In April, I presented a poster at the 2005 American Association of Cancer Research Conference in Anaheim, California. We arrived on a balmy California morning and checked into the Disneyland Hotel. After getting lost once or twice we found our way down to the convention center. The convention center was easily the size of three football fields and three stories tall. More than 15,000 scientists attended the meeting from over 60 countries. There were 6,000 posters and 250 lectures over the course of five days. The atmosphere was charged with the tension and excitement of scientific exchange. It was difficult not to get interested and involved in what was going on. The experience was overwhelming, yet invigorating.

Each day there were two poster sessions of four hours each -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There were presentations and lectures from 7am to 5 or 6 pm. The big, popular lectures were generally late in the morning or afternoon. On Saturday and Sunday the big lectures were educational sessions, aimed at a slightly broader audience than the following lectures. By Monday, I had figured out how to organize myself so that I got the most out of the day, without overloading.

Tuesday morning was my poster presentation, “Colonic bacteria enhance the development of apoptosis resistance, which may increase the risk of colon cancer.” I was presenting material from my Summer 2004 BRAVO! experience at the Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, Novy Hradek, Czech Republic. Under the direction of Dr. Renata Stepankova, I studied the effects of bacteria and bile acids in the colon. I was nervous about the questions people might ask, but the session went remarkably well. People from all over the world asked me questions about my international research. It was quite an experience. In addition, it gave me a chance to see the whole process of a research project: from the proposal that I submitted to BRAVO!, the research experience and discovery, as well as presenting my work to my peers and professionals.

By Wednesday, the fifth day of the conference, I could hardly cram any new thoughts into my crowed brain. I was ready to go home and digest all the material I had accumulated over the course of the conference.

To anyone who has an opportunity to go to a professional conference: DO IT! It is unimaginable how much you will learn about other people’s research and about your own.

Many thanks to my PI, Katerina Dvorak; Hana Holubec, my BRAVO mentor; Renata Stepankova; and of course, Genevieve Kenney and Carol Bender.

Megan Wilson, UBRP alum from Dr. Katerina Dvorak’s lab, Microbiology & Immunology