At the start of June, Auden and I traveled to Boston for the annual Endocrine Society Meeting. I must admit I was a little nervous leaving four research students to fend for themselves during the start of the third week of research, but they did well; it only took about 50 texts back and forth but they got work done and there were no issues!
I have been a member of the Endocrine Society since I was a postdoctoral research associate in the Katzenellenbogen lab at UIUC. Over the years, I’ve had a few students attend meetings – Maddie secured a summer fellowship in 2017 and consequently presented at the meeting in 2018, Kristen attended and presented when she was a post-bacc in 2018, and Najwa presented while funded by her Beckman fellowship in 2019. It is an interesting society because it is made up of basic scientists, like us, translational scientists, and clinicians. The research presented is on the forefront of medicine. I enjoy it because there is a large group of folks who work on nuclear receptors that I know personally and professionally. When Auden secured the Beckman fellowship, I knew this meeting would be a great fit for him since he wants to continue on to get an MD/PhD after graduation. He presented a poster and attended a number of talks. Below are his reflections on the meeting:
Auden: I walked down the stairs of the Boston Convention Center and went immediately to a free coffee station at one of the industry exhibitions. The representatives there quickly started asking me if I was familiar with their product. In a place where a 20 year-old undergraduate can be mistaken for a doctor, I was a potentially valuable new customer. I was loaded up with food and merchandise before I broke through the trade show and emerged in a huge pit of scientists and doctors presenting their research on posters. Once I had walked through the poster pit row-by-row, I walked upstairs to the meeting rooms encircling the main hall. The first talk I attended was given by Donald McDonnell. He is a natural speaker, and he told an incredible story about his scientific career and the breakthroughs that have challenged our understanding of estrogen receptors since their discovery. In his research, he revolutionized the model of receptor-ligand interactions in hormone signaling. Dr. McDonnell’s career was inspiring, and his talk got me very excited for the rest of the conference.
As I reflect on the meeting, I must admit that it was wonderful. I got to network, catch up with folks I hadn’t seen in a long time, and get to know some that I have only seen on Zoom. In addition, I was rejuvenated about the science. Listening to Donald McDonnell speak about the history of estrogen receptor modulators was a highlight. In addition, Roberta Diaz Brinton spoke of the effects of estrogen on menopause especially in regards to metabolism which peaked all my interest related to estrogen receptors, biochemistry, and aging. I was a chair for a session focused on novel inhibitors of steroid biosynthesis. I have ideas for new directions for our projects like methods for evaluating MEMO protein-protein interactions and examining our potential drug-like molecules in 3D culture. Thanks for a great meeting, ENDO!
~jap
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