Hey everyone,
I am really excited to be working
in Dr. Robert Langer’s lab at MIT. His lab focuses on designing and developing
drug and nutrient delivery systems. Back at my home institution, UCLA, I am in
a large lab of 25+ researchers. When I stepped foot in Langer’s lab, my
definition of large changed. There are 200+ researchers in my summer lab. I was
a bit overwhelmed in the beginning but slowly, while getting to know everyone
in my subgroup, it became comfortable. The training was very long and
intensive, and it was about a week before I could actually start running
experiments. At MIT, I work on my direct mentor’s projects in the lab. One of
them is called SALTS, which are microparticles that are going to have vitamins
and minerals encapsulated to withstand standard cooking procedures and then,
release the vitamin/mineral only when digested in the stomach. The second
project is called Hydrogel, which will be a type of cancer drug delivery
system. The idea is to create a material that is thermoresponsive and will be a
liquid at room temperature and solidifies at body temperature. I know that is a
bit strange since we have a notion that if temperature increases, the fluid
should not become a solid. There is a bit of polymer science to explain which I
won’t here, but you guys will hear in my chalk talk! I am learning a lot of new
synthesizing techniques and methods. I have always wanted to do drug delivery work
and this is a great opportunity to get experience in this field which I could
potentially pursue in graduate school. Anyways, I am grateful for this experience and
so far, I am enjoying every single day in lab.
Boston is super awesome! I am
glad to be living in a different city other than LA. I have done multiple activities
and explored many sites since arriving. I have explored Boston harbor, visited
Paul Revere’s house, walked the whole freedom trail (on 4th of
July), and attended a Red Sox game (they lost). The weather here is a bit
bipolar, but it’s okay because I have this awesome Red Sox pancho which comes
in handy every time it rains. My friends and I planned a trip to NYC and we had
a good time exploring the city. It was nice to hang out with friends from UCLA,
and it was especially amazing since we weren’t stressed studying for an exam
and such. I’ll have more adventures to talk about in the next few weeks and
I’ll update you guys on how they went!
I hope everyone is having a great
summer!
Best,
Roberto Naranjo
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Extremely happy to be here!
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Right before the 4th of July fireworks!
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Watching the Red Sox play at Fenway Park!
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Mini MARC reunion in NYC with Swasty and Abel.
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1 comment:
Your projects sound really interesting, Bob. I'm interested to see how you fit them together in the chalk talk. It also sounds like you're having a good summer thus far. Nice to hear/read.
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