Greetings from Chicago, where I am attending the annual AACR meeting. The weekend has been a whirlwind of activity and each day seems to start at 6 am and runs late into the evening. The AACR conference is really a series of meetings, with a strong scientific program that spawns innumerable mini-meetings among investigators, between academia and industry, all informed by a pretty thick layer of oncopolitics.
For example, just today I attended a scientific symposium on antibody-drug conjuates, met with Mike Atkins and some Pharma people about bringing some new therapy clinical trials to Lombardi, met with Dick Schlegel’s brother to discuss collaborative research with Novartis (sorry, no juicy stories!), met with a former trainee to discuss his ongoing research, and then attended a board meeting of the American Association of Cancer Institutes.
After grabbing a very quick snack with Otis Brawley from the ACS, I then hurried off to an evening Town Hall of the AACR Cancer Immunology Working Group, where we are listening to three high profile research presentations. The Town Hall ended at 9 pm tonite, just in time for dinner. There were at least five other activities I could not attend today because there is no more time! I start tomorrow (Monday) at 8 am, and expect an even busier day.
The rest of last week was pretty full too. Last Tuesday was highlighted by a really well attended and dynamic clinical research retreat of the MedStar Cancer Network that I helped organize. We discussed five really interesting clinical trial proposals that will engage clinicians from both MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and MedStar Washington Hospital Center. On Wednesday I had a ball presenting my Research Update to Lombardi, and that evening was delighted to participate in an evening meeting of the planning committee for our annual Men’s Event to benefit prostate cancer research here. The men will have to pull out all the stops to beat the companion Women & Wine event to benefit breast cancer research, which is poised to break all attendance records this year.
One happy follow up to previous posts. My patient with colon cancer whom I have mentioned sent me a note and a picture of his beautiful new baby, who was born last week. The patient continues to receive his chemotherapy, and a restaging CT scan is scheduled for next month. Stay tuned.
Finally, the Capital Breast Care Center’s team for the May 5-6 Avon walk has 49 members (I believe this is our largest team ever), and sits in third place for fundraising. Don’t forget them; they need your help so everyone on the team can raise enough money to walk (there is an $1,800 fundraising minimum for each walker)! The team page is here if you want to help support them — every little bit helps!
And speaking of the CBCC, Beth Beck (who administered the program) has resigned from her position to pursue other opportunities. A very capable team, currently led by Tesha Coleman with the oversight and support of Lucile Adams-Campbell, is in place there and I look forward to great accomplishments in the future.
Have a terrific week.