From the Desk of Dr. Louis M. Weiner

I can’t believe we have come to my last blog of 2024. To say it has been eventful would be quite the understatement. The year felt like a raging hurricane, with destructive gusts such as an incredibly contentious election, the continued deterioration of public discourse, the rise of and troubling normalization of hate speech and a Middle East on fire, with collateral brush fires on so many college campuses. We were rocked by the sudden illness of our beloved university’s president and his subsequent resignation. We bade farewell to Ed Healton and welcomed Norm Beauchamp as our new EVP.

We have been securely in the eye of the hurricane and continue to make progress. We benefit from unprecedented institutional commitments to our success. None of this happens without the support of GUMC, MedStar Health or Hackensack Meridian Health. None of this happens without our superb cadre of administrators, who constantly find ways to convert lemons into lemonade. None of this happens without inspired fundraising, which will only increase in the coming years.

Our consortium partnership has strengthened in many ways, and we have laid a foundation for future high-impact projects. Our clinical enterprise is vibrant, and important investments have positioned our work in cell therapy for future success. Our clinical research portfolio and activities are strengthening, and our clinical research operations have dramatically improved. Our science is strong, our scientists are making new discoveries, and we are working together as never before. We have engaged the communities we serve in new and important ways. Our commitment to the future through our trainees and mentorship of early career faculty has never been more impactful.

I am fully aware that the external environment is likely to be very challenging in the coming few years, especially as it relates to the conduct of lifesaving research and research-inspired care. We have made the world a better place this year. Only by working together, working smartly, and celebrating the ways we can collaborate for higher impact can we succeed to the fullest extent of our capabilities.

We are on the move, and I could not be more excited about our future. As always, it’s about the people. All of us. Each of us. Everybody we serve. I am so incredibly grateful and continually humbled to have the opportunity to lead this wonderful cancer center. Please accept my thanks for how you have made us strong, and for how you will contribute to our future greatness.

Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, and of course a happy and healthy New Year. I hope you have a chance to spend time with your loved ones this holiday season. My blog will return on January 6.

Let’s make the world an ever better place next year.

With my profound appreciation,

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.

Greeting on a beautiful and pleasantly warm December afternoon.

As you might have seen, the NCI issued a press release this past week: “In five cancer types, prevention and screening have been major contributors to saving lives.” This announcement represents incredibly important work. We are grateful for the contributions of so many researchers, including Jeanne Mandelblatt, MD, MPH, whose early screening research provided the foundation for Medicare coverage of Pap smear screening, forever changing the landscape of cervical cancer prevention. As you may know, she co-leads the CISNET breast working group.

I’m also delighted to announce that philanthropist and business executive Sherrie Beckstead and Emmy award-winning sportscaster and community advocate Wes Hall will serve as the co-chairs of our Lombardi Gala this spring. Sherrie has been a longtime supporter of our cancer center and brings a passion for our mission and deep connections with the Greater Washington community. Wes has been a major community voice and sports personality in our region for years and understands the value that Lombardi brings to people in D.C. and beyond. We look forward to their leadership in this very important fundraiser for Georgetown Lombardi.

We make big differences through our work, and letting people know about it will provide us with the fuel we need to do groundbreaking science and provide clinical care.

Make the world a better place this week.

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.

Greetings on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Last night, Harriet and I attended a performance of “The Art of Care” at the Mosaic Theater in the Atlas Performing Arts Center. The piece was conceived and directed by Derek Goldman, professor of theater and performance studies at Georgetown and a decorated director, playwright and producer in his own right. He has founded the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, and has developed a method called In Your Shoes, where the performances are intensely personal, but use the voices of multiple actors to tell the protagonists’ stories.

Derek told me about this show when we met to discuss how to align our shared interests in the concept of cura personalis. He has previously connected with Julia Langley, who directs our Arts and Humanities Program. The show ended today. Julia took her group of artists to the final performance.

I can tell you that I was blown away by the show, which reflects on caregiving in all of its aspects. It was deeply insightful, engaging and moving. I chatted with Derek prior to the performance; he had brought his wife and two sons to the show. Our conversation quickly turned to Jack DeGioia, who announced on Thursday afternoon that he had stepped down as President of Georgetown University after 23 years of service to focus on recovering from the stroke he had in June.

Derek, who has been at Georgetown for 20 years, praised Jack for how he understood and supported the mission of the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics. I nodded in agreement. Derek’s words made me think.

University presidents don’t usually last for 23 years — more recently, 23 months is a major accomplishment. How did Jack do it? There are many reasons, of course. He is a deeply good man, with a humility rooted in his spirituality and grounded beliefs in Jesuit and Catholic values. He is whip smart, can hold multiple thoughts at the same time, and can manage the maelstrom of competing priorities, urgencies and emergencies that are the hallmarks of any large university. Perhaps most importantly, he plays three-dimensional chess, while the rest of us struggle to develop strategies at all, let alone plan moves in two dimensions. He always keeps the larger strategic priorities in mind, and resists the urge to make purely tactical moves in response to the urgency of the moment; rather, he acts when he is ready, and then does so with conviction.

He has shepherded the university through two worldwide financial crises, the COVID pandemic, the revelations about Georgetown’s sorry history with enslaved people and, most recently, through the widespread unrest that emerged following the events of October 7, 2023. Jack leaves our university in the capable hands of Interim President Bob Groves, better in every way than when he assumed the mantle of leadership. I feel very privileged to have worked for him and to have learned from his leadership examples.

Jack has always been supportive of Lombardi, and has consistently searched for ways to stabilize our cancer center and invest in our success. Over the past few years, Jack made it possible for Lombardi to receive critically needed resources that have allowed us to improve our research depth and impact, establishing a durable platform for our future success. His wise selection of Norm Beauchamp as EVP further strengthens our supportive infrastructure. It is said that success has many parents, but we should always remember that none of this happens without Jack DeGioia. Thank you, Jack, and Godspeed for a speedy and complete recovery.

A good man has passed the baton, but our race must still be run. Let’s honor President John J. DeGioia and his legacy of virtuosity, integrity and humanity by bringing to fruition his vision of a cancer center that makes towering transformative discoveries, applies those discoveries to improve the health of all, and shines a light that all can follow.

Be like Jack. Make the world a better place this week, and Happy Thanksgiving.

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.

It has been a challenging few weeks, with uncertain and, in some cases, concerning implications of pending governmental changes on the work we do, let alone the lives we lead. Yet, I have hope that we will find a way forward. I have never been more hopeful about GUMC, and anybody who attended the GUMC Town Hall on Thursday afternoon will surely understand why. Norman Beauchamp inspires optimism and radiates authenticity and capability. Whatever comes our way, I am confident that we’ll find a way to excel and succeed. With that in mind, I thought I would share a personal reflection that you might find interesting and illuminating.

In the next few days, the mighty SS United States will embark on her last voyage, as she is being towed from her current berth in Philadelphia, the hometown of the man who built her, to her final resting place in Florida, where she will be sunk to become an aquatic skeleton for a coral reef. It is an environmentally noble but ignominious end for such a magnificent creation.

The SS United States was built after World War II, designed to be fireproof and suitable as a troop carrier in the event of World War III. It was the fastest passenger liner ever built, and it could cross the Atlantic in just under four days. It was the glamorous, high-tech 53,300-ton American alternative to the mighty Cunard Lines flagships, the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. Celebrities clamored to make the trip, and many did. Our family did too (but certainly not in First Class!). We traveled to Belgium when I was 6 years old so my brother and I could meet my grandparents. We spent the better part of one summer there. When we returned, I was known in my school as the little boy who had been to Europe. I was an exotic world traveler at a time when international travel was rare and terribly expensive.

It was a heady time; America was a colossus astride the world, and the SS United States was its aquatic manifestation. I remember getting into a debate with my much older Belgian cousin about the relative populations of China and the United States. I found it inconceivable that America was not the biggest, best and at the top of everything that mattered in the world. I guess that my boasting made me a classic Ugly American, but in my defense, I was only a child.

The SS United States became a bit of an obsession for me over the next few years. I memorized its key specifications. I would spend hours drawing painstaking versions of the ship, and I built model ship replicas as well. But over time, the glamour of ocean liners yielded to the irresistible convenience of intercontinental jet travel, and ocean liners, including my beloved boat, were replaced by the floating bacchanalias that are modern cruise ships. The SS United States was not suitable as a cruise ship, and eventually limped into a dry dock in Philadelphia in 1996. I nearly drove off the road on I-95 on my way to the Philadelphia International Airport the first time I drove past it back then. It was my “Remembrance of Things Past,” and that ship was my very own enormous madeleine. Since that time, various champions and foundations have attempted to repurpose and save her. No dice. So down she goes.

The metaphorical irony is not lost on me. This mighty symbol — indeed the namesake — of the zenith of the American century, and all it represented — power, freedom, progress, science, the arts, democracy itself — is being sunk. Only a few people will notice or care. But I do. I care about my ship, my country and the values I hold dear. I can’t stop that boat from sinking, but there is still time for our country to rediscover its best self. I know that I will do my part as best I can. Certainly I will do the best work I can to reduce the burden of human cancer here and everywhere.

Make the world a better place this week, and keep your head above water.

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.

Tuesday’s election has important implications for all of us. The people have spoken and have spoken clearly. Many of our colleagues are grieving, while others are pleased. Our early career trainees and faculty worry about a seemingly uncertain future for science, but all we can control is what we do. Cancer has not decided to take the day off, let alone the next election cycle. We have important work to do, and do it we will.

We must be unified, powerful and effective advocates for science, patient care, community welfare and an equitable, diverse cancer research and cancer care workforce. Most importantly, we must make progress, and inspire our early career colleagues to believe that they continue to have a role in a brighter future.

These are uncertain and potentially destabilizing times. The challenge is difficult, but we are up to it. We are in the business of defeating malignancies, and we have work to do, one discovery and one patient at a time.

Let’s make this wobbling world a better place this week through the great work we do.

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.

Greetings on a beautiful and brisk Saturday. I had a very productive week, highlighted by our Faculty Meeting on Monday and attendance at the Festschrift honoring Larry Gostin, a leading global health expert at Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and a dear friend.

We’ve had some exciting results in the lab. After several years of trying, we were finally able to successfully introduce the fibroblast activation protein (FAP) gene into normal human donor natural killer cells. NK cells are notoriously difficult to transduce, but with the help of Miriam Jacobs (who studies NK cell biology and has significant relevant expertise) and Marwa Afifi (a recent addition to my lab), Rachael Maynard, who described her work at Thursday’s Cancer Research Data Meeting, was able to demonstrate that these FAP-transduced cells efficiently invade through matrix. This has important implications for developing cell therapies that can invade into solid tumor microenvironments.

So, work is good. But, if you are like me, you are on pins and needles about the upcoming election on November 5. Harriet and I have already voted, and I certainly hope you have or will vote as well if you are a citizen. The stakes could not be higher, and I won’t belabor the many factors that each voter will consider as they cast their ballots. In Zoom meetings with colleagues around the country, the conversations inevitably turn to the election as it pertains to biomedical research and medical care.

So much is at stake. In our corner of the world, cancer death rates have dropped remarkably over the past quarter century, and we are poised to accelerate that progress with continued investments into fundamental and applied cancer research. Cancer outcome disparities in the District of Columbia have narrowed as well, with the greatest improvements in Black males. This unprecedented progress is fragile, as it is endangered if the access of underserved patients to research-inspired cancer care is undermined in any way.

Let us hope that the election’s outcome, however it turns out, allows us to sustain that progress. People’s lives depend upon it.

Make the world a better place this week. Vote.

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.

What a great weekend! We had our third BellRinger ride on Saturday.

By the numbers it was a great success:

• At least 1,166 Riders — over 200 more than last year
• 70 Virtual Riders
• 391 Volunteers
• 419 Student Riders
• 151 Teams
• $4.28 million raised since 2022 (and counting — money for this year’s ride will roll in through December 31)

However, the numbers only tell part of the story. The impact on our cancer research will be huge. Our growing community of supporters includes people from the Georgetown and MedStar Health communities, the larger Washington region, and a slew of corporate partners. There is no denying the momentum here, and at our current pace I fully expect us to break the 1,500-rider mark next year!

Kudos to our BellRinger team, particularly Jonathan Thomas, Kate Colgan, Bridget Holmes and Alyssa Bielinski, who put together this wonderful event and are getting our message out to the community. I am so grateful to them for their efforts. My appreciation extends to our fabulous team captains, especially Nancy Dawson, who raised more than $75,000 — as a virtual rider! — and Mike Atkins, one of this ride’s prime inspirations, who personally raised more than $49,000 and whose team raised more than $99,000 (and counting!).

The Friday-evening celebration was wonderful, with great energy, excellent food and a fabulous “I Ride For” styrofoam cube, where participants wrote brief messages of support, remembrance and encouragement. As we did last year, the cube’s panels will be displayed in the clinic as a show of support for our patients, their families and our great caregivers. These cubes are literally filled with messages that will resonate throughout the year. They are the physical embodiment of why we do what we do, and why what we do is so important.

I was able to get through the 25-mile ride, along with many colleagues, but I will tell you that I probably did not train hard enough as I recovered from a prior hamstring injury. I was pretty beat by the end, but the exhilaration of accomplishment and appreciation of our community overshadowed the fatigue in my sore legs. My legs will recover, and I plan to begin training for next year’s ride sooner than I did this year.

Just like our cancer research, BellRinger is a year-round effort. What we do matters so much to so many people. Let’s honor that commitment by redoubling our efforts to end cancer as we know it.

You know what we need to do. Make the world a better place this week.

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.

Greetings from 30,000 feet on a Sunday afternoon. We went to a destination wedding in Colorado Springs late last week and stayed there through today. Now we are on our way to Chicago for the AACI meeting. I’m looking forward to a very interesting meeting of cancer center directors and other cancer center leaders. I return Tuesday evening, and will have a very intense and compressed workweek ahead!

Last week was highlighted by the Cancer Prevention and Control Program retreat. The breadth and depth of our CPC Program research is remarkable, and there are many opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations. We have an upcoming Cancer Cell Biology Program retreat in a few weeks, and I look forward to that as well.

Elsewhere in this newsletter is everything you need to know to sign up for BellRinger or to sponsor someone. Hard to believe the ride is this weekend! Please join us!

Have a great week, and as always, make the world a better place through everything you do.

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.

Curing cancer requires teamwork. Teamwork requires teams. Teams work best when they are united by common purpose, a unified culture, and the commitment of everyone to each other and to their shared objectives. In other words, we do best when we work together as a community. This important set of truths was reinforced for me by several different events this past week.

On Monday, we celebrated the recent promotions of Cecil Han and Ayesha Shajahan-Haq in E501 with a potluck reception. The warmth and camaraderie of the assemblage was a reminder of what we (and almost everyone else) lost due to the pandemic. Nothing beats actual human contact. With that in mind, I propose that we initiate get-togethers in the E501 conference room, perhaps on Wednesdays once per month in the late afternoons — a type of “TGIW” if you will — sponsored by one or two research groups, which would be responsible for providing some snacks. I’ll take care of the drinks. Each group would get 5-10 minutes to present an overview of its work, and the rest of the TGIW would be devoted to informal conversations. If folks think this is a good idea, then we’ll circulate a sign-up list.

The middle of the week was dominated by board meetings — first, the Committee on Medical Center Affairs on Wednesday, followed by a board dinner at the Renwick Gallery, and finally the general business meeting on Thursday. Our thoughts were with Jack DeGioia and his family as he continues working on his recovery. Yet, his work continues, led by our Provost and EVPs, with the full engagement of the board and with the continued commitment of the Georgetown community. The strength of this community and the power of our shared values continue to inspire our work. This is a reflection of Jack’s vision and example, lighting our path forward.

Then, I had the privilege of attending the Dickson Lecture dinner on Thursday evening, hosted by Jane Dickson and attended by so many of Georgetown Lombardi’s foundational leaders and scientists who were Bob Dickson’s colleagues and dear friends. We welcomed Leena Hilakivi-Clarke (this year’s lecturer) and Bob Clarke, who traveled here from the “wilds” of Minnesota, and former Lombardi cancer center directors Marc Lippman and Kevin Cullen. Just about everybody at the dinner was part of the NCI crew that moved to Georgetown with Marc, setting our cancer center on an upward trajectory that continues to this day. More importantly, these inspiring leaders, clinicians and scientists were a true family, sharing an extraordinary connection that drove their work and bonded them for life. Bob Dickson was the glue guy for that group. He justifiably is revered to this day, nearly two decades after his untimely passing, because he transformed a group of researchers into a community of transformation. They did better work because they worked together, and they were happy because they worked together.

Finally, Harriet and I attended yearly Yom Kippur services (the holiest day on the Jewish Calendar) and heard our congregation’s chief rabbi, Danny Zemel, deliver his final Yom Kippur eve sermon, as he is retiring in June. A man of deep humanity and moral conviction, he described how he strived over his 40+ year tenure to reimagine a Jewish community that is attuned to the present and future, respecting but not chained by its past. He has accomplished that miracle, leading a congregation that is very much committing to addressing the urgent moral issues of our day through righteous action based on Jewish values and ideals. He can never be replaced, but his eventual successor will have the opportunity to build on the extraordinary foundation he has established.

Finally, a reminder; this Friday, October 18, will mark the annual Potter Lecture, to be delivered this year by two rising stars. Alejandra Hurtado de Mendoza, PhD, will speak on the topic of addressing disparities in hereditary cancer through community-engaged research. Sreejith Nair, PhD, will describe his work to explore hidden targets and mechanisms of action of classic cancer drugs. The lectures will be given at noon in the auditorium of the New Research Building. This lecture series honors the memory of Lombardi’s founding director, John Potter, MD. John had the vision and the persistence to establish this cancer center, and all we do came to pass because he established this community. Please honor his contributions and the accomplishments of our speakers by personally attending this lecture.

Community. Jack DeGioia; Bob Dickson; Danny Zemel; John Potter. This has been an extraordinary week for me, inspired by the power of community and by the examples of people who have built them. I am humbled and inspired by their examples. I hope, in my own way, to contribute to the betterment of our Lombardi community. I certainly will try.

Make the world a better place this week.

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.

I hope you had a good week and weekend. We were supposed to travel to Burlington, Vermont, last weekend for the yearly in-person meeting of a foundation that supports cancer research in that state. I am involved because I did some of my training in Burlington and I know something about cancer. The plan was for me to attend the meeting on Monday morning, and then Harriet and I were planning to do some fall foliage leaf peeping for a day or so. But plans are made to be changed.

We learned that my brother, whom I wrote about a few weeks ago, needed a somewhat urgent medical procedure last Monday, and we felt the need to provide “coverage” in case he was discharged later that day. His wife and kids had to be in New York City because their oldest daughter’s new musical was slated to open that night. Needless to say, he was devastated to miss the opening. So, we canceled our trip and converted my participation in the Vermont meeting to a Zoom. The leaves will change again next year, so we consider this disruption to be a rain check. It’s more important to be there for the people we love. So we drove up to the Philly suburbs on Sunday and spent time with him on Monday.

Fortunately, everything went well, although our niece developed laryngitis and the show’s opening was postponed at the last minute. So, he’ll be there for the delayed opening after all. I caught up on my backlog of work on Tuesday, and then had an abbreviated rest of the workweek because of our observance of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

I’m looking forward to the coming workweek. We have a bunch of exciting things going on in the lab, with an encouraging grant review on our work with FAP regulation of NK cell tumor invasion and an addressable set of critiques from Nature Communications on recent graduate Zoe Malchiodi’s work that describes novel spatial relationships of NK cells in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Plus, I have an all-day long-distance Zoom meeting on Friday, as I am on the EAB for Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s all good.

By the way, have you signed up to participate in BellRinger, which will be held on October 26? You can ride, volunteer or simply donate. We are closing in on 1,000 riders and hope to surpass our goal of 1,100 riders this year. You can help make this happen, and by doing so, you will support Lombardi’s research mission, one pedal revolution at a time.

It is one more way that you can make the world a better place this week.

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.