Get on!

Man, am I exhausted. I was at a conference here at Penn for the Society for Developmental Biology annual meeting. It was pretty much non-stop from Sat to Tues 9am-11ish, sometimes later. I got to catch up with a few old friends, have some beers with my boss, present two posters, talk to some cool PIs, become a little more comfortable chatting with those PIs I've met before and see some really great talks. The event ended with a reception at the Mutter Museum. If you haven't checked that place out, please do! It's such an amazing collection of historical medical artifacts, like some human skeletons comparing dwarfism, gigantism and a regular size human. There's the skeleton of Harry, who had a disease called FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva) which causes your connective tissue to turn into bone. Interestingly, the mutation that causes this disease was recently identified by some labs here at Penn. Such a super cool story, since one of my friends is working on some experiments on teasing out the causes of the disease. The museum also contains lots of developmental anomalies, such as conjoined twins, babies lacking proper skull formation or proper gut formation, etc. I know these things sound horrifying, but you really leave with an appreciation for medicine and the advances that have been coming over the years. The meeting ended and we headed to Nodding Head, the only brewery here in Center City and we kept the party going. I had some nice chats with some people from Canada and Germany and met some new colleagues and friends. Altogether, it was a great meeting and I really just crashed yesterday, doing mostly nothing but venturing out for some sustenance and a mani/pedi for some relaxation. I'm back at work today, trying to remember what it is I am supposed to be doing and willing my brain to work on science. Information overload! Next week, I leave for CA for a wedding in the Bay Area. It will be a quick trip but hopefully fun. In Sept, it's off to Germany for another meeting and then to CA for another wedding. Whew....I'm ready for vacation from vacation :)