Keystone Symposium 2009

2009-03-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

As another great HIV Keystone conference winds down I cannot help but reminisce the cherished memories I will have from this great event.

I knew we were in for a treat when I found several exciting new areas of research being described in the abstract booklet. Sure, there were a few bad spelling mistakes and poorly constructed sentences in a few abstracts that brought the standard down, but these were quickly overshadowed by the excessive spew of novel work being done on APOBEC and T cell vaccines. I mean, after a decade of little or no success in these fields, how can you blame them for pumping more money into this area of research. Rather one must look to the example of our new fearless leader and his take on the American motor industry. It might be a dying industry (field) now but think back to its glory days. Further to this I must tip my hat to the committee organizers who kindly accepted abstracts from everyone who cared to submit. Including researchers interested in baboon mating and with no data to present and others who felt it was necessary to give a brief history of the HIV field in 2.5 font.

These interesting twists in the HIV research were highlighted by the diversity of individuals who attended the conference. I think promotion of individuals with a non-science background is always good and can bring in new minds that may be able to enlighten those who have been stuck in the rut for too long with their different perspectives from their life experiences. This apparently included a scientist who was also a part-time “porn star”. Questions quickly followed. Were they a porn star because they felt this was the best way to promote safe sexual behavior say from the “inside-out” or did they feel an urge to enter the HIV field due their disappointment with the progress and decided to take a hands on approach in solving the problems. After searching for said “porn star” for two days I was sadly disappointed in learning that not only was there no porn star but that the misconception had arose from the rumors of some less than adequate females who had announced that the person in question “looked like a porn star”. Well, take that Gossip Girl!

Despite this minor set-back, diversity in the field was still maintained by the promotion of Young and Early Career Investigators also called “YECI” and apparently pronounced “yucky” (but subject to debate). This organization promotes itself in helping young and early career investigators in getting a chance to be seen and heard. The co-chairs are both more senior scientists who can provide a bridge between the new and old. The organization’s success can be easily seen by the distinguished committee members who have been chosen to represent those who are considered to meet the criteria of YECI. This included assistant professors and junior faculty members that have already been well exposed and are now further propelled by their self promotion in being part of this organization. Perhaps junior post-docs and fellows should band together and form the Infant Career Investigators (ICI) which can be appropriately pronounced “icky”.

Lastly, no HIV Keystone conference will be complete without the unofficial Keystone parties - a tradition solidified by the infamous “Walker Party” a few Keystones back that made a ripple on the Nature Blog. The business of parties was discussed early with several groups coveting the glory associated with hosting the best party and the opportunity of giving their lab profile a boost. Of course one cannot overlook the potential of the “Walker Party” itself to live up to its name and early on agents from the lab (both current and ex-lab members) quickly doused any hope of other labs who had dared to plan on hosting a party on the same night. However as some of these conversations were unsurprisingly undertaken by agents in drunken stupor an agreement was made to create a Hope/Walker/Mackerel Party conglomerate. Unfortunately there were still a few brave souls who dared to host their own separate parties on the same night despite some carefully placed stares and outright commands. Nevertheless, the Hope/Walker/Mackerel party proceeded with some success but nothing compared to the aforementioned event, rather the party was wound up by midnight…..hardly the making of legends.

So it is with a heavy heart that I leave this great conference and look forward to the shinning beacon that is next year’s HIV-1 Keystone Symposia.

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All in all, though, I must thank the Keystone Symposia committee for organizing this conference. It has given many the opportunities to learn and share their work in the HIV-1 field. Convening a large group of scientists who are well known for their eccentricities, egos and ambitions cannot be an easy feat and especially those in the HIV-1 field who are the crème de la crème in both scientific work as well as the aforementioned nastier traits. Let us hope that the conferences will improve each year and that the childish behavior of a few will not take too much away from the science. Thank you.

Who wants to be a scientist?

Keystone Symposium 2009