Folks from the far-flung labs and administrative offices of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research converged on Portugal in late September for a scientific retreat in the historic municipality of Sintra, on the outskirts of Lisbon—or rather, Lisboa, as tour guides pointedly reminded attendees. Board members, scientific advisors and a few delightful guests from other institutions also attended the retreat, which doubled as a celebration of the careers of Chairman-emeritus John Notter and his replacement as Chair of the Board, former Ludwig Institute CEO and President Edward McDermott. Lively scientific discussions unspooled in both structured and unstructured events over a couple of days. Organized by a planning committee led by Ludwig Institute Deputy Scientific Director and Communications Director Pat Morin and powered by the efforts of Tahmid Shahid and Jennifer Bencivenga of the New York office, the retreat’s judiciously conceived agenda included brief presentations by Branch directors and flash talks by Assistant and Associate Members on their research. It also featured a panel discussion with the Institute’s scientific advisors and another on the history of the Institute, accompanied by the formal launch of a book on that topic published by Ludwig Communications. And there were group discussions—held over lunch outdoors in bright sunshine—on matters of general relevance to the field such as artificial intelligence in cancer research, scientific integrity and overcoming barriers to interinstitutional collaboration, among other things. Many attendees met their Ludwig colleagues in the flesh for the first time, discovering areas of shared interest and making new friends. Indeed, the informal discussions over meals and other leisure activities proved to be a much-appreciated feature of the retreat, as they opened doors to new collaborations across Ludwig Branches. Many attendees mentioned we really should do this sort of thing more often. The Link couldn’t agree more.
