I write this blog sitting in an airport blog on Sunday afternoon as I head off for a short meeting in Copenhagen regarding one of my research collaborations. I have a bit of time to reflect on the last week, which has been eventful and productive.
My week started off with a fingerprinting as part of my background check for the renewal of my DC medical license. Of course, it is now a digital process, literally and figuratively. I then met with our new chief of surgical oncology, Dr. Waddah Al-Refaie, who has joined Georgetown from the University of Minnesota. Waddah has an interest in surgical outcomes, and is working with Arnie Potosky and Jeannie Mandelblatt in what I predict will be a very successful collaboration.
On Wednesday, after Craig Jordan’s excellent noon seminar presentation I had an opportunity to meet with Bob Glazer and colleagues to discuss a new NCI-funded project to develop a viral vaccine directed against PLAC-1 to prevent or retard the development of breast cancer in a genetically engineered mouse model. This project engages the labs of Bob, me, Howard Federoff and Priscilla Furth, and exemplifies the potential for collaborative activities at Lombardi due to the diversity and depth of our respective expertises.
Thursday was dominated by my afternoon clinic, which was quite busy. And the entire day on Friday was devoted to a meeting here at Lombardi with colleagues from Hackensack University Medical Center and Stevens Institute in New Jersey. The goal was to identify collaborative opportunities that can further the developing affiliation of Lombardi and Hackensack. And we certainly identified a number of high-priority win-win opportunities that we will pursue. It was an exciting day.
On Saturday Harriet and I visited our kids in Baltimore, and spent the evening at the annual Childrens Cancer Foundation Gala in Cockeysville, MD. The CCF has given more than $4 million to Lombardi over the years, with dynamic leadership from Shirley Howard, who was ill and could not attend the event. It was a lovely evening. For those of you with long memories, the headline act was Mickey Dolenz, who was the lead singer of the Monkees. Considering this was a “made for TV” band, the Monkees were actually rather good for a few years. There is something about entertainers in their sixties pretending it is still the ’60s that makes me a bit sad. He actually can still sing, but in my opinion it is more fun to live in the present and look to the future.
Before I sign off, I want to give a shout out to the Georgetown Lombardi team that participated in Saturday morning’s ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5k walk on the National Mall. To our team members and those that supported them, thanks for helping ensure we show our appreciation for the great work that ACS does. It was a beautiful morning for a walk!
Have a wonderful week. I will be back in town later this week.