Bassem Haddad for seeking me out to give the talk.
Wednesday and Thursday were dominated by GU Board of Director meetings. The Board dinner on Wednesday evening was held at Riggs Library – always a treat – and was highlighted by an after-dinner speech by Georgetown alumna Claire Perry, guest curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum. She has an exhibit there called the Great American Hall of Wonders, through January 2012. The exhibit focuses on 19th century American art, science and invention. As luck would have it, I just finished reading a book, “What Hath God Wrought”, which is a history of America between 1815-1848. So, the lecture really reinforced the book, though I resisted the temptation to ask her smart-aleck questions!
On Thursday evening a group of us had dinner with Dan Hayes, Friday’s Grand Rounds speaker. Dan, of course, worked here for five years, and it’s always great to welcome back our friends.
By the way, it’s not too late to sign up for the ACS Making Strides 5K on Oct. 29. Minetta Liu will be the leader of our group, and our efforts will help show the ACS that we appreciate all they do to support cancer research. Besides, Lombardi is a flagship sponsor again this year, so it’s important that we have a great showing! Contact Lombardi Communications at lombardicomm@georgetown.edu. for more information or to sign up.
That’s all for now. Have a great weekend!