The CHI RNAi conference is over and will now head back home. Being new to the field of RNAi screening, I’ve been looking for a place (virtual or real) where I can meet other people, especially those working in large scale screening facilities. Reading the literature is certainly useful, but face to face interactions are always richer. I was very pleased to see the meeting was of a high quality. While it wasn’t always cutting edge (most of the work had been published, but is still new to me) there were some very interesting talks ranging from the use of RNAi screens to probe myeloma biology, mTOR addiction and reconstruction of genetic networks to meta-analysis of multiple RNAi screens for the identification of synthetic lethal targets, parallel chemical and RNAi screens and the use of complex phenotypes and their analysis. Of course, a lot of it went over my head – but that was to be expected I was also pleasantly surprised to see very few vendor talks – the bulk of the talks were from academics or staff of core facilities..I also got to meet a number of people involved in RNAi screening facilities and had some very enlightening discussions. A lot of things to implement and test when I get back home! Overall a very useful meeting and I hope to make it again next year.

Now, just need to get home and schedule the ACS CINF program for the Spring meeting.