Louis CK is an American comedian I like a lot. On his recent special, he talks about channel surfing and how he always has to stop and watch a particular scene in the movie, Magic Mike. For those who don't know, Magic Mike is a movie about male strippers starring Matthew McConaughey. The scene that Louis CK must watch is when Matthew McConaughey is introducing the male strippers to a room full of women.
"The law says you can't touch, but I think I see a lot of law breakers out there." -it's best if you use a Southern accent.
That is just hilarious. I know I quote that line too often, but it just makes me laugh. I got to find me some law breakers.
One of the scenes I always stop to watch is from an 80's movie called Working Girl most famous for the theme song, Let the River Run by Carly Simon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-0mmVnxPA - love the 80's hair). In this movie, a secretary (Melanie Griffith) shares a business idea with her boss (Sigourney Weaver) who promptly steals it. When her boss breaks her leg, Melanie Griffith teams up with Harrison Ford to pull off the deal. It's not a great movie, but I like it. It is full of hope.
The scene I always watch is when Griffith and Ford act like a couple to crash the CEO's daughter's wedding. After the father-bride dance, Melanie Griffith cuts in to pitch the project. It's not nearly as funny as the Magic Mike scene, but it showed ordinary people doing extraordinary things. That really appeals to me.
Last December I'm in Washington D.C. for the Brain Initiative meeting. One speaker who had a title like 'The President's Director of Scientific Progress' pointed out the main goal of the meeting which was to think big. As an example he likened the Brain Initiative to the Apollo Program quoting an astronaut, "I want to die on Mars, but not on impact." It was a pretty cool meeting.
As I was checking the schedule of the meeting, I see that the night session will discuss the Korean Brain Initiative effort. There was a Korean Brain Initiative? The Brain Initiative has been very contagious with many countries starting their own efforts, but I was not aware that Korea was thinking to do the same. I needed to find out more. I see a colleague standing in line for coffee. Right behind him is a Korean guy in a suit who looks very official. Time to go talk to my colleague (cue the music to Let the River Run).
After some very brief small talk, I raise my voice, "I'm stunned at the size of this meeting. Even the Korean Brain Initiative has a session here. I'm from Korea. I had no idea." So subtle, but it worked... kind of.
He had nothing to do with the Korea Brain Initiative. "I'm very proud of my home country, I had no idea either." His name was Dr. Kendall Lee and is one of the leading neurosurgeons in the US working at the Mayo Clinic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3QQOQAILZw). He does deep brain stimulation which continuously stimulates an area in the brain to alleviate Parkinson's disease. It is not well understood why this works. They were developing physical sensors to measure neurotransmitter release. They cannot use electrodes because the electrical stimulations interfere with their readings. When I show him our research using light instead of voltage to monitor neuronal activity, he lights up. "This is perfect for us. Will your probes work on pigs?"
Two months later, I'm in Rochester, Minnesota to present our research at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Lee has a couple of large groups. One is working on deep brain stimulation while the other works on spinal cord injury (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBk9wslGBhQ). Dr. Lee's groups presented their research first. Since the results have not been published yet, I cannot go into too much detail. What I can say is that I was completely stunned by what I saw. I have searched for related videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp8wFYu4l4w). This gives you a small example of what I saw. The progress these patients have made is miraculous. I sat spell bound for every one of their presentations. Utterly extraordinary.
Dr. Lee then gets up to introduce me. "Great work guys. Today we have a guest presenter from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. I think you will enjoy his presentation on using light to monitor neuronal activity. Dr. Baker, are you ready to present?"
Uhm, no actually. I'm good. I've just watched 30 minutes of truly spectacular research. There is no way I can follow that. What am I going to say? "This cell glows and gets dimmer. This cell glows and gets dimmer." Oh, boy. Thankfully, I've taken acting classes and learned that yes is the more interesting answer. The talk was well received. There is a real potential for our work to complement theirs. During deep brain stimulation, we may be able to show them the best position for the electrode placement and the frequency of stimulation. For spinal cord injury, we may be able to monitor the behavior of damaged circuits and determine if they are recovering or rewiring after the treatment. I could also see the potential for other labs at KIST to assist the Mayo Clinic's efforts.
Yesterday, I learned that KIST agrees and is funding my proposal for a joint meeting between the two institutes for potential collaborations. Who knows what the real result will be. I am just so grateful for the opportunity to find out. These are exciting times. I was extremely lucky that Dr. Lee was waiting behind my colleague in line for coffee. Initiatives, giving ordinary people the chance to be extraordinary. Let's try. Absolutely.
