Last night I met a dance friend whom I had not met in person for over a year. We chatted and danced. She mentioned I'm always going to a milonga and dancing Tango, from the impression from Facebook posts.
Me: "What, that's how I look?! I got to post my professional works more".
We scientists and researchers tend to focus on our specialties. We have to appeal how our work is useful to society as well. However, the efforts to appeal can, ironically, lead to myopic evaluation on the work. Some people would try to oversell the importance of their work, claiming that their work would solve a big problem single-handedly.
It is hardly the case in reality. Many new cancer "solutions" had come, like Cell Cycle, MicroRNA, angiogenesis, cancer stem cells, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy. But not one could stand alone and solve everything in biomedical research so far.
In contemporary biomedical science environment, we need to keep an eye on the developments in what other people are doing, in addition to working on what we have been doing.
A part of my work is involved in colon cancer carcinogenesis and intervention. Colon cancer is a complex disease. Instead of claiming that the process you work on is the key, we need to acknowledge the complexity of the process, and have an understanding on the multiple processes, in order to prevent and cure the cancer in a more intelligent manner.
On 6/15/2017 we had a retreat for Colon Cancer Research group with several PIs (Principal Investigators) and the lab members from neighboring research institutes Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
The location was at Chesapeake Finish Line Tower in the Boathouse district. From the 4th floor, the tower provides nice view on Oklahoma River by the downtown.
We began sessions with roundtable discussions for five thematic focus areas. In the second part, we switched and mingled among other tables. The retreat was designed to broaden our understanding on colonic carcinogenesis and to place our works in the complex processes with a focus theme, so that we can collaborate better at the level of the program that encompasses institutes.
Overall, the retreat was successful at creating a broader understanding on the colon carcinogenesis processes and where each of our research tackles.
Traditional (or old-fashioned) approach in academic institutes was somewhat like guerrilla warfare. Small but focused research by individual labs made breakthroughs.
A shortcoming in the approach is that, an institute can be a housing place for mixed bag of researches that do not relate to each other well.
Reorganizing the researches into a programmatic effort under a banner. That is what is going on under current leadership.
Science does evolve in many levels.
