Ran the Rock

Gu Man! (check out gusports)

Laurie & I after the race.

(Not your most beautiful moment, yet glorious!)

Keep update for Houston Full 2008.

Anti-Cancer Smart Bomb

Update: answer to a long-awaited question from many blogs ago ... here's what I sent to UT Medical Branch:
Investigators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently reported novel chemotherapeutic technology in the form of an anti-cancer nanocell.1 The cross-discipline research effort focused on designing a nanoparticle to provide “improved therapeutic index with reduced toxicity.” The delivery system overcomes challenges encountered in anti-angiogenetic chemotherapy approaches. Physiochemical analysis of the system revealed quick deployment of the anti-angiogenesis agent followed by prolonged discharge of the cytotoxic agent. In vivo trials show promising activity. This integrative approach combines cancer biology, pharmacology, and engineering. The multi-discipline effort toward anti-cancer therapies promotes collaboration among the biochemical sciences and encourages my pursuit of an M.D./Ph.D.

Temporal targeting of tumor cells and neovasculature with a nonscale delivery system. Sengupta, S; Eavarone, D.; Capila, I; Zhao, G.; Watson, N.; Kiziltepe, T.; Sasisekharan, R. Nature 2005, 436, 568-572.

Carbon Nanotubes

I had the chance, as I've mentioned, to visit many friends while in Houston, which was quite a blessing. One I visited is a very old friend from elementary through High School days who is majoring in Chemistry & Chemical Engineering at Rice University. His research group is focused on nanotechnology. Here is a beautiful computer model of what they are working on.

Houston's where it's at

It's a been a while ... quite a few miles actually. Anyway - the Dallas White Rock Marathon was great! Laurie and I ran the whole thing side by side, it was between 40 and 60 the entire run, and Jesse and my parents were there at mile 6, 9, and 13 to cheer us on.

We ran the half in 1:53 (pictures here) and were quite pleased with that sub-9 pace. We've even made sworn oaths to run the Houston full in January of 2008. Very cool - it's great to have a running partner like Laurie. Thank you to all of my other runing partners (though we don't run together, you're all still right there in every step) - Jessica, Lyle, Amy, Jay, Melissa ... you guys are the best.

So Texas is doing this really cool thing - it's called "Marathons of Texas" and the deal is that if you run the 1/2 or full Dallas White Rock, Houston Chevron, and Freescale of Austin then you become a member of the "elite" Texas Marathon Crew. This is the inaugural year and I don't know if we'll actually be able to pull off joining this year, but as a future-Texan (thing's seem to be going this way!) I'm really excited about it.

Lots of wonderful things have been happenning lately ... I got nominated by the university for the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship which is a really big deal in the scientific research arena, especially when searching for grad. school positions. This is 15K ... crazy, eh?

I'm applying to several summer undergraduate research programs here in the Houston area including ones at the Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center (Medical school), University of Texas Medical Branch, Rice University, and at the University of Houston. If there are 3 things that Houston is pretty good at, it's oil, biomedical research, and space science. Perfect.

So my favorite people, besides those of you living in Fayetteville and my family in Bartlesville (then Mary Austin in Stillwater, and maybe a couple other of you), live in Houston. It's great. I've been able to hook up with several of my best friends from growing up this week - so awesome. Not only does one of my top 5 favorite peers from Bartlesville Schooling days go to Rice and study chemistry & chemical engineering, my best friend from jr. high's family now lives in Katy (we're meeting her at IKEA tomorrow - so fun!), and my best friend (next to Whitney) since freshman year at the U of A plays drums at a church in the Woodlands. What a wonderful location.

Tip: If you're looking for any old best friends, I've had a lot of luck in Houston.

Jesse and I are heading back up north on Sunday - we'll be doing the whole driving around NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas throughout break. I'll be at Passion 06 with Whitney and Amy and then Jesse and I are travelling with my parents up to the Detroit Auto Show in early January to look at all the fancy new and concept model cars. Brrr.

Merry Christmas to all - I love you guys.