Another Value to Scientific Meetings

So I have been in intense morning science sessions, followed by relaxing poolside, and then dinner and 1-2 hours of PM science. Most of what I have heard over the past 3 days has not been relevant to the current projects in my lab.

So what good does being here do me?

Well, my scientific creative juices are flowing. This morning I sketched out the general strategy to make one of my projects potentially fundable. We still have some technical kinks to work through, and we need to generate some key data points, but all in all I am ready to go back and research again.

Unfortunately, I will start covering the inpatient service Monday morning. It will slow me down… but I am ready to rock!

By the way, my impersonation of a neuroscience did not result in horrible amounts of embarrassment. Some of the real neuroscience people thought our work was really interesting. I hope my colleague has her family situation calmed and is ready to write!

Joys of Seniority

For those of you who don’t follow me on Twitter (@PHLane):

1. Shame on you! You’re missing the wittiest 140 character updates available!
2. An update: due to a family medical emergency, the colleague working in my lab is not at the current meeting to present her work in about 90 minutes.

The poster arrived by FedEx this morning. I pinned it up and read it. And I’m in trouble.

See, Claudia Chaperon is interested in circadian rhythm and its potential relationship to cardiovascular and renal risk factors, especially in relationship to menopause. She was looking for a lab with the equipment she needed that could also help her learn RT-PCR techniques. I fit the bill, and i have a deepening interest in menopause from a personal standpoint.

I did suggest that she sample kidneys as well as the SCN, that teeny weeny part of the brain she samples for gene expression. And there is rhythmic gene expression with a 4 hour lag behind SCN expression. But I can’t say much more than that…

The great joy of seniority is I DON”T HAVE TO EVEN TRY. I can explain the situation and give them Claudia’s email for other “neurosciencey” questions. If I were a bit juinior, I would have spent my afternoon cramming, not enjoying a lovely day by the pool.

Now this is the real joy of tenure!

Photo courtesy of PhotoXpress.

On Meetings Large & Small

For the next few days I will be communicating from a conference on the role sex plays in the kidney and in cardiovascular disease in general.

I have commented at length on planning and packing for meetings, and on various aspects of larger meetings I have attended. These included Experimental Biology and the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

Smaller meetings are different (duh). For about 3 days I will be with a group of people with very similar interests. We will talk together, eat together, drink together, and sleep together (in the same hotel, not the same room). These meetings are a great “breeding ground” for new ideas and approaches. While big meetings should generally include a personal session of touristy behavior, smaller meetings are more intense. And, ultimately, more valuable, even though some may see them as less prestigious than their larger brethren.

When I get bored, I will twitter about random thoughts (@phlane), and I will try to update the blog once or twice. I just finished my last book, About Face, and I should post another What I’m Reading on Sunday. After all, I will have time to burn in airports!

Hot Gossip in New Orleans

I had two completely uneventful flights (thank you, United Airlines) and arrived in New Orleans for Experimental Biology, too late for the Cannon lecture, but well in time for the opening reception. I had two drink tickets - not using them would be wasteful!

I hung out near the bars, figuring eventually I would catch up with everyone I know (rumors that we are raging alcoholics are patently untrue). We were a bit distressed when the pregnant grad student found out that they charged a drink ticket for a plastic cup of water - for a drink ticket we figured she should at least get the whole bottle! APS, take note and fix this for next year!

Eventually I was approached by the president of APS, Irv Zucker, who had a very important question for me: Who is Dr. Isis? I had to disappoint him; even though I have had frequent interactions with the goddess, all have been through her Dr. Isis email and the blogosphere.

We then proceeded to the president's reception (free bar, Makers Mark bourbon, and nice desserts) - did I mention that he is the chair of Cellular and Integrative Physiology at my institution and I have a courtesy appointment in his department? Well, EVERYONE is trying to figure out who Dr. Isis might be. Apparently this was a hot topic for the APS Council. Even colleagues with no interest in shoes or fashion porn are discussing this riddle.

As for me, I'm not certain I want to know. The mystery is part of the fun. For the rest of the meeting I will be looking at every female vascular physiologist with a runner's physique, pasty ankles, and hot shoes, and wondering if she could be the goddess.