Greetings from Tuscany!

I am currently in Tuscany for the Gordon Research Conference on Multidrug Efflux Systems. This is the first time I've been able to attend this meeting since the very first one in 2003. There are actually a few hundred different Gordon Research Conferences (GRC), each on a different scientific topic. I'll be at another GRC in August in Hong Kong. GRCs are typically smallish meetings (100-150 scientists) held in relatively remote locations, so attendees are "trapped" at the meeting. I've always liked this format, as you eat all meals together and stay at the same location, so it provides a great opportunity to meet people and chat about science.

GRCs encourage speakers to present unpublished data, but this has the consequence that all presentations at the conference are confidential so I can't blog about any of the cool science being discussed. I guess I can at least chat about presentations from my own group. I gave a talk and Karl had a poster on our work on the new family of drug efflux pumps that we have discovered. My talk seemed to generate alot of interest as I had about fifteen people ask questions at the end of my talk. The good thing about talking early in the meeting is I don't have to stress over my talk, and I can relax and enjoy the rest of the GRC.

This GRC meeting is held at the the Il Ciocco Resort which is near Lucca in Tuscany. It is a very attractive location, though currently somewhat foggy and rainy.

View from my window this morning

Thanks to Karl Hassan for finding this cartoon. It's not quite this bad.