Welcome, Peter!
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@Westkopf can you tell us a little about yourself? So far I know you do cancer research for a living and have a beautiful wife and kids. Any life goals, apart from playing the 4th Ballade even more perfectly? What piano do you play? What's your purity score?
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@jon-nyc said in Welcome, Peter!:
Right. Great piece.
Right. As if you would ever play a piece in C Major.
@Klaus said in Welcome, Peter!:
@jon-nyc said in Welcome, Peter!:
Right. Great piece.
Right. As if you would ever play a piece in C Major.
I played Rachmaninoff's C major Etude Tableau. Though its mostly in minor keys.
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@Westkopf can you tell us a little about yourself? So far I know you do cancer research for a living and have a beautiful wife and kids. Any life goals, apart from playing the 4th Ballade even more perfectly? What piano do you play? What's your purity score?
@Klaus Sure! I was born in the Boston area, grew up in Lewiston-Auburn Maine (LA of the East coast, bub) most of my life, went to college in upstate New York, struggled early with directions in life (still do), strongly considered going into music for a career but had enough self-awareness to see the limitations of my mediocrity, and chose science. Did my PhD at University of California SF and postdoc at MIT, and recently started my independent research group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and will soon likely close my lab and become a parlor pianist thanks to the defunding of science in America.
My major research focus is trying to understand how cancer evolves and the role of the immune system and environmental insults in this process. We presently focus on colon cancer (now the first leading cause of cancer deaths in men and second in women under 50!!) and critical transitions in cancer that we need better strategies to intercept, like transition from benign polyps to malignancy and metastasis to the liver (the main reason this disease is so deadly).
I took a gap year between college and grad school to teach English and study Chinese in Taiwan, where I met my wife. I had overwhelmingly positive culture shock--one of the very best years of my life. My wife has made me, and continues to make me, a much better person.
My major life goal is to make a meaningful difference in this world that outlasts me, and to indoctrinate my kids with a similar outlook . . . okay, fine, and to also play the F- ballade not just more perfectly, but PERFECTLY.
I play a 2001 Petrof III with Renner action (thanks to my mom, actually, almost bought a Young Chang from a dealer but she found this Petrof on Craigslist). My wife heretofore sounds like a gem but she hired a random tuner one afternoon I was away to please me and he sprayed WD-40 on some sticky tuning pins . . . $900 later, we have new tuning pins and strings in the treble register where I really channel my finest Chopin (I hope to again, once the strings hold tune).
Oof, purity score . . . the warnings above are sounding off! I do not want to be cancelled, but I will say I did not break the lower quartile. Should I be proud??
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@Klaus Sure! I was born in the Boston area, grew up in Lewiston-Auburn Maine (LA of the East coast, bub) most of my life, went to college in upstate New York, struggled early with directions in life (still do), strongly considered going into music for a career but had enough self-awareness to see the limitations of my mediocrity, and chose science. Did my PhD at University of California SF and postdoc at MIT, and recently started my independent research group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and will soon likely close my lab and become a parlor pianist thanks to the defunding of science in America.
My major research focus is trying to understand how cancer evolves and the role of the immune system and environmental insults in this process. We presently focus on colon cancer (now the first leading cause of cancer deaths in men and second in women under 50!!) and critical transitions in cancer that we need better strategies to intercept, like transition from benign polyps to malignancy and metastasis to the liver (the main reason this disease is so deadly).
I took a gap year between college and grad school to teach English and study Chinese in Taiwan, where I met my wife. I had overwhelmingly positive culture shock--one of the very best years of my life. My wife has made me, and continues to make me, a much better person.
My major life goal is to make a meaningful difference in this world that outlasts me, and to indoctrinate my kids with a similar outlook . . . okay, fine, and to also play the F- ballade not just more perfectly, but PERFECTLY.
I play a 2001 Petrof III with Renner action (thanks to my mom, actually, almost bought a Young Chang from a dealer but she found this Petrof on Craigslist). My wife heretofore sounds like a gem but she hired a random tuner one afternoon I was away to please me and he sprayed WD-40 on some sticky tuning pins . . . $900 later, we have new tuning pins and strings in the treble register where I really channel my finest Chopin (I hope to again, once the strings hold tune).
Oof, purity score . . . the warnings above are sounding off! I do not want to be cancelled, but I will say I did not break the lower quartile. Should I be proud??
@Westkopf said in Welcome, Peter!:
My major research focus is trying to understand how cancer evolves and the role of the immune system and environmental insults in this process. We presently focus on colon cancer (now the first leading cause of cancer deaths in men and second in women under 50!!) and critical transitions in cancer that we need better strategies to intercept, like transition from benign polyps to malignancy and metastasis to the liver (the main reason this disease is so deadly).
Oh, can I ask a question about this? I understand you do research and are not a MD, but maybe you still have something to say about this. I did a colonoscopy about half a year ago, where two polyps were removed. One of these polyps was big enough that it could not be removed in one piece. The doctor suggested that this would justify another colonoscopy after 6 months, instead of after 5-10 years - to make sure that the removal was complete. Now I try to weigh the considerable discomfort of another colonoscopy against a presumably very low probability that there's something left and that something could be dangerous. Any thoughts on this?
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@Klaus Sure! I was born in the Boston area, grew up in Lewiston-Auburn Maine (LA of the East coast, bub) most of my life, went to college in upstate New York, struggled early with directions in life (still do), strongly considered going into music for a career but had enough self-awareness to see the limitations of my mediocrity, and chose science. Did my PhD at University of California SF and postdoc at MIT, and recently started my independent research group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and will soon likely close my lab and become a parlor pianist thanks to the defunding of science in America.
My major research focus is trying to understand how cancer evolves and the role of the immune system and environmental insults in this process. We presently focus on colon cancer (now the first leading cause of cancer deaths in men and second in women under 50!!) and critical transitions in cancer that we need better strategies to intercept, like transition from benign polyps to malignancy and metastasis to the liver (the main reason this disease is so deadly).
I took a gap year between college and grad school to teach English and study Chinese in Taiwan, where I met my wife. I had overwhelmingly positive culture shock--one of the very best years of my life. My wife has made me, and continues to make me, a much better person.
My major life goal is to make a meaningful difference in this world that outlasts me, and to indoctrinate my kids with a similar outlook . . . okay, fine, and to also play the F- ballade not just more perfectly, but PERFECTLY.
I play a 2001 Petrof III with Renner action (thanks to my mom, actually, almost bought a Young Chang from a dealer but she found this Petrof on Craigslist). My wife heretofore sounds like a gem but she hired a random tuner one afternoon I was away to please me and he sprayed WD-40 on some sticky tuning pins . . . $900 later, we have new tuning pins and strings in the treble register where I really channel my finest Chopin (I hope to again, once the strings hold tune).
Oof, purity score . . . the warnings above are sounding off! I do not want to be cancelled, but I will say I did not break the lower quartile. Should I be proud??
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I don’t know you could possibly write a two paragraph biography without mentioning the fact that you once played a Chopin Scherzo on my Bosie when you were in high school.
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@Westkopf said in Welcome, Peter!:
My major research focus is trying to understand how cancer evolves and the role of the immune system and environmental insults in this process. We presently focus on colon cancer (now the first leading cause of cancer deaths in men and second in women under 50!!) and critical transitions in cancer that we need better strategies to intercept, like transition from benign polyps to malignancy and metastasis to the liver (the main reason this disease is so deadly).
Oh, can I ask a question about this? I understand you do research and are not a MD, but maybe you still have something to say about this. I did a colonoscopy about half a year ago, where two polyps were removed. One of these polyps was big enough that it could not be removed in one piece. The doctor suggested that this would justify another colonoscopy after 6 months, instead of after 5-10 years - to make sure that the removal was complete. Now I try to weigh the considerable discomfort of another colonoscopy against a presumably very low probability that there's something left and that something could be dangerous. Any thoughts on this?
@Klaus Yes of course. I don't have an MD so take my advice with a grain of salt, of course. But I work closely with a surgeon who does see patients and operates (mostly on liver metastases, but colon cancer is her specialty) and a big focus of my lab is to do work that is clinically relevant. I think about these things a lot, especially larger polyps and the risk of those progressing to cancer (we have analyzed many such samples we get from our clinical partner, Northwell Health).
How much of the larger polyp was removed? I assume they had a pathologist look at the tissue and no evidence of cancer was found (which is great!). Otherwise, they would have had you back for a full resection in short order.
Nevertheless, large polyps carry a much higher risk of cancer than smaller ones, so I personally would be uneasy knowing that there is potentially high-risk polyp tissue still in me. An additional concern I have is that my own research has found that injury/inflammation, such as would be induced by the initial resection, provides a sort of fuel for as of yet clinically undetectable malignant cells with the potential to grow out and form cancer. So if those cells existed in the original polyp, they could have been "awoken" by the initial surgery.
My advice: get that shit out ASAP! The thing about colon cancer is that if you catch it before it spreads to other organs, the prognosis and treatment options are very good. But once it has spread, especially to the liver, the prognosis is dismal. Early detection is always the BEST option. That reminds me, I am turning 40 soon and I will be going to my doctor to get a colonoscopy, even though they will tell me I am too young (recommended age is now 45, down from 50). I will tell them I have family history, blood in stool, bowel pain, whatever the hell I need to give me the damn scope!
There are also noninvasive tests like Cologuard, but nothing is as sensitive and accurate as colonoscopy.
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@Klaus Yes of course. I don't have an MD so take my advice with a grain of salt, of course. But I work closely with a surgeon who does see patients and operates (mostly on liver metastases, but colon cancer is her specialty) and a big focus of my lab is to do work that is clinically relevant. I think about these things a lot, especially larger polyps and the risk of those progressing to cancer (we have analyzed many such samples we get from our clinical partner, Northwell Health).
How much of the larger polyp was removed? I assume they had a pathologist look at the tissue and no evidence of cancer was found (which is great!). Otherwise, they would have had you back for a full resection in short order.
Nevertheless, large polyps carry a much higher risk of cancer than smaller ones, so I personally would be uneasy knowing that there is potentially high-risk polyp tissue still in me. An additional concern I have is that my own research has found that injury/inflammation, such as would be induced by the initial resection, provides a sort of fuel for as of yet clinically undetectable malignant cells with the potential to grow out and form cancer. So if those cells existed in the original polyp, they could have been "awoken" by the initial surgery.
My advice: get that shit out ASAP! The thing about colon cancer is that if you catch it before it spreads to other organs, the prognosis and treatment options are very good. But once it has spread, especially to the liver, the prognosis is dismal. Early detection is always the BEST option. That reminds me, I am turning 40 soon and I will be going to my doctor to get a colonoscopy, even though they will tell me I am too young (recommended age is now 45, down from 50). I will tell them I have family history, blood in stool, bowel pain, whatever the hell I need to give me the damn scope!
There are also noninvasive tests like Cologuard, but nothing is as sensitive and accurate as colonoscopy.
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Peter, I consult part time in the IT side of a medical research facility. We have not seen a lot of cuts, so I am hopeful that what we are seeing is a pullback and reexamination of how grants are awarded rather than a true defunding.
@Mik I hope so. But the administration's proposed budget for the NIH includes an ~40% cut of 18 billion. The results of such a cut would be absolutely devastating. The senate is opposed, which is great that they actually realize the massively idiotic effects such a cut would have on America's health system, economy, and global position as leader in biomedical research. We shall see how the chips fall.
However, the threatened cuts have already had a huge impact on many academic institutions. Many PhD programs have reduced the number of students they are taking this year, with some not taking any students, in order to avoid running out of funds. Same goes for hiring new faculty. I have a few friends on the market and it is dismal. One had an offer at one of the leading research institutes in NYC, was given signals that he would be given an offer, and was then told they didn't have the funds and had to cut the number of positions in more than half. He was not hired.
Same goes for NIH grants. I applied for an R01 in Feb, bread and butter grant for independent research labs. I got an extremely good score that would have been guaranteed funding in fiscal year 2025, but given the way these grant cycles work, it does not go to council review for funding until end of 2025, for consideration for fiscal year 2026. Given the aforementioned aggressive cuts proposed and the obvious uncertainty surrounding the actual NIH budget in 2026, the Program Officer at the NIH overseeing my grant has encouraged me to reapply . . . very likely not getting this grant. To put this in perspective, an individual study section at the NIH National Cancer Institute will typically review around 40-50 grants per cycle. If the proposed budget goes through, no more than 1-2 will be funded. These funding rates are absolutely dismal, and will result in many labs shuttering, especially at the junior faculty level who we should be supporting as the next generation of scientists that would lead new discoveries and cures over the coming decades.
And don't even get me started on the attack on "indirects". A lot of misinformation going around regarding what these actually are: research operation costs, i.e. the cost of maintaining state-of-the-art research facilities, which are massive, especially for smaller academic institutes. Are there inefficiencies? Absolutely. But the proposed cap on indirects will have a catastrophic effect on many world-class academic research centers. The proposed budget and approach is like taking a sledgehammer to a few faulty circuits on a computer chip . . .
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I hear you. I think we might have talked about this but here’s my sob story about NIH funding cuts. Though we got a reprieve just a couple weeks ago.
https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/topic/37001/it-gets-personal
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I hear you. I think we might have talked about this but here’s my sob story about NIH funding cuts. Though we got a reprieve just a couple weeks ago.
https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/topic/37001/it-gets-personal
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Thanks, @Mik. Just gotta keep pushing on, the mission is too important to do otherwise. I am cautiously optimistic that things will normalize, with cuts that are painful but manageable. Congress, and the public, seem to support the broader mission of the NIH.
