Parker Travels to FACCTS 2023

FACCTS 2023 took place at the University of Chicago Center in Paris on Friday, April 28. I traveled with fellow confrère and Parker parent Tem Horwitz and participated in person. Daniel Weissbluth MD, another confrère and founder of Weissbluth Pediatrics, also attended in person. George Austin and Xiao Zhang participated in the confrères process without traveling to Paris.

Parker confrères Austin, Zhang and I reviewed the proposals received by the FACCTS committee before the meeting. Thomas met with the FACCTS committee members: the University of Chicago faculties —the “Chicago team”— and members of the French education ministry and staffs from the French Embassy in Washington DC and Chicago Consulate responsible for promoting scientific research and collaboration—the “French team.” The committee met in the afternoon of April 28 to make funding decisions on proposals. Each proposal had a Chicago and French principal investigator. Confrères were able to listen to the committee’s discussion and evaluation of proposals. After ranking the proposals, the confrères selected four. The experience to meet with the committee and participate in the proposal review process has provided the confrères a unique window into the funding process for scientific research.

The confrères selected following proposals:

We are looking forward to the opportunities for the four funded projects to connect with Parker students. Past presentations by researchers not only showed students cutting-edge research on topics of interest, but also unique and valuable perspectives on research and scientific careers.