Hosford Patrick
Research Scientist, Laboratory for Distributed Cognitive Processing

Lab visit

Returning to San Francisco after three days of stimulating scientific presentations and discussions I was invited to visit the labs of Zachary Knight and Kevin Yackle. In Dr. Knight’s lab I was able to discuss some pilot data that I had collected that recorded spontaneous exercise patterns in mice with my hosts and received very encouraging feedback. Later, some of my hosts were aware of my experience with mouse brainstem viral transfections and it so happened that one group was attempting this complex surgery for the first time on the day of my visit. To finish the day I gave a impromptu tutorial on brainstem sterotaxic surgery and thoroughly enjoyed being able to pass on my knowledge of a new technique.

Poster session

The UCSF retreat was set in the historic Asilomar Conference Grounds, famous for previous influential conferences such as the 1975 Asilomar Conference on Recombinat DNA and the more recent Conference on Beneficial AI (2017). In these inspirational surroundings I had the opportunity to present my recent work “The Thalamus Coordinates Dynamic Updating of Cortical Representations to Enable Perceptual Inference” to the students and faculty of UCSF’s Neuroscience program. I was especially grateful for the warm reception by the students who were asking thought-provoking questions and expressed interest in using some of our analytical techniques in their own research. Since UCSF and RIKEN have closely aligning in research themes, the other posters all offered something of interest.

How will the experiences in the program pay off for your science career?

I am most grateful when I am able discuss my scientific interests with any individual or group as sharing your ideas allows you to hone and develop them further. It is even more beneficial when you discuss these ideas with those that are closely aligned with your research interest. I found such a group at the UCSF retreat and felt I benefited greatly from our discussions ranging from new technical approaches to future careers for scientists beyond academia. Their willingness to take every opportunity to exchange their scientific thoughts and experiences made all interactions fruitful, especially when we all gathered at large tables for meal times.

UCSF Neuroscience has a strong focus on translational studies and disease models and this was represented throughout the retreat’s many posters and presentations. I was grateful for this opportunity to update my knowledge of the recent advances in cutting-edge disease models from both UCSF participants and also the outstanding external-speakers. With this variety on offer, I cannot recommend this experience more highly for any RIKEN researchers who are considering attending. I strongly encourage all of those interested to apply to be a RIKEN CBS representative at the UCSF retreat, you will benefit from a unique experience and discussions with enthusiastic scientists.