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Today, 01 Dec 2008 is World AIDS Day.  It is also the 20th Anniversary of the event.  Why do I mention it? A few reasons.  First off, it's what I do.  I work in a research lab that works on Mother to child HIV transmission.  While mother to child transmission in the US is still an issue, it is not near the issue that it is in Africa.  The second reason I call attention to it, is because it is the biggest pandemic the world has ever seen.  HIV was first described in 1981, and has exploded since.  There is no cure, and the virus has proven to be very elusive, able to work its way around drugs that are commonly given to fight HIV.

I won!

As a part of the AMP meeting, researchers have the opportunity to present their work.  The presentations can by either an talk or a poster session, or both.  This year I am presenting my work at a poster session (I did last year as well).  At the poster session, you hang your poster and stand next to it and answer questions from people that come by.  The meeting publishes a brief description of each poster in the meeting book, so most people that come to see your poster have an interest.  Well in addition to just the poster session, I also applied for the Young Investigator Award.  As an applicant of the Young Investigator Award I had to send my finished poster in advance where it was judged before the meeting.  This judging accounted for 40% of my score.  Then while at the meeting, I had judges come and speak with me at my poster during the poster session.  That accounted for 60% of the my score.  I applied for the award, but did not really expect to win.  Well.... I did win, and was named one of the 2008 AMP Young Investigator Awardees.  I am pretty pumped about it. 

I am out of town for the next few days.  I left Baltimore this morning and it was about 40 degrees.  I am now in Texas, and it's sunny and 70.  Its a trip for work, but should be a good trip.  I am attending the annual AMP meeting.  I am presenting a poster and planning on attending some sessions.  The conference is being held at the Gaylord Texan, in Grapevine.  Its a huge building, that has an atrium, and a river, etc.  Should