Scholar Retreat

Mentors

Ed
Harlow
,
PhD
Harvard Medical School

Forum Description

The Scholar Retreat held annually, invites scholars and mentors to attend a 3-day meeting. This meeting focuses on bringing junior scientists together from various areas of cancer research. The collaborations and innovative ideas that come from this meeting have been numerous and outstanding. The mentors provide great guidance regarding science and career for these junior scientists.

At the Retreat, the Scholars share their research with the other Scholars and Mentors. Each Scholar will participate in four sequential retreats, with all expenses paid by WGFRF. The opportunity for Scholars to connect and form relationships with researchers from completely different areas of cancer research and to have a sort of peer review is one of the most valuable roles of the Retreat. Through the Mentors, the Retreat offers Scholars guidance on practical career issues such as writing grants and preparing successful scientific publications.

Each year, the Scholar Retreat coincides with the Foundation’s annual ‘Blue Jean Ball’ fundraiser. All Scholars attend this event, providing them an opportunity to meet with families whose lives have been directly affected by cancer. This experience resonates particularly with scientists who, unlike clinicians, do not have contact with patients, by putting a human face on cancer.

Forum Summary

For the second year running the Forbeck Foundation’s Junior Board organized a superb meeting for the Forbeck Scholar awardees. The venue for the meeting was, once again, George Williams College, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Jamie Forbeck and members of the Junior Board worked tirelessly to ensure that the participants had everything they needed for a successful meeting. The efforts of the Junior Board were matched by the enthusiasm of both the senior scientists and the scholars attending the Forum.

The concept behind these meetings is to provide a basis for scientific collaboration and the exchange of ideas to further the field of cancer research. To attend the scholars meeting the candidates have to be selected initially to attend the prestigious Foundation’s meeting in Hilton Head. The caliber of the scholars that apply to attend this meeting is beyond reproach and each year it becomes more difficult for the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board to select four scholars out of the applicants.

The two-day meeting is split into four sessions, each mentored by one of the senior scientists presenting on their area of expertise. The remainder of each session is devoted to talks from the scholars. Each scholar attending the main Forbeck meeting has the opportunity to come to four of the scholar meetings, which are held on an annual basis.

In organizing the scholar meeting in Lake Geneva, the Foundation is building a base for the best up and coming scientists to get to know each other and form relationships and collaborations that likely would never occur without their attending the forum. As in many areas of science, cancer research has become highly specialized and researchers tend to remain focused in their particular areas of interest. Whilst this is natural, if one looks at progress in science, this often occurs through the application of ideas in one field that are applied to another. A further benefit for the attendees is that, throughout their tenure the scholars get to interact with today’s senior scientists who have built considerable reputations in the field of cancer research. This is again a wonderful opportunity for the scholars to discuss their work in a form outside of their institution and to gain insights into new ideas to progress their studies.

The enthusiasm of the scholars to attend the meeting, present their work and interact with each other is simply wonderful to see. The scholars have requested that the Trustees of the Foundation extend their tenure for attending the program from three years to four and through the support of the Scientific Advisory Board this will take effect from 2007 onwards.

I cannot think of any activity that is more worthwhile for the Foundation, both in the short and long term. This type of investment in the scholars who will become leaders in the field of cancer research in the future is something that can only bring benefits in fighting a group of diseases that we all want to see eliminated.

As we move from 2006 into 2007, on behalf of the scholars, I would like to thank our Retreat chairperson Ed Harlow and the other 2006 mentors who willingly gave their time to attend the Forum and look forward to this year's meeting that will be chaired by Jean Wang from the Dept of Medicine, Moores UCSD Cancer Center, La Jolla, California.

Venue & Travel Information

George Williams College

Travel Forms

Travel forms are due 30 days prior to the start of the meeting to allow enough time to plan transportation.

Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is the preferred airport as it is only 45 minutes from the meeting location.

  • Arrivals - Thursday around 1 PM, 3 PM and 5 PM
  • Departures - Sunday around 10 AM and 12 PM

Chicago's O'Hare Airport (ORD) is 1 1/2 hours from the meeting location without traffic. The Foundation tries to prioritize International Flights and situations where flying into ORD is significantly cheaper than connecting to MKE. The times below are for guidance only, and depending on the volume of travelers, we may add an additional shuttle to and from the airport.

  • Arrivals - Thursday around 3 PM
  • Departures - Sunday around 10 AM
TRAVEL FORMS DUE:
August 14, 2006
submit travel form

Travel Policy

Please familiarize yourself with our policies and procedures for travel. We truly appreciate you taking the time to participate in this meeting. As you make your plans, please remember that we are a nonprofit organization dependent on donations and volunteers. We do NOT pay for upgrades, change fees, incurred costs resulting from a flight change, transportation to or from your local (home side) airport, meals or other incidentals.

  • Travel Confirmation will be sent out within 1 week of the meeting. This will include a hotel confirmation number, if there is one, and airport transfer details. We have to wait until we receive almost everyone’s travel to book airport transfer. Due to frequent airline changes, we wait until the week of the meeting to send this out.
  • Airport transfer is provided by Foundation staff, volunteers or arranged shuttle at specific times. If you opt to utilize Foundation airport transportation on your travel form, please be patient in receiving this information. We will send it to the week of the meeting.
  • Speaker agenda is not sent out prior to the meeting. It will be provided upon arrival in the meeting packet. We do not tell people when they are speaking because we expect everyone to attend all sessions. Sessions are all day Friday and Saturday.
  • REMINDER: We do not reimburse for home side airport transfer or incidentals while traveling. We will not honor miscellaneous receipts sent for these expenses.
  • Spouses are welcome to come with you at their own cost but are not allowed to attend the meeting. Please no children.

What the Foundation Pays

Accommodations and meals are provided by the foundation during the meeting. Airfare will be covered only if booked through our travel agent. The Foundation will also cover airport transportation on the meeting side at the designated shuttle times. You can select not to utilize Foundation arranged transportation at your own expense when completing the travel form. Once your travel form is received your accommodations and airport transfer will be confirmed. Please let us know of any food allergies or other information we should be aware of on the travel forms.

  • If you would like your airfare covered by the Foundation, you must book with our travel agent. Note we do not cover upgrades, changes, late bookings, etc.
  • Flights must be booked at least 30 days prior to the meeting to confirm your accommodations and airport transfer.
  • As a nonprofit we utilize volunteers and other methods to maximize our efforts (or our donor support) when making accommodations and arranging ground transportation. Ground transportation will be provided upon your arrival either by a foundation volunteer or arranged shuttle. You will be provided airport transportation information the week of the meeting. We do not reimburse for home side airport transfer or incidentals while traveling.

Abstracts

Abstracts are due 30 days prior to the start of the meeting to allow enough time to prepare the meeting book.

The abstracts should be only one or two paragraphs outlining the theme of your presentation and should reflect the objective and spirit of the meeting (see above). Abstracts will be circulated about one week before the meeting. The meeting organizer will start requesting them a month before the meeting.

abstracts DUE:
August 14, 2006
submit abstract

Meeting Structure

The meeting structure has been developed over years of experience.

  • Participants have approximately 45 minutes, depending on the number of participants, for their presentation and discussion. The presentation is meant as a conversation start and should last about twenty minutes briefly covering background information and areas that are new or need further input. This should be structured in such a way as to lead to a lively discussion. Participants are encouraged to interrupt to ask questions or start discussions.
  • A MAXIMUM of 5 slide equivalents per presentation is allowed (Power point slides should not contain more than one graph or gel per slide and no more than 5 bullet points to stress the points being made by the presenter.) We appreciate cooperation with the spirit of this guideline. Handouts are welcome but should be distributed before sessions.
  • Everyone is expected to actively participate in every session and discussions.
  • The time spent at the meeting is relatively short, so please be familiar with papers received prior to the meeting.
  • It is very important that you commit to all sessions of the 2 days of meetings.

Forbeck Scholars Participation

Scholars are selected for each Forbeck Forum. These are outstanding junior clinical or post-doctoral fellows selected based on the quality and relevance of science.

  • Scholars present for 30-45 minutes, depending on the number of participants
  • The same presentation rules apply for scholars
  • After the Forum you are selected to attend, you will attend three years of Scholar Retreats held in Lake Geneva, WI. If you attend a Fall Forum, you will attend the Spring Retreat. If you attend a Spring Forum you will attend a Fall Retreat.
  • Scholars are selected by the Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and peer reviewers selected from past Forbeck Scholars.

General Program

The outline below illustrates a typical program schedule. You will receive a complete schedule, including speaking times, the Thursday the meeting starts.

Arrival Day
1:00 PM Arrivals
6:00 PM Cocktails (opt'l)
7:00 PM Dinner
Meeting Day 1
7:00 AM Breakfast
8:00 AM Scientific Sessions
12:00 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Scientific Sessions
6:00 PM Cocktails & Dinner
Meeting Day 2
7:00 AM Breakfast
8:00 AM Scientific Sessions
12:00 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Scientific Sessions
6:00 PM Cocktails & Dinner
Departure Day
7:00 AM Breakfast
8:00 AM Departures

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of our most Frequently Asked Questions. If you have something new to ask, please feel free to contact us.

  • Travel Confirmation will be sent out within 1 week of the meeting. This will include a hotel confirmation number, if there is one, and airport transfer details. We have to wait until we receive almost everyone’s travel to book airport transfer. Due to frequent airline changes, we wait until the week of the meeting to send this out.
  • Airport transfer is provided by Foundation staff, volunteers or arranged shuttle at specific times. If you opt to utilize Foundation airport transportation on your travel form, please be patient in receiving this information. We will send it to the week of the meeting.
  • Speaker agenda is not sent out prior to the meeting. It will be provided upon arrival in the meeting packet. We do not tell people when they are speaking because we expect everyone to attend all sessions. Sessions are all day Friday and Saturday.
  • Frequently airport transfer is provided by volunteers. Please be patient on receiving this information. Airport transfer will be sent out prior to arrival.
  • REMINDER: We do not reimburse for home side airport transfer or incidentals while traveling. We will not honor miscellaneous receipts sent for these expenses.

Forum Participants

Gerard
Evan
,
PhD
University of Cambridge
John T.
Kemshead
,
MD
BioMagnetic Solutions
Jean
Wang
,
PhD
University of California San Diego

Forum Scholars

James Amatruda, MD, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Edward Attiyeh, MD
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Christopher Bakkenist, PhD
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Alison Bertuch, MD, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine
Elsa Flores, PhD
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jan Karlseder, PhD
The Salk Institute
Kimberly Kelly, PhD
University of Virginia
Anthony Letai, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Ingo K. Mellinghoff, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Masashi Narita, MD, PhD
UK Cambridge Institute
Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD
Vanderbilt University
Michael Safran, PhD
Sheba Cancer Research Center
Norman Sharpless, MD
University of North Carolina
Benjamin B. Williams, PhD
Darmouth Medical School