Metes return visit

One of the greatest things about the Leducq Foundation CADGenomics consortium is the fact that it brings people together that work on similar problems but approach them from different directions. Our laboratory at UCLA has been working with six other laboratories over the last 2.5 years to understand how genomic loci identified in coronary artery disease GWAS act to increase disease susceptibility. One of our closest collaborators is Jeanette Erdmann's lab at the University of Lubeck. Previously Ingrid Braenne and Benedikt Reiz from her laboratory paid a visit to UCLA and currently Redouane Aherrahrou is working in our laboratory to characterize smooth muscle cell functions perturbed by the GWAS loci. This past weekend I finally had a chance to pay a return visit to Dr. Erdmann's institute at Lubeck. I was really excited to meet her after working with her over email and video conferences for so many years. Just as I had imagined she was very warm and welcoming. I first got a tour of the wonderful facilities of the IIEG and met with several of the students and senior researchers, some of whom I had met in previous Leducq meetings. (Hello again Maria and Jaafar!) 

  

I presented my work on adipose tissue gene expression and had stimulating discussions with fantastic ideas and feedback. I must have gotten Jeanette pretty interested in my results because the next day I received exciting results from her studies related to the locus I am interested in. It is truly wonderful to collaborate with stimulating and excited colleagues. Ingrid then gave me a whirlwind tour of the lovely city of Lubeck.

The weather was cooperating so we had a very nice time walking around in the narrow streets of Lubeck and by the waterfront. We finished the night off with a wonderful meal at Vai Bistro.

The conversation was flowing so we spent more than three hours chatting away and drinking beer at the restaurant. Ingrid was such a wonderful host she even bought fresh baked buns, croissants and delicious bread every morning. She did not forget any details including Nutella on the breakfast table! I hope to be able to return to Lubeck one day again and have many more stimulating discussions and collaborations. I am also looking forward to hosting students from IIEG in my own lab soon!

Mete