The Upside-Down Cake

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced me to think a lot about my work and in particular one of the events that I co-founded, FRAXA Biotech Games. Pre-pandemic and in years past, the event was a fun gathering of scientists in the biotech community in Cambridge to network, make some new friends and compete in lawn games. Then COVID made it impossible to get a large number of people together (we were expecting 500+ people). So we changed the event to a virtual gathering. And it changed the way that I thought about this event...it became even more about shining a light on the people in the life sciences community and their commitment to finding answers to tough medical problems, including COVID-19. The event was awesome, but I kept wanting to thank the people who showed up. My friend Keith Spiro started using the phrase "the upside-down cake"...no not the one with pineapple, but literally a cake turned upside down, with frosting on the bottom. Let me explain.


In "normal" years, we would have all kinds of hype leading up the the Biotech Games, with some fun trash talking and fun poking of rivals (the frosting). But we are in a time filled with anxiety and concerns about the future so we turned it upside down because it became apparent to me that getting people together was going to be a challenge... and yet they came! Over 3 Thursdays in September, we had over 150 people come together for some fun trivia games and meeting new people - from Boston to San Diego, New York, Maryland and even a team from Wallonia (Belgium). I decided that even though this was a fundraiser, it would be our opportunity to thank these people for their dedication to research. We would make this about them - gratitude for the work they do. So the "frosting" was the final round on September 24th and beyond. The cake had been turned upside-down. We had my friend Chris Draft join us to lend his voice of gratitude for the work of the biotech community. And to the teams that showed up during September for a great cause. And the sponsors like Morgan Stanley who "leaned in" to this event in an uncertain time. Because they care.
I've always said I like to surround myself with good people. People who care. The 2020 version of FRAXA Biotech Games showed that there are people who care even if it means playing trivia literally from the lab bench! Great community-building. We even had some CEOs join the fun and give the encouragement to their teams. My view of the upside-down cake is similar to the concept of paying it forward. If you give gratitude, you get it in return. The frosting is down the road, not at the beginning. We thank all of these amazing companies that came together during September to keep the FRAXA Biotech Games alive. Imagine how fun it will be when we can all get together again - hopefully next year - in Cambridge, maybe San Diego and other biotech hubs. In the meantime, I will be thinking about spreading the goodwill - and the frosting - by continuing to thank the people in life sciences that will not only keep doing the research in whatever therapeutic area they are involved, but also will get us out the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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