A mic-running researcher
Earlier in the year Mehrzad and Lauren attended AIR2026 both supported by bursaries from Wellcome, here are Mehrzad's reflections on the conference and his visit to Cambridge
I had the opportunity to attend AIR2026, which stands for Advances in Infection and Respiratory Immunology. When I was reading about this meeting, I thought this was going to be held in Cambridge. That was a disappointment for me, as the meeting was in another location near Cambridge. It was at Wellcome Genome Campus, a few miles away from the city! I can’t complain, because a morning walk on that beautiful campus can make up for every disadvantage it has!
I prepared a pitch talk and a poster for the conference. The main focus of my talk was how lactate impacts the interaction between innate immunity and the most common respiratory organism, Streptococcus. It is somewhat a mixture of microbiology and immunology. Because we are students and the meeting was quite expensive, we applied for the BURSARY which was accepted and covered half of the event plus accommodation! But it had one condition! You either had to write about the meeting or accept a role as a mic-runner during the sessions. Writing is quite difficult for me and I don’t know why I am writing now! So, I applied for the mic-running role! That could be fun too! I got accepted! On 11th of February, I took a train from Birmingham New Street station to Cambridge. There, I had to change trains and take another one to somewhere near the campus (not very close! About a 15-minute drive!). As usual, the first train had some delay, and I missed the second one! But no problem! You can sit at the train station and patiently wait for the next train. I was supposed to attend a briefing session about the mic-running role at 12, and I was still at the train station in Cambridge at 11, waiting for the next one! Finally, I got on, but the destination was in the middle of nowhere! When I got off the train, I was confused and didn’t know where to go. Luckily, one of the speakers from Texas, USA, Allison Seeger, was on the same train and noticed I was confused! She asked, “Are you going to AIR2026?” She gave me a ride and. luckily, I arrived on time!
1st day of Conference: I attended the mic-running briefing. The role was quite easy. We had to pass the mic to people who had questions after each session. There were four of us in total, and two would participate each time. You had to be agile and actively look for anyone who raised their hand, and you had to pass the mic in less than 2 seconds to avoid wasting time! I think I lost 2 or 3 kg doing that role! I had nothing else to do on the first day except listen to the talks, enjoying refreshments, drink wine, have dinner, and wait to see the accommodation. I really needed a calm place to sleep! Fortunately, the accommodation was very cozy and lovely!
2nd day of Conference: After running around during the Q/A sessions, I had to get ready for my pitch talk and then poster presentation. It was somewhat stressful for me, because you have to give a lot of information in a very short time, but I think I could handle it well! In the evening, I had to stand in front of my poster and talk about my projects with those who were interested! At that moment, I heard two of the best sentences a man can hear! I asked my second supervisor, Dr. David Cleary, “Can I have a drink (my favorite white wine) with me while presenting my poster?” “It is encouraged,” he replied! The other professor with him gave the 2nd golden sentence, “Never let questions stop you from drinking”!
After the event, the coaches were ready to take us to one of the spectacular museums in Cambridge, the Fitzwilliam Museum. There were many antiquities from Egypt, Iraq, and my homeland, Iran. Drinks were served at the beginning, and we looked at the most amazing paintings while networking with others. After that, we went downstairs for dinner. That night was really perfect and ended with great networking!
On the final day, there were a few short sessions, and we got ready to go back to our cities. The coaches took us to Cambridge, and I found out that I had about one hour to wander around the city and do some sightseeing. One place I really wanted to see was Newton’s Apple Tree. It was an amazing experience to see the tree that led to one of the greatest theories in physics. After that, I had a very quick visit to King’s College Chapel and Trinity College. Due to the limited time, I had to run to the station which was about a 20-minute distance from my location. At that moment, I made one of the wrong decisions of my life, and that was booking an e-scooter. Riding it was much more difficult than I expected, and I believe I was a complete mess on the streets of Cambridge that day!
