About P.C. Spica

WORK:

I am a molecular geneticist and work on tumor suppressor genes involved in breast cancer. This is where my laboratory is: http://www.mdanderson.org

Classical music: I started learning to play the piano at age 6, with my mom as my first teacher. Actually, I am quite proud of the fact that I can trace the genealogy of my music teachers back to Liszt himself, with just 3 links between he and I. Liszt had a favorite student, Marguerite Long, who in turn taught many of the greatest European pianists of the 20th century. One of these was Jean Doyen, who was my mother's teacher. Oh well, I wish I were just 1/10th as good a virtuoso as Liszt was....

This is my mother (at the piano), a few years ago, generously donating her time to accompany the local choir. I don't know who took this picture, but I like it a lot.

Sometimes, it takes a lot a patience, like that day when I really wanted a photo of this hummingbird...

Drawing and painting: This is a more recent hobby, influenced in large part by my friend Gene Gould. By the way, here is how Gene depicted me recently.... I must have been thinking about something really dreadful at that particular moment!

Note: You can see many more of Gene's drawings, as well as his wonderful paintings and sculptures, if you visit the Art-In-Time Gallery

Here are some of my own drawings. Obviously, I have a long way to go to be nearly as good as Gene, but that is not the point, as long as I am having fun with it...

Here is a list of the things that I want to accomplish or do at least once before I die (not necessarily in this order):

2) See the Magellan clouds and the Aurora Borealis. I believe that I have seen most everything that can be seen by eye or with binoculars in the night sky except for two things: the Magellan clouds (you need to be South of the equator for that, and I have not been that far South yet), and the fascinating Aurora Borealis (Gene and I visited Iceland last summer, but you need to be there in the winter to see the aurora)

3) Clone the genes that were identified in my laboratory as commonly implicated in breast cancer development. Related (but this is only a dream): learn to enjoy writing grant applications to fund my research, and take the many, many rejections with serenity. Ha!

4) Succeed in playing halfway decently at least one of my favorite Schubert piano pieces

5) Sky dive??? One of my best friends just did that recently for her 50th birthday and seems to have enjoyed it

7) Fly to Europe in the Concorde (Yes, I know, that's really simple to do: just buy the ticket! Only problem is to get really rich first... )

9) Have at least one grandchild. Well, there is not much I can do myself to accomplish that...

10) Help Gene sell at least a few of the wonderful paintings that he makes. It would make him so happy to know that people appreciate his efforts, and he truly is a very talented artist. It is true that Van Gogh himself only sold in his entire life the grand number of... one painting, but does history have to repeat itself over and over? Who made this rule about artists MUST suffer?

11) Plan ahead of time to learn and accept old age (if this is given to me) and death (that, I am sure I'll get) with serenity