So, I got to my blog a little late this week., but in time to congratulate you Redskins’ fans. It’s been a long time since the ‘Skins were off to a quick start.
This is really a busy time of year for me and for all of us at Lombardi. We continue to set the foundation for our CCSG renewal with a number of meetings to clarify administrative, scientific and leadership structures, and things are shaping up very nicely.
We have a few ongoing major recruitments; some of you met with Mike Atkins last week and/or attended his seminar; he is a candidate for the vacant deputy director position. On Tuesday I participated in GUMC’s Doctors Speak Out program. We had a great turnout and attendees had many great questions about how genes and environments contribute to important diseases, including cancer. Later that day I attended a reception honoring Georgetown University’s new Rabbi, and subsequently attended a wonderful dinner honoring Jack DeGioia on the 10th anniversary of his assumption of the presidency of Georgetown University.
On Wednesday I enjoyed the opportunity to share my perspective on the current state of Lombardi at the Research Update Seminar (first of the year), along with Craig Jordan. That evening I headed up to New York to attend the ICBP symposium for holders of the NCI’s U54 grants in Systems Biology. On Thursday I spoke about our work with siRNA library screening to elucidate mechanisms of cell survival in ER-independent and anti-estrogen resistant breast cancer lines. I believe that our U54, which is headed by Bob Clarke, and includes many other Georgetown Lombardi investigators, including Subha Madhavan, Milt Brown, Lena Clarke and many others, is very much at the forefront of making systems biology approaches informative and useful.
Funny story: I hurried back to work Friday morning on the first train from NYC, because I wanted to hear Forrest White’s talk at noon. Little did I know that he had spoken at the same ICBP meeting I had attended before I got there, and had left the meeting before my talk on Thursday afternoon so he could get down to DC for his visit with us! I thought his technology and observations are very impressive, and enjoyed speaking with him after the seminar.
Later that afternoon I joined the Tumor Biology crowd on the 4th floor patio for a barbeque before Harriet and I headed to the Washington National Opera to see a performance of Tosca. So, of course we ran into Anton Wellstein and Anna Riegel, completing an intense and rewarding week of Lombardi-focused activities.
This coming week promises to be no less hectic or interesting. But right now I plan to kick back for a couple of hours and watch the Eagles play on national TV. They’ll have a hard time topping the pleasure the Phillies gave me on Saturday night, when they clinched their fifth consecutive National League East title. We Philly fans suffered for a long time, and are enjoying this brief moment in the sun!
Have a great week.