2022 Physical Sciences Retreat Fosters New Collaborations

The UF Health Cancer Center held its first-ever Physical Sciences Mini Retreat on Wednesday, Aug. 10, drawing a diverse group of more than 50 UF researchers. The goal was to stimulate new cancer-relevant collaborations between biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and clinicians through scientific presentations and networking.

“We had a fantastic lineup of speakers representing many different departments from different colleges at UF,” said Rolf Renne, Ph.D., professor in the department of molecular genetics & microbiology and an organizer of the event. “It’s truly transdisciplinary science — we have physics, biophysics, chemistry. We also have a lot of engineering, which is unusual for cancer centers.”

The event was organized into two sessions that each featured seven speakers. Each speaker gave a presentation followed by time for audience questions. Speakers came from the departments of chemistry, medicinal chemistry, mechanical and aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, and pharmaceutics.

The event also included lunch and coffee breaks so researchers had a chance to talk. The retreat concluded with an announcement of a request for applications, or RFA, to offer attendees an opportunity to form new collaborations.

“The vision is that people start working together with others in more traditional cancer biology labs,” said Renne, who serves as associate director for basic sciences at the Cancer Center. “Traditionally, people who work in the chemistry department don’t regularly come for seminars here. That’s what we want to facilitate.”

“The vision is that people start working together with others in more traditional cancer biology labs.”
Rolf Renne, Ph.D.

Zhongwu Guo, Ph.D., professor and Scott Chair in the department of chemistry who organized the event with Renne, said he was pleased with the turnout and excited by the opportunities it provided researchers to strike up connections.

“There have been conversations already about ‘let’s do something together,’” Guo said during the event’s morning break. “I hope this will stimulate collaborations for cancer-related research between different scientists, especially between those from the physical sciences and those in the clinical sciences.”

Suzanne Lightsey, a doctoral student in the department of biomedical engineering, said the speakers did an outstanding job not only of describing their specific work, but also of relating how it can be applied to other fields.

“I like how the talks are high enough level that if it’s not your specialty, you can still follow along,” said Lightsey, who studies the barriers in solid tumors and how those barriers can be overcome to get immune cells in the tumor. “I definitely think seeing other people’s work is sparking ideas.”

After beginning her program during the pandemic, Lightsey said the in-person event was particularly meaningful.

“It’s rare that you get to see 20-plus faculty members speaking for just an afternoon,” she said. “So many of these faculty members, I’ve read their papers, I’ve seen their work, but I haven’t had a chance to meet them. This was such a great lineup.”