Joy Zhang

It was great to join iGEM in person again after two years. It was even more amazing to see how iGEM has upped the game – again! Not only is the new venue much more open (and environment friendly), but also, this year, iGEM hosted a parallel Responsibility Conference.

I was delighted to be part of this two day event, and shared a couple of initiatives I’ve been involved in over the past two years.

But for me, an additional sweetness to attending this event was that I got to see many friends and colleagues for the first time since 2019. I think I’ve hugged more people during those two days than I did for the past year! It was wonderful to finally meet feminist neuroscientist Deboleena Roy in person. iGEM has always been international, but I’m still pleasantly surprised by the range of experts iGEM has brought together. I’m not sure if the recording will be shared online, but I was told that there should be a conference report that comes out soon.