I hope you had a terrific weekend. Harriet and I were up in Philadelphia, visiting my father, and seeing our oldest son and his wife. My father just returned from a trip to China last Thursday afternoon, where he clambered up the steps to the Great Wall, among other adventures. Not bad for an 85-year-old man! Time for a confession: I also played a round of golf with one of my good friends on Saturday afternoon. Given how little I have played this year, I did pretty well, and had a lot of fun.
Our oldest son Ken is a veterinarian, and his wife Sarah will be starting medical school at Drexel University in August. They just moved into Center City Philadelphia, to make school more convenient for Sarah. They love life in the city, which is all the more surprising to me because I always assumed he would be a forest ranger somewhere when he grew up. We spent Saturday night with them, and then had breakfast with them and with some of our closest friends on Sunday morning, making a great beginning for Harriet’s Mother’s Day. We then drove home through Baltimore, stopping at our daughter Elana’s place so we could have dinner with her, her husband Ben and of course, Isaac. When we got back to DC our youngest, David, stopped by to wish Harriet a happy Mother’s Day. Three kids, one grandchild, three cities, one day… But, it was great to see all of the kids, and Harriet had a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Speaking of mothers I have been thinking a lot about our efforts in breast cancer lately. I am working on a U01 grant that will focus on the use of conditionally reprogrammed cells and response prediction in women with breast cancer. And Craig Jordan is organizing a powerful effort to submit a SPORE in breast cancer. I can think of no better way to honor mothers on this holiday than to redouble our efforts to stamp out this terrible disease. Those of you who are attending the upcoming Georgetown Lombardi Scientific Retreat on May 21 will hear more about the SPORE.
One other way to stamp out diseases is through fundraising walks. The Avon Walk did not end our “walking season.” Next up is the Komen Race for the Cure on June 2, and Tesha Coleman (trc29@georgetown.edu) is organizing a CBCC/Lombardi team for that fundraising event. And let’s not forget the PanCAN Purple Strides 5K walk for pancreatic cancer on June 16; Jane Hanna (HANNAJS@gunet.georgetown.edu) is doing a terrific job of organizing a MedStar Georgetown team for that event. If you can’t do the June 16 walk, be sure to stop by a fundraiser Jane is coordinating on May 30 at Town Hall on Wisconsin Avenue — more information can be found here.
Have a great week.