By nature, I am an optimist and believe that the fundamentals of the economy are strong (Have you ever heard that before?) and that the American people in their generosity, wisdom, and commitment to good health for all will one day restore the NIH and medical research to their rightful place. If so, that will be a Big One, but of the good kind.
The city of San Francisco is one of the most beautiful and vibrant in the whole world, and it is at the epicenter of biotech and computer industries. In the downtown, sleek spires of glass and steel rise triumphantly in seeming defiance of the wobbly ground beneath. While San Francisco may be the site of a big earthquake in the future, today it grows and thrives.
As always, I think of the ACR meeting as a time of education, reflection, and renewal. Of the knowledge I gained at the ACR, perhaps the most important was how to savor the sight of the bay at dawn, the sound of fog horns near the bridge, the pleasure of dining with good friends, and the myriad other things to do while waiting for The Big Ones.
Dr. Pisetsky is physician editor of The Rheumatologist and professor of medicine and immunology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
