Science met art at this year’s holiday party as UNC Lineberger labs, departments and offices set out to win the Dr. Seuss-theme door decoration competition.
UNC Lineberger’s holiday party was just what the doctor ordered – Dr. Seuss, that is.
Cancer center faculty and staff came together in a seasonally festive Lineberger atrium Friday, Dec. 14, to celebrate the holidays, catch up with colleagues, enjoy a delicious buffet, and learn the winners of this year’s hotly contested door decoration competition, with the theme “Let’s Send the Cancer Grinch Packing!!!”
Nearly two dozen Lineberger-affiliated departments, labs and offices competed in the contest for bragging rights and a free group lunch. David Darr, Wendy Sarratt, DrPH, and Dean Staley had the tough task of judging the competition, which required teams to decorate their doors using cancer awareness ribbons and Dr. Seuss characters.
Creativity and whimsy were on display. A colorful poster in Marsico Hall featured the residents of “Marsicoville,” Blossom Damania’s lab created a clever ode to Cell-ville and its population of approximately 37 trillion, (“Every cell down in Cell-ville liked Christmas a lot, But the Cancer Grinch just north of Cell-ville did NOT!”) and a play on the Office of Genomic Research, which became the Seuss-themed “Office of Grinch Research” courtesy of Michele Hayward, RD, and Ashley Salazar.
“It was fun to see how people translated the work they are passionate about into creative, festive anti-cancer decorations,” said Sarratt. “It was very difficult to choose winners. There were so many colorful, imaginative doors and lots of science humor.”
Though many doors were worthy of consideration, making it challenging to pick the winners, the judges agreed that four stood out from the rest:
Lineberger first and second floor – Jenny Ting’s Lab
Lineberger third floor – Clinical Protocol Office
Marsico Hall – 5th floor elevator lobby
Bioinformatics – Office of Clinical Translational Research
Keeping in the holiday spirit, faculty and staff were invited to donate a new, unwrapped gift for UNC Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Program patients.
Thanks to the year’s party planning committee, Ashley Belcher, Mary Lou Coffman, Ning Fu, Tony Lindsey, Jessica Platz, Kaitlin Porter and Jonathan Stroud, who worked tirelessly to decorate the Lineberger atrium, arrange the buffet and organize the door decorating competition.