My thoughts on this

Its incredibly hard to get funded by the NCI. Just ask my advisor. He just got his first RO1 from them...and he literally jumped through hoops to get it. The final version of the grant that got funded had enough data to publish a paper...almost.

But its not just about funding high-risk projects..if faster progress has to be made in cancer research, the entire grant review system needs to be revamped. Some soul-searching on the part of the scientific community is imperative. Lets not blame the NIH entirely. A simple example is study section. Ideally, you'd want the best and brightest minds in Study section to judge the grants, and make suggestions for improvement. But many a time the best and brightest minds are unavailable for study section. A lot of top notch researchers don't go to it, (too busy, don't care enough..whatever) because it is voluntary.

The competition for NCI funding is fierce. Less than 10% of the grants get funded. This means a lot of very very good grants fall by the wayside just because there isn't enough money to go around. So, I say we stop building Nuclear weapons and fund more scientific research. I guarantee that this will speed up the "war on cancer". BTW, I find it amusing that it is referred to as a "war on cancer", as if all cancers were the same, and there is one single cure out there. As someone who works on cancer biology, I can only say that the level of complexity is astounding.

We've made great strides in the last 50 years...really molecular biology is just coming into its own. We've identified tumor suppressors, worked out whole signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation, developed technologies to model diseases (cancer included) in mice and now have the power to analyze whole genome sequences. I believe the best years of cancer biology research are ahead of us.

These are heady times. Yamanaka has figured out a way to engineer iPS cells. The field of RNA biology has exploded, and microRNAs are beginning to make their mark in the field. Paper after paper identifies new genes as oncogenes/tumor suppressors. People in the field of cancer biology study phenomena ranging from embryo development to aging in an effort to understand normal physiological processes and how they can affect neoplastic transformation. Its just an exciting time to be a researcher in cancer biology.

That said, the level of uncertainty amongst faculty is disturbing to see. People are genuinely afraid for their livelihoods. So, in the midst of this sucky economy, with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one threatening to spillover into Pakistan, a 10% NIH funding rate, and a PhD that doesn't seem like its going to end anytime soon, do I really need to read Gina Kolata's article in the NYT about how we're not making good enough progress? I really must stop reading the news. Or, like everyone else in the 18-30 year age group, I should get all my news from here.

Sigh.

NB: I find her reference to a study on colon cancer that may also impact breast cancer disturbing. There are many commonalities between different cancers, just as there are many differences. I see no reason to be dismissive of it just because.

Weirdness, death and a change of mind

So MJ is dead. Larry King is all over it like a rash. He's interviewing Cher. And she comes on and gives the most rambling, weird, disingenuous spiel I've ever heard, on her relationship with the man and what she thought of him. I heard her go on for about 2 minutes about how he'd walk his swaddled baby back and forth from his trailer for no apparent reason, and how she wondered about it, and I just had to laugh. Poor Larry. He tried hard to bring her to say something nice...something that resembled a eulogy, but she just wouldn't oblige. And I was thinking, here is the man who dangled his baby out of a window. He was accused of being a child molester. And lets face it..he was weird..surgeries and all. And Cher is surprised at his walking his swaddled baby? But I still like Cher. Because she did this awesome movie.

And I take back what I said about Reza Aslan yesterday. I guess I read more than I should have into a certain eloquence of speech and distinguished demeanor. He's just another Muslim apologist saying all the politically correct things. A species I distrust completely, because they're too smart to let you know what they actually think.

But nothing can make me love Jon Stewart less. Nothing. My devotion to him is unwavering. I worship at the altar of Jon, and at the altar of Jon alone.

Nailed it!

On a day when every news channel was going hammer and tongs at the pathetic extra-marital affair of a much married governor who gave an all too juicy press conference, Jon Stewart nailed it. He spent about 2 minutes on the whole sordid affair, in which he managed to give it the status it deserves...just another politician with a conservative mind and a liberal penis! And then, he talked about real news. The emerging threat from North Korea. The conflict in Iran. He had Reza Aslan as his guest, a guy who knows Iran and talks intelligently. In other words, Jon relegated this whole sorry Sanford saga to the backburner. Where it belongs. And therein lies his genius.

For all her professions of prudishness, Rachel Maddow spent 40 minutes of her 1 hour show dissecting his evident lack of composure, his lying habits, his wife's statement and even his amorous emails to the mystery woman. Here is another pathetic hypocrite whining about his mistakes, and this is headlines! As opposed to the demonstrations that have paralyzed Iran, the nuclear tests carried out by North Korea and the Talibanisation of Pakistan. Some idiot Governor who couldn't keep it in his pants is news. Here's the deal...till today, I didn't know who this Mark Sanford dude was. And now, I do. Unfortunately.

It was one of the funnier Daily Shows I've seen lately. With Bush out of office, there's only so much matter for Jon to make fun of. And Reza Aslan speaks well, even if he does gel his hair too much!