Musings from an Unlikely Clinician–Scientist

From bench to museum—an unlikely journey

Deciding to “leave the bench” and basic research after committing many, many years to graduate school is not an easy thing to do. There is real pressure from peers, principal investigators (PIs), even parents, to stick it out and follow a more established career path, either to academia or the biotech industry. In my case, I realized fairly early on in graduate school that the traditional optio...

Peace Lessons from an Unlikely Source

U pon arrival from Europe, now more than two decades ago, I was taken aback by the level of violence in the American media. I do not just mean the daily news, even though it is hard getting used to multiple murders per day in any large city. No, I mean sitcoms, comedies, drama series, and movies. Staying away from Schwarzenegger and Stallone does not do it; almost any American movie features vi...

Listeria Meningitis: An Unlikely Pathogen in an Unlikely Host

Although a broad range of organisms must be considered in the diagnosis of infectious meningitis, viral and bacterial causes are most commonly observed. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis are some of the more commonly isolated pathogens in bacterial meningitis. This illness typically presents with a well-documented set of signs and symptoms. The followi...

Musings from the Editors' Desk

Aging: Cancer – an unlikely couple