First, “Lebanon-born“, Dr. Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel prize of Medicine!!
Yes, he won this medicine Nobel, along with another American researcher, Dr. David Julius (congrats to him too!).
Both scientists separately identified skin receptors that respond to heat and pressure. They are currently working on drugs to target these receptors, as per articles by the Associated Press and Naharnet!
From Dr. Patapoutian’s bio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardem_Patapoutian), we learn that he “attended the American University of Beirut before emigrating to the United States in 1986. He received a bachelor’s degree in cell and developmental biology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1990 and a Ph.D. in biology from the California Institute of Technology in 1996. As a postdoctoral fellow, Patapoutian worked with Louis F. Reichardt at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2000, he became an assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute. Between 2000 and 2014 he had an additional research position for the Novartis Research Foundation. Since 2014 Patapoutian has been an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).”
Here is his picture, along with his son, taken from his own Twitter account. As you can see he is grateful for his country for the great education, opportunities, and collaborations. Bravo! Mabrouk! Shat Congrats :)!
Well, just for fun, if she may, here is the “Mabrouk” (or congratulations) song; Bambi cannot help it. She loves the song… plus, she hasn’t attended a Lebanese wedding, to hear it live, for such a long time now :):
Now, the second happy news came from Lebanon and it is about Judge Tarek Bitar who investigates the Beirut blast. As a reminder, he was temporarily suspended from his position. Luckily, there has been sit-ins, from families of the victims and citizens, that took place last week to support him. It seems to have worked. Anyhow, this promising news is one of the VERY rare good news coming from Lebanon nowadays. May Judge Bitar resume his work ASAP. Most importantly… may he be safe!
To conclude this post on a personal-friendly note related to October 4. Well, today happens to be Joëlle’s birthday! Bambi loves her childhood friend “Jojo” (also from the USA like Dr. Patapoutian). She is grateful for their beautiful relationship since the VERY first day of school in Beirut (“au petit jardin”). That was 46 years ago, precisely like today [the first day of school used to coincide with her birthday :)]. With music again, Happy Birthday, best wishes, and much love!
