All ready for 3 days of exciting talks and discussions with our colleagues from Rome and Tel Aviv on topics ranging from Parkinson’s disease, ALS, stroke, epilepsy and immunology.

@raskin.house.gov giving a great and inspirational speech at Philadelphia’s No Kings rally. People from Independence Hall to the Constitution Center.

Appropriate place to end the Philadelphia No Kings march

On this Flag day, let’s remember that this country, founded by immigrants, is made great by the rainbow of people and opinions that strive for a more perfect union. Patriotism is not owned by one group and despite efforts at this small blip in time never will be.

Congratulations to the 2025 Department of Neuroscience graduating class. From L to R: Richard Smeyne, PhD, Professor and Chair, Hanni Jafri, MD, PhD (class of 2025, Dalva lab), Matthew Dalva, PhD (currently, Professor, Tulane University),

Congratulations to our labs latest PhD graduate, Debotri Chatterjee who successfully defended her thesis entitled “Induction of Parkinsonism Pathology by Different Strains of SARS-CoV-2 in mice”. Now onto the final 2 years of medical school.

Listening to Super Bowl champion and leader in community activism Malcolm Jenkins at Jefferson’s Salutes Martin Luther King Jr’s vision.

Nothing else needs to be said.

Fly Eagles Fly. E-A-G-L-E-S. Great for the city. Broad Street by Jefferson is a sea of happy humanity.

Had a delightful in person reunion with @ssclabquips.bsky.social in Philly for her seminar examining risk factors for influenza infection. Discussions will hopefully lead to a new collaboration on neuro effects of astrovirus.

Had a valuable zoom talk with @daniellebeckman.bsky.social on future collaborations examine the role of viruses in the etiology and progression of Parkinson’s disease. Lots of good ideas bantered back and forth. Hopefully will lead to new and exciting research.

Today is the first Philadelphia Flyers game for my Granddaughter Sofia.

Great morning session at T-Cells in the brain conference at Columbia University. Love these small intense meetings with lots of interactions.

I am giving a talk at our translational research retreat for our Farber Neurological Institute this afternoon on the role of viruses in Parkinson’s disease. Historically I link to the 1918 flu pandemic. Regarding mitigation, nothing has changed (look at dates on slide).

Hockey fights cancer night across the NHL. Here @philadelphiaflyers.bsky.social vs Las Vegas Golden knights.

Had a nice reunion with Dr Cory Abate-Shen from Columbia University for her lecture on prostate cancer biology. We were postdocs together at the Roche Institute for Molecular Biology in 1990. Haven’t aged a day.

Gritty @philadelphiaflyers.bsky.social hanging out in the rafters of Wells Fargo Center dropping stuff on unsuspecting fans