Tag Archives: research

From Omaha to Umea: Adventures and misadventures

Some time ago I was contacted and asked whether I would be willing to fly to Umea, Sweden, and deliver a seminar. Rhetorical question for someone who loves to travel to new places, and had not yet had the opportunity … Continue reading

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The Circle Game

Over the last 6 weeks, 2 of my 6 graduate students have defended their dissertations and graduated–which brings me great joy in that they were each highly sought after and both will be heading to outstanding research labs of their … Continue reading

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Professor

This 4th of July marks almost 10 years of my life in Omaha, Nebraska, and in addition to celebrating Independence Day, I am also personally celebrating my new title: Professor. Well, sort of. Because it’s not exactly a time for … Continue reading

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Lonely One

It’s been quite a week for me; an assortment of 6 different grant proposals having been submitted from my lab–most of them co-investigator proposals requiring a good deal of interdisciplinary coordination. In fact, the last few days I felt very … Continue reading

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Stem cells to the rescue

A short time ago, I found myself in a conversation with someone who began to ask about my work in the lab. Unlike many scientists that I know, who feel uncomfortable and even unable to explain what they do on … Continue reading

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Dangling conversations

“So, is this your first time in Omaha?” I recently blogged about feeling isolated as a scientist in my field here in the windy plains of Nebraska. One way to try and mitigate this feeling is to invite guest speakers … Continue reading

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One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich–no, no, in my life

For the record, I had actually planned this blog for some time, but for one reason or another, never got around to writing and posting it. With the furor over scientists’ approach to work in the lab still fresh from … Continue reading

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Mr. President, can you save science, please?

Scientists love to complain. That is not to say that they enjoy the situation that they are complaining about, but to me it seems as though in the US there is a level of fatalism that translates into inertia. And … Continue reading

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“Rigged”- a complex educational experience

A few years back when I was trying to teach my children how to play chess, I came across a really great teaching aid. It was called: “Fritz and Chesster“. I am reminded of this program now because when the … Continue reading

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Money and the perversion of science

Having just returned the grant review session at the NIH I thought that this would be a particularly good time to bring up something that has been bothering me for a number of years. It’s quite sad, but I’ve slowly … Continue reading

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