There are many reasons to go to Pathology Grand Rounds talks in my school (Thursdays 12:30 @ Fitkin auditorium). Food has always been one of them, as evidenced by a growing number of individuals who will show up (usually 10-15 minutes earlier) take a COUPLE of sandwiches (that’s FOUR halves) eat them and leave within the first 5 minutes of the lecture. That’s a story for a whole another post…
I usually go there to see breath-taking pictures of spectacular tumors (yes, while eating lunch, call me sick) or learn something new about methods of diagnostics, treatment options, or admire our astounding lack of understanding of tumorigenesis, etc… Generally the talks can get very technical (too technical? Zzzz Zzzz), today, however, it was one of those rare cases when we had an engaging and interactive speaker with a very refreshing set of ideas to present. It was Dr. Bevin Engelward from MIT. The ideas presented were somewhat ground-breaking and provocative, questioning the relative importance of cell’s exposure to stress (UV, oxygen, radiation) to formation of cancer.