Earlier this month, the Pernas Lab escaped the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles for our annual lab retreat in beautiful Vista, California. For a few days, we traded conference rooms for a shared house, experiments for team-building activities, and takeout for home-cooked meals.
The retreat was an opportunity to step away from our day-to-day research and focus on what makes our lab special: the people. Through a series of activities and discussions, lab members shared their scientific journeys, previous research experiences, and unique skills. From microscopy experts and molecular biologists to grant-writing enthusiasts and troubleshooting masters, we learned more about the strengths each person brings to the team and explored ways to foster new collaborations within the lab.
Of course, no retreat would be complete without a little fun.
This year, the retreat committee unveiled an entirely new game created from scratch: Lightning Grantsâ„¢. The rules were simple. Participants randomly drew a combination of organelles, model organisms, pathogens, technologies, and scientific goals, then had just minutes to develop and pitch a groundbreaking research proposal. Scientific rigor was optional; confidence was mandatory.
The resulting proposals pushed the boundaries of imagination. We witnessed researchers proposing to amputate crab claws in the name of discovery, weaponizing jellyfish in ways never intended by nature, and infecting mice with pathogens that probably should never have passed an IBC review. The creativity was impressive, the science was occasionally recognizable, and the presentations were delivered with a level of confidence usually reserved for Nobel lectures.
Who won the competition, you ask?
Well... only Reviewer #2 knows.
The retreat was filled with laughter, great food, scientific discussions, and a renewed sense of community. We returned to UCLA energized, inspired, and ready to tackle the next set of experiments—though perhaps with slightly fewer jellyfish-based grant proposals.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped organize the retreat and to all lab members for making it such a memorable experience. We are already looking forward to next year!
