2012: A Busy, Busy Year!

Well, it has been quite some time since anything was posted on this blog, and for that, I must apologize!  It has been a busy time within the Registry.  This past summer was particularly packed!  I thought I might write a bit about the things that have been keeping us busy busy busy!

1.  The 2012 Golf Tournament.

This is one of the largest fundraisers we hold, and it is always a lot of fun!  This year was no different.  The event was held at the Canyon Springs Golf Course in San Antonio. You can read about all the details here.  There are a lot of photos over there, but I thought I'd re-post a few of my favorites.

The lab team from the Chromosome 18 Clinical Research Center, manning the margarita bar!

The two ladies that started it all: Jannine and Elizabeth Cody

As we do every year, there was a balloon release in honor of the people we have lost in the past year.

The day was a fantastic success.  It was a lot of fun and also very meaningful to the golfers, the volunteers, and the Registry families who will benefit from the research this event helps to fund!

2.  The conference in San Antonio.

Every four years, the conference comes home to San Antonio.  This not only gives conference attendees a chance to visit our lovely city, it also gives the people within the Research Center a chance to meet families.

If you haven’t already had a chance to look at the summary and videos from the conference, we invite you to do so here!

3.  The conference in Milan.

In early August, The Chromosome 18 Registry & Research Society-Europe held its second conference in Milan, Italy!  One of the organizers, Sara Jackson, wrote a fantastic summary of the event, which you can read here.

As I am not physically located in San Antonio, I was not able to attend either the Golf Tournament or the Registry conference.  However, yours truly was lucky enough to be actually able to attend this conference, and I can tell you that it was fabulous.  Here are a few images I snapped from my camera.

Waiting for one of the talks to start.  Check out the fancy wall adornments!

The European conference has one huge challenge that the American conference doesn't: the language issue!  This is a photo of the translation booths.  These formidable people translated the talks into English, German, Italian, and French.

One of the favorite talks of the conference: the young adults panel!  These fantastic people took questions from the audience.  They had many questions from parents of young children!

Of course, one does not go to Milan without doing a little sight-seeing.  On the last day of the conference, a few of us took an adventure out to "Il Cenacolo" (aka, da Vinci's "Last Supper"). 

Dr. Hale, Dr. Cody, Liz, and myself, waiting to see "The Last Supper"!

As with the American version of the conference, the best part of this conference was the opportunity to see old friends, make new ones, and be connected with others who understand.  I shot the picture below through the window as I was leaving the restaurant on the last night of the conference.  You can see Dr. Cody, Denise, Sara Jackson, and other Registry members, whooping it up and just enjoying being in each other's company.

A good time.

 4.  Professional conferences.

In addition to family conferences and fund-raisers, we've been busy with attending professional conferences to keep up with the latest advances in our fields and network with other scientists.  I was able to go to the European Society of Human Genetics meeting in Nurenberg, Germany, and in a few short weeks, Dr. Cody will be attending the American Society of Human Genetics meeting in San Fransisco.

So, as you can see, it has been a busy several months!  And it doesn't look like things will be letting up any time soon!  The annual Phantom Tea Party is just around the corner, not to mention the holidays!  That being said, though, I hope to post here more slightly more frequently, just to give you an idea of the various things that are going on in the chromosome 18 community!