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Dear Members and guests of the As-Yet-Unnamed-But-We-Are-Finally-Changing-That-This-Month-Dinner-Club (UDC),
Unless you have had the great good fortune to have been living under a rock for the last twelve months you know that 2025 was a VERY rough year for all things science. To put it mildly.
In acknowledgement of this I offer this timely ditty. Grab a mug of hot cider and sing along!
On the 12th day of Christmas my government gave to me:
12 deniers denying
11 grants terminating
10 websites poofing
9 politicians spoofing
8 laws blocking
7 databases scrubbing
6 clinics shuttering
Fifty measles outbreaks
4 budget cuts
3 lies told
2 vaccines sold
And a shooting at the CDC
So ... yeah.
Due to the one-way nature of how we experience the space-time continuum, it may take awhile to determine what the fallout will be from what alarmists/realists (perspectives differ) are labeling "an extinction-level event for science" in the US but we can at least get a head start by looking at Last Year in Science through the eyes of Dr. Francis Collins, our guest for the January program.
Francis Collins is a physician-scientist. Under his direction the Human Genome Project produced the first finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book in 2003. Then, from 2009 to 2021, he served under three Presidents (Obama, Trump.v1, Biden) as the Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world.
Dr. Collins contributions to science, medicine, and society have been recognized by the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and the Templeton Prize.
Want to read more about it? His most recent book is The Road To Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust (Little, Brown and Worthy, 2024; see francisscollins.com).
So you are DEFINITELY going to want to attend the January meeting of the UDC when UDC Charter Member (and upcoming speaker) Dr. Igho Ofotokun and I toss questions and topics that YOU suggest, during meeting registration, at Dr. Collins.
But wait! There's more!!
ATTENTION Unnamed Members...
At long last the As-Yet-Unnamed Dinner Club (UDC) is going to Get Named!
In addition to a list of 5 potential names voted on during registration for the UDC's inaugural meeting back in September 2025--of which "Surprise Me!" was the run-away winner with over 1,000 votes--we received 101 unique write-in suggestions.
See full--and exceptionally entertaining--list HERE.
It has taken a while to winnow those down. But celestial beings gotta do what celestial beings gotta do so, after making the difficult, its-lonely-at-the-top Executive Decision to resist the urge and not name us the "Surprise Me! Dinner Club," despite it's clear lead in the polls, I performed exhaustive research* that resulted in winnowing the prospective names into a short list of 10 (see below).
*Among other research methodologies, I spent time imagining myself confidently using the new name out loud when inviting presenters who have never met me, or heard of the UDC, to speak to the Club.
Which is how, even though they ended up being among my personal, belly laugh favorites, the "Unstable Geniuses Dinner Club," the "Public Health Dinner & Dance Club," and the "Fork No! Dinner Club" ended up not making the short list.
Here are your choices. Register for the January meeting and let your voice be heard!!
EPIcurious Science Club (ESC)
ImmUNITY Dinner Club (IDC)
Infectious Ideas Dinner Club (IDC) This entry came with it's own proposal for Club Motto: “Feeding Curiosity, One Pathogen at a Time”
Monthly Dose of Science (MDS)
Public Health Avengers Dinner Club (ADC) “I’ll make a logo!” says the suggester
Public Health Dinner Club (PDC)
Sensational Science Dinner Club (SDC)
The Data for Dinner Club (DDC)
Unnamed Dinner Club (UDC)“Because we are used to it AND it makes us sound mysterious” says the suggester.
X-Cell Dinner Club (XDC) “Because that's what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and what happens when we gather!" says the suggester.
Register now and let's start 2026 off with a bang, not a whimper. ;-) Happy Holidays! 🕎 ☀️ 🎄 🎉
-Kimbi Hagen UDC Director/Goddess
