Jul 24 2016
A Week of Science and Prevention
Hot enough for you? I was hoping to hit some golf balls this weekend, but either the golf balls or I would have melted out there. So I consoled myself by trekking up to Baltimore on Saturday with Harriet so we could watch all of our grandchildren while their parents went out to do something fun for a couple of hours. We could not have had a better time.
The workweek was highlighted by two events. The first was the Tumor Biology retreat on Wednesday, which was held at Rosewood Manor in Glen Echo. First of all, congratulations to Anna Riegel for being honored by the students with an award for teaching. Anna has led this program with great success for years and it was wonderful to see her receive this deserving recognition. I gave a brief “pep talk,” after the group got valuable advice from an editor at Science Signaling on how to submit successful manuscripts. Then, we all retired to the poster session for an afternoon of outstanding scientific interactions, lubricated by just a bit of liquid refreshment. As always, I found much to be scientifically inspired by the diverse and genuinely high quality abstracts and presenters. What a great time.
The next major event was not nearly as much fun, but much more important, at least for me. I had a regularly scheduled colonoscopy on Friday, and so had to commence with the prep on Thursday morning and then wait until 3pm Friday for the procedure. The prep was not nearly as difficult as I remember from five years ago. I remember nothing about the procedure, naturally, due to the wonders of anesthesia. Everything was fine, thankfully, and I am glad – if you’ll excuse the pun – to have that particular exercise behind me. If you are of the age where colonoscopy is recommended, please don’t hesitate to get it done. It is safe, and absolutely saves lives. A small polyp removed at the age of 50 never has the opportunity to develop into a killer cancer five years later.
The coming week will be highlighted by a trip to Hackensack with of a group of Lombardi investigators for a retreat with our colleagues to discuss joint efforts in hematologic malignancies. We have made a lot of progress together and look forward to laying the groundwork for future success.
Have a great week, and stay cool.
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