Without a doubt, the highlight of the week was the Ruesch Symposium, “Fighting a Smarter War Against Cancer: Linking Policy to the Patient.” This three-day symposium was the brainchild of John Marshall, and many people worked with John to turn his idea into a genuinely transformative experience.
As many of you know, the Otto J. Ruesch Center for the Cure of Gastrointestinal Cancers was established in 2009 to focus attention on this deadly set of diseases. This Center includes new mechanisms to support clinical care, clinical research and basic research. More importantly, it extends beyond these critical components to consider policy, ethics and law as they relate to gastrointestinal cancers. As a result, this Center really resides at an intersection of disciplines that captures so much of what is wonderful and unique about Georgetown.
And this symposium really captured the essence of these elements. Each day had a unique focus and location, and attracted an exceptional and extraordinarily diverse group of speakers. The talks were terrific, thought provoking and generated a number of useful ideas and action items for making a serious dent in these diseases. I hope we can continue to explore the intersections of patient care, research, law and policy in these and other cancers. Please join me in congratulating and thanking John for his vision and leadership.
Otherwise, the week was business as usual. We continue to move forward in our discussions to create a bone marrow transplant program at Georgetown, and I remain cautiously optimistic that we are headed in the right direction in those talks.
I was pleased to be able to attend, albeit briefly, the Georgetown Women in Medicine Reception in the Lombardi Cancer Center Atrium on Thursday evening; I had to leave in order to attend a dinner downtown for the Ruesch Symposium participants.
Finally, on Saturday, Harriet and I attended the basketball game between Georgetown and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) at the Verizon Center. The game wasa bit of a laugher, as NJIT was way outclassed. I am glad we all weren’t too obnoxious in the stands; near the end of the game, both teams had their deep reserves on the floor. One of the NJIT players scored on a layup, and a man sitting in front of me stood up, yelled and pumped hisarms furiously in celebration. His son had just scored his first points ofthe game (and I think, in his career).
It was a sweet moment, and I was doubly glad we hadn’t engaged in smug commentary about the opponent because I had just seen one happy set of parents. It was just like being on the sidelines at a youth soccer game, except that the players had to shave.
Have a wonderful week.