On Thursday, December 11th The Kast Lab was visited by non-other than the 6-time Grammy, 3-time Emmy, 2-time Academy, and Governor’s Award winning music artist Randy Newman.
After a chance meeting during the Norris Cancer Centers 40th Anniversary Gala in October of 2013 Martin extended an invitation for Mr. and Mrs. Newman to visit the lab.
Dr. Kast has been a huge fan of Mr. Newman’s music ever since he was an undergraduate at the University of Amsterdam and attended his concert at the Ahoy theater in Rotterdam during the 1979 European tour. He highly values his old copy of “Lonely at the Top” that Randy signed at the gala and has brought it into the lab to show off several times.
Martin and Sylvia welcomed Randy and his wife, Gretchen, on Thursday morning with coffee and an exciting presentation about how cancer immunotherapy and HPV research are advancing the field of medicine. Afterwards Randy took a tour of the lab and had an in-depth conversation with the graduate student about their current work and future plans.
“He asked a lot of very relevant questions and was able to quickly grasp the purpose of our ongoing experiments. It was inspiring to be able to meet with a musical legend that has such a sharp mind and curiosity for science.”
– Andrew Woodham
Giving into this curiosity, Mr. Newman then spent time observing some of the cell lines that we utilize to study HPV and HIV infections before heading to lunch with Martin, Sylvia, and Dr. Gruber, the Director of the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Everyone in the lab was excited and inspired by the visit from this legend, and we are proud to say that Mr. and Mrs. Newman are honorary members of The Kast Lab family.
“This was a spectacular opportunity for us to connect with Randy. It is truly amazing that he was so generous with his time and had such a strong connection with the students. I look forward to him visiting with us again soon.”
– W Martin Kast
Randy Newman is a multi-talented award-winning artist whose music has inspired multiple generations of musicians and composers. He is considered to be one of the real masters of modern American Music.