ASV Part Deux

I had intended to post a recap of the meeting on a day-by-day basis, but I just ended up being too tired to write at the end of each day. There were so much going on, fantastic talks, good talks, bad talks, meeting new people, and catching up with old ones. The highlight of the meeting was, hands down, a talk give by MIT professor Angela Belcher. She is basically genetically engineering bacterial viruses, bacteriophages, to carry out physical processes. Her talk was mostly about how they have been able to use these phages to BUILD nanowires, which they then use to build bateries. While this may not sound too impressive, her lab has been able to build a battery, the size of a watch battery, that is able to power up an LED light by using phages. Yes, she has built a viral battery!

Besides getting lots of ideas for my own research, I was able to talk to several people about their postdoctoral experiences (good and bad) as well as catch up with old friends and collegues, while also making new friends and colleagues. It is quite amazing how small the world of viruses actually is, and how my life overlaps with so many people that have gone, or are going, through the process of building a career in science.

I will finish up by saying that my grad school mentor gave a great talk that made me feel incredibly appreciated. She presented quite a bit of my work, and Natalies, from our grad school years in her lab. Even though I am only a year removed from her lab, it felt so good to see my work in retrospect.

Thank you NRT.

And we are off...

Today marked the start of the annual American Society for Virology (ASV) meeting. This year the meeting is in beautiful Ithaca, NY. From a professional standpoint, ASV is a good gathering for virologists around the country to share their science. There are some international scientists at the meeting, but it is not the most international of meetings. There is also a lack of attendance from certain scientists that carry out research in specific areas, like the retrovirologists and Herpes folk, who have their own meetings. Even so, ASV is a fun, casual meeting.

I have not attended ASV since I was an undergrad, so it was fun going through the motions this time around as a postdoc. I have also been very excited to get the opportunity to catch up with old friends from my grad school years. As such, I am happy to say that two great people I know from my graduate years, Tim and Mehul, gave fantastic talks during the first workshop of the day. Mehul was actually hooded right before me last year, so it was great seeing that he has gotten so much accomplished in only a year.

With my talk coming up tomorrow night at 800 pm, I must say that I am feeling a bit intimidated, which is unusual for me. I saw some very good talks today from very knowledgeable people, and I just hope that I can put up a decent show tomorrow. Good night from Ithaca.