A Web site that leaves you with more questions than answers is definitely not a good one. Our PDA Web site currently is such an example—a good idea with a bad execution. Finally, we are putting into action something that we have planned to do for a long time: we are currently working on a serious revamp of our Web site. We have already had several meetings with Information Technology (IT) to come to a consensus on what we want and what is possible, all while working within the quite rigid structure of the Rockefeller Web sites. The new Web site will give an overview of the PDA in general and will contain information on ongoing and past initiatives, the events and fellowships that we sponsor and links to useful departments at RU, career-related Web sites, and the alumni database. We are also creating a section on “dialogues with the administration,” which summarizes some of the most important meetings that we have had with the administration. If everything goes as planned, we should have the new Web site up by early summer.

This month we also sponsored a celebration of what is thought to be one of the most important events for any South Asian-born or -raised person, and perhaps everyone from the past or present Commonwealth group of countries: the Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on April 2. I honestly had no idea how emotionally charged this event was for cricket fans (especially Indian), until we received several independent but equally enthusiastic requests from postdocs that wanted us to help them find a place where they could watch the match. We did, and we also found funds from our budget to pay for coffee and donuts in the morning and pizza at lunchtime. Hard to believe, but there were really super-enthusiastic people showing up at 5 a.m. to watch the start of the game. Ruchi Gupta, who spearheaded the event, was joined by approximately 12 cricket fans in these early morning hours. The atmosphere was quite tense in the first part of the game as Sri Lanka put a daring 274 to chase in 300 balls. As the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Virenda Sehwag opened Indias’s chase, the Rockefeller Research Building (RRB) room 110 started spilling out into the lobby. People from all nationalities joined the party, some of them just curious to see how it feels to be a cricket fan. Every boundary giving 4 or 6 runs was cheered with loud roars, whistles and claps. This was clearly a memorable Saturday for India as a whole, and for every cricket fan who came together to celebrate India’s first victory of the Cricket World Cup in 28 years. If you want to get the feel of the atmosphere, check out these pictures.

On a more scientific note: we again hosted our monthly Tri-Institutional PDA lunch seminar series on March 31st. This time, Andreas Keller from Leslie Vosshall’s lab at RU presented intriguing data of his studies on “Genetics of Smelling,” where he was looking at the correlation between the sensitivity and selectivity towards a particular testosterone-like odor in individuals and the polymorphisms in the expression of their receptor. In keeping with our Tri-I version PDA seminar series, the second speaker was Brian Zeglis from the Jason Lewis lab at MSKCC who talked on “Click for Chemistry as a Modular Strategy for the Construction of Radiometallated Antibodies for Positron Emission Tomography.” Brian presented a novel strategy where he covalently links an antibody used in breast cancer therapy with a chelator that contains radioisotopes used in irradiation therapy by a very efficient chemical reaction also referred to as “click chemistry.” The goal is to specifically localize the radioisotopes in the surroundings where they are needed—breast cancer cells.

Looking forward, we are preparing for our meeting with Marc Tessier-Lavigne, which will take place at the end of April. If you have any concerns you think should be voiced, please email us at We welcome any input.