So I have some news. It's actually been in the works for a couple of months but it's only official now. At long last, my stint as a postdoc is over and I have actually secured a tenure-track faculty position at a major university. Where, might you ask?
That's right, folks. I'm heading back to Blacksburg because Virginia Tech hired me. I'll be an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry.
Containing this secret has been very tough but I didn't want to go public until the contract was actually signed, which happened today.
So why am I posting this? Because my free time is about to plummet. I'm in the process of buying a house, finishing up my work at UMB, moving, and then starting a difficult path to academic and research success (running a lab, writing grants, teaching, etc). You may have noticed my participation in the comments section has been a bit lower than usual over the last few weeks, and that's a function of both a heavy workload and making this transition in my career happen. So I've had some conversations with Joe and we agree that it's high time for another brave TKPer to bear the mantle of Moderator. I get to keep my badge and will do everything I can to continue to contribute but, to be honest, my involvement is going to be limited to nights and weekends, and TKP needs better.
The community here is awesome and I do very little policing, so thank you for that. I trust that our current setup will continue to work very well. But we still need someone to step in if things go awry. If you are interested in helping out in this capacity, please drop a comment below or send Joe an email: joe [at] thekeyplay [dot] com.
Comments
So basically you are saying we can say and post whatever we want now? :)
Y'all can downvote me but I'm about to speak the damn truth.
Politics!! Emma Watson is overrated!! Rich Rod should've been our coach!!
edit: In all seriousness, congrats! I won't have you as a professor but I hope it goes well!
Congrats Guitar! Good work!
And the site be like:](https://postimg.org/image/vd2eznbjd/))
"Jander, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."
Nah I am a diver/eod tech, are skills way exceed our egos unlike flyboys...
You are all "self-loading baggage" to us flyboys. But I will concede that diver/eod techs are a rare breed of crazy operators. Met a few long ago when I served, definitely big league adrenaline junkies.
Congrats VTGMan, our fine university is lucky to be getting such a fine fellow.
Very kind of you. Thanks.
Congrats! Great news!
Congrats
What's your interest in for research? I'm currently doing research at Duke looking at a potentially new nuclear export sequence but just accepted a job down at Emory researching Leukemia. Congrats!
In general, I do biomolecular modeling/simulation and computer-aided drug design. My interests are primarily in pathological protein aggregation (e.g. Alzheimer's disease and related amyloid disorders) and nucleic acid dynamics. I spent my postdoc working on a polarizable force field for DNA and RNA. Sounds like science fiction but really all it means is our group creates the physical models for actually doing the simulations. Coincidentally, the biggest outcomes of my research were just published two days ago :)
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00067
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00068
Come on Guitar! Just read your publication.
The whole thing is about Star Wars and Star Trek!](https://postimg.org/image/3ly01wf4v/))
In my day there were no A / B or Z DNA! Just DNA, RNA and mRNA. Also in cell physiology a drawing of a typical cell included the cell wall and nucleus, that was on the final.
Say "Hey!" to Dr. Biswarup for me
VTGM: "Good afternoon, Dr. Biswarup. Topenhagen sends his regards."
Dr. Biswarup: "I'm sorry, who is that?"
VTGM: "Someone I know from TKP, who apparently was one of your students."
Dr. Biswarup: "TKP? I'm not familiar with that organization."
VTGM: "Oh, it's a website. The Key Play."
Dr. Biswarup: "... Get out of my office."
Congrats!
Cartoonist's rendition of VTGman in a year:
Pretty accurate depiction of my life.
Do you actually wear the bunny ears, though?
It's been years since I graduated but I still feel inclined to say "Eff You and your faculty/staff parking pass"
My sister is faculty/staff. I too still seem to have feelings of jealousy/anger every time I see her parking pass (been gone a decade).
[mod edit: do not post NSFW images]
Congratulations buddy....i envy you getting to go back to the place we all love.
Now i'm interested to see who the TKP community wants to nudge into taking over the Mod job........
Congrats! Never stop never stoppin!
CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP
For posting Jar Jar Binks, I award you no turkey legs, and may Bud Foster have mercy on your soul.
How wude.
(if it's not obvious: /s) :)
exsqueeze me?
No excuse to not be at every game next season professor.
Thanks to the other thread I learned that season tix are on sale June 21. If I have any money left after closing on our house, that's what I'm going to buy. Not food, no sir. Football tickets. I'm doing this whole adulting thing right, yes?
Y'all buying in Blacksburg what's the market like there?
We bought in Blacksburg. But it is a surprisingly hard market. Blacksburg prices are soaring. Basically, take the house you want in Blacksburg and it's $50-80k cheaper 10 min away in Christiansburg. We landed on a nice deal at an affordable price. We looked at far more houses in Christiansburg than Blacksburg, though.
The market also moves fast. Our realtor told us that the average time that a house sits on the market in Blacksburg is less than a week. We got down there a few weeks ago, saw 15 houses in one day, made an offer the day we got back, and still had competition (but we won). It's a strong seller's market at the moment.
I figured it was tough since you can make more as a landlord.
It's a couple of things. It's relatively cheap to build a new house down there, the recent placement of Blacksburg as the best place in the country to raise a family, and the expansion of the university, have all contributed to an influx of people. And a lot of people are buying. There are tons of new, swanky apartments cropping up for the college kids, but the housing market is on fire for people actually buying.
You're not kidding man! I made it up to a game this past season with my wife (we live in Charleston SC). As we walked back to the car, she was talking about how much she would love to live in Blacksburg. Music to my ears until I looked at zillow. I assumed we could buy a palace in Blacksburg compared to Charleston. Turns out, not so much.
If you're interested, I really suggest contacting a realtor in the area. I started looking through Zillow and I found a lot of the listings to be outdated or inaccurate, and there were actually far more things available than what they listed if your realtor can hook you up with a portal to the MLS database. There's also a lot of new construction/lots for sale at better prices. We actually could have had a new house built for around what we're paying for ours, but we needed to move too quickly to wait on that to happen.
I work at the CRC. Wife n I bought a house in christiansburg and have refurbished a 1906 Victorian and opened a BnB. Regs n licensing/taxes r lower n cburg, I get the deltas Guitar man is mentioning, but for opening a small home oriented business, Christiansburg is easier to do faster.
A great realtor in christiansburg is Dan Meyer, knows area well, treated us great, has lived here 30+ years. It's 15 minutes to blacksburg.
And,.... congrats guitarman, hope we meet here in the NRV!
Thanks everyone for the kind words. It's not a stretch to say this is my dream job.
Related to the thread, if anyone wants to ask questions about the Mod job or anything, fire away.
Congrats on landing a dream job! Sounds like all the hard work is paying off.
Joe and guitar I will gladly take on the mod duties with one small condition. I can ban anyone who suggests , he who shall Not be named, becomes a part of the Hokie coaching staff.
I suggest we make Hokie Fireman the new mod, on the condition that he publicly proclaims the superiority of Chipotle over Moe's.
what if said via Mad Gabs?
I just want to say that I came to TKP a few months ago because the forums on the "other" VT site had become so toxic and venomous that I would literally get agitated before even going there to get my medically required several-times-a-day Hokies fix.
This place was like a breath of fresh air, attitude-wise. The sense of humor of the members and staff is fantastic. And even the occasional "flaming" between posters is cordial. And I'm allowed to say things like "damn" and "crap" without being scolded. I mean, damn, that was some lame crap!
I never thought about it until now, but I guess I have you to thank for helping to keeping the vibe of this place so awesome. So thanks and congrats on the great new position!!!
Thanks, and I hope TKP continues to be what it is, even if I'm not here quite as much as usual. I learned the culture of this place from a lot of really active and awesome members. Some of them aren't around much/at all any more, but the most important thing is that the community determines to a large extent how awesome the site is. The content from Joe & Co. is top notch, and that's augmented by the sense of camaraderie among us here in the chattering class.
Be the TKP you want to see in the world.
I don't have time to mod but can I borrow that banhammer for a week or so?
Congrats on the dream job!
Congratulations on the new dream job. It's great to see the hard work payoff
Congratulations!!!
I would throw my name in the hat, but you don't get to be the voice of reason with a name like AssPocketFullOWhiskey.
Congratulations man! Bravo!
Congratulations! The Biochemistry department is lucky to have you!
High praise from the guy whose profile pic is the department logo :)
So are we gonna have an election or something?
Make TKP great again?
I'm with Fireman?
All the way with Hokie07ME?
Feel the burn (of a horse on a treadmill)?
Or my personal favorite- I Like Ice
... please don't downvote me
Forgot the most important campaign slogan:
Leonard!
FTFY
Being a townie now I expect you to begin accruing #sauces within the year.
PS: I'm super jelous! I missed out on a dream job there at the university a little while back but hopefully after I finish doctoral work some other opportunities will open up.
Congrats man. Sounds awesome.
Congratulations, that's great news! Best of luck with the new position!
Congrats GuitarMan! That's a huge accomplishment. It's not so bad on the other side. When my work situation changed I was afraid that my TKP days were over, but you'll always find time to catch up. I'm still on this site everyday, just in more of a lurker fashion. Think of it as the perfect way to fulfill your modorator duties incognito. That was your plan the whole time wasn't it??
Living the damn dream. Start building the additions onto your new house so all of the TKPers have a place to crash after football games.
I require a king bed and my own private bathroom. Just FYI....
Congrats man!
congrats VTGM. Living in Blacksburg is excellent. I'm glad you're able to make your way back the promised land.
btw, how is this not front page news on the biochem home page? They really need to get their crap together.
I know that last line is TIC but there are several pending hires at the moment. The department is growing/changing and I'm just a small part of that. My ugly mug will be on that website soon enough, hopefully along with the announcement of a few new colleagues. Lots going on for our department and it's very exciting.
Congrats from a former BIOC.
Question in the ball park with your area of interest: I keep seeing leaks, tidbits about directed antibody therapies towards amyloid for Alz; about 10 years ago Elan pharmaceuticals had an engineered vaccine that was pulled in phase III trials due to meningeal irritation......any hope towards new therapeutics against this bastardly disease?
There was recently another anti-Aβ antibody therapy that got pulled last year after it was basically ineffectual. Bioavailability is a big concern, as is undesirable immune responses. The net sum is that while some people are becoming skeptical of the amyloid hypothesis (e.g. the aggregation of Aβ in the brain leads to pathological degradation of neuronal tissue), the reality is that's probably only a small part of the overall disease etiology. I remain convinced that Aβ is central to the disease but its interactions are complex and therefore a multi-pronged therapeutic approach is necessary, one that addresses (1) Aβ aggregation, (2) tau accumulation and possible interactions with Aβ, (3) mitochondrial dysfunction, and (4) stability of the plasma membrane. Both (3) and (4) have also been shown to be linked to some Aβ behavior but we don't fully know why.
That's the biggest problem - 100+ years after the disease was first characterized, and about 30 years since the principal protein entity was discovered, we still aren't even sure how the disease works. Hard to come up with a therapeutic when you don't know what the mechanism is. Most of the therapies so far are slightly more elegant versions of "throw sh*t against the wall to see if it sticks." My thought is that we need to get a better understanding of the physics and thermodynamics of Aβ unfolding, and other amyloidogenic peptides in general, to determine why they are so amorphous and/or sensitive to their environments. If we can do that, we can start to unravel the details of the earliest steps of the disease.
Great answer,and I thank you.
There was a recent report that had some lay-press attention from a center that claimed disease regression with a multi-pronged approach like you suggested: meds, exercise, therapy, nutrition, but it was like N=10, and was met with scepticism (and the specifics we're not released).
On the clinical side, it's a frustration with as current tool-box is limited.
It seems to be a genetics meets lifestyle meets immune system issue.
One thing that's clear is that healthy lifestyle is key. Nutrition is a huge part of that. High-fat, high-protein diets (U-S-A! U-S-A!) are awful and epidemiological evidence from countries in e.g. Asia show that a vegetable- and antioxidant-rich diet is a powerful way to reduce risk of a whole host of diseases. Interestingly (disclaimer: I did work on, and published studies about) natural flavonoids can stave off Aβ aggregation even at low levels. So a diet that contains lots of these (from tea, pomegranates, berries, and the like) is one element of healthy living that can actually help over the long term. Exercise, sufficient sleep, and managing any other underlying health issues is key to keeping your brain healthy. Also, keep your brain active. Additional data suggest people with more stimulating jobs and/or who engage in more stimulating activities keeps the brain healthier. So rather than flopping on the couch and watching hours of TV every night, pick up crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Scrabble, etc, especially if you're retired.
I could listen to you for hours......
What a shame that the high-protein, high fat diet that makes your body look like a greek god is bad for the brain. You can never have nice things.
Wait, what if you do high-protein AND lots of vegetables and antioxidants?
If you're half as good a biochemphyscientist as you are a moderator, then the department is lucky to have you. Congrats
Remember, all tkpers get extra credit in your classes
If someone draws a hilarious meme on an exam that is related to anything on TKP, you'd best believe I'm awarding points.
So what you are saying is we have someone on the inside now to convince the innocent college students to spend what little money they have on joining TKPlayers Club?
congrats on signing the LOI.
who was your primary recruiter?
what is your current height and weight?
do you see yourself doing research immediately or do you think a redshirt year will benefit you?
Followup: did Tech's deal with Nike help or hurt the appeal? Was UMD-B also a UA school or were they free to make a deal apart from UMD-CP?
If anyone ends up offering me free shoes, it's probably a bribe and I shouldn't take it.
The sweet allure of Blacksburg itself.
Somewhere between JC Coleman and Bucky Hodges.
Tim Settle could bench press a couple of me at once.
I'll be gettin' after it from day one.
LOL.
Seriously, I suspect few if any on this board don't know people tragically affected by Alzheimer's...it is a horrible disease.
I think all of us are wishing you wild success as an integral part of VT, and especially in your research.
Others have said this, but I'll say it a little differently: You've done a bang-up job as moderator here, and the Department of Biochemistry is lucky to have you.
We'll miss you as moderator, but look forward to your continued (if less frequent) commentary on this forum.
Congratulations on the new opportunity. I know you'll be a credit to the university, just as you've been a credit to this forum.
P.S. Thanks for not deleting all those posts I made when I first started posting here which were very close to the line, which ultimately led to more spirited but interesting discussions.
I'm just glad you're not a moderator anymore for the simple reason that you can't nuke me when our departments inevitably work together again and I start bugging you for proposal pieces.
now no one remains to keep Alum07 from that top spot. It's like we just found out squirrel master is getting paroled.
Well, now that you mention it, (and hear me out, this may be unpopular) why not have Alum07 be mod???
Congrats VTGM. I'll miss your steady hand on the tiller here.
Your replacement has some very big shoes to fill.
Congrats! I think I speak for everyone when I nominate Leonard as your replacement.
Congratulations, Guitar. You'll love living in the 'Burg. Wish I could stand for your mod job, but I'm too old to understand half of the cultural references, too thin skinned tempermentally and waaay too technologically illiterate to come close to the necessary requirements. I wouldn't mind, however, being the guy to point out the folks who say "We should have went" or "He could have ran" or the like. Like others have said, though, you have done a bang up job as moderator, and while I have personally drawn your ire a time or two with over the line posts, I have always respected and agreed with your admonishment. Good luck!
Congrat on the opportunity of a lifetime....
Ok! he's gone finally.. I have been waiting two years to post this!
via GIPHY
Two years, eh? Guess you were really Biden your time.
via GIPHY
I could definitely help as part of a committee of Moderators. I am also too busy to keep up with every single post though I do eventually read them all. Your response time to a lot of the craziness was amazeballs sometimes.
Congrats on the job! My jealousy is overflowing and as always as soon as I find myself in Virginia, and hopefully for a game, which again i hope to work into my schedule this year we will go out for drinks.
also I think shoog, Fireman, vtfly, 2hokiein1, ohherro, horse, Illinoishokie, hokietopher, vtfencer, hokie07ME amongst others would all be excellent candidates for Moderator, but, as they say, no one can replace your first.
Fernley - I'm flattered that you would suggest that I would be a good Mod candidate, but unfortunately, I just don't have the kind of time that would be necessary to do the job properly. I was actually gonna nominate you in my earlier post in this thread, but I didn't want to put you on the spot. I agree with all of your other candidate suggestions as well as others that have been mentioned above. No matter what, VTGuitarman's shoes are sure gonna be hard to fill.
Then why not have multiple TKPers as Mod (sort of like a Mod Council)?
Or a ........Mod Squad?
Sort of. But I think Mod Council has less of a hunter vibe to it (i.e. Jedi Council)
Purple lightsaber!! #CalledIt #Dibs #PurpleRain
agree on the time commitment. And mutually flattered by the nomination thoughts. for future reference no issue with putting me on th spot. Hokie07ME did it and got me to finally signup for key players club which I greatly appreciate for having done so. But that goes back to my time. just do not have the bandwidth to give it the full and consistent commitment every day. I have no idea how Guitarman did it.
Well, ya know what they say about folks with BIG shoes and BIG bandwidth....
I'm pretty sure I was jokingly calling you out so I'm sorry if you felt undue pressure. All's well that ends well, I guess.
totally got the humor which is why I appreciated it so much. it spoke to me in the best way possible
Senpai fernley notices me.
Honestly, I'd only be able to serve alongside other mods. I don't have VTGM's herculean bandwidth to watch every thread at once.
i will come back and insert a good mr miyagi gif
wax on, wax off vtfencer-son
Nicely done GuitarMan! Manassas represent!
I will be the new mod. What do I need to do besides read TKP comments 4 hours/day?
Late to the party here but congratulations to a fellow BIOC. I know you will help VT become an even better institution than it already is. We are all in good hands with awesome people like you fighting these shitty diseases.
Congrats on the official new twitter handle as well. You're living the dream.
Thanks for your tireless efforts keeping all of us knuckleheads in line.
I just hope your guitars understand that you won't be able to play them as often as they, or you, would like. May they gently weep.
Congratulations man! Awesome new job and in Blacksburg!
Congrats on the gig!
My nomination for new mods...
A few years ago, people looked at me funny when I told them I got my dad Tombstone for Father's Day... Took a few minutes to clarify that it's on DVD and my dad loves Westerns.
Let's be honest....your decision really came down to the brand of shoes, right?
Congrats VTGM! Gonna miss your prolific and timely GIFs.
Congrats VTGM. As for your replacement...this place needs to be a little more Bearded.
Only kidding, I'm far too strange/temperamental to make a good mod. But you will be missed.
Does this mean Lawson will transfer?
Congrats.
TKP the second VTGM starts his new job:
From one postdoc-turning-tenure-track to another, salute!