MARC Students attend SACNAS Conference

(MARC students enjoy a casual moment at SACNAS. Left to right: Paola Castro, Melinda Hernandez, Erin Jimenez, Michelle Crespo, Richard Rodriguez, Dwayne Simmons, Joseph Hargan Calvopina, Jason Melehani)

The Annual Meeting for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) was held October 9-12, 2008 in Salt Lake City, UT. Eight MARC students attended this meeting which included seminars, workshops, a graduate school fair and an opportunity for students to present their research.

Paola's SACNAS adventure.

Hello my fellow MARC peoples,
This October 9th through 12th I assisted the SACNAS conference. It was a marvelous experience. I learned a lot about the research going on in the poles. During the poster session, I met a student from Puerto Rico that also performed brood sizes for C. elegans. We conversed about the protocol that we followed for the experiment. I was very happy to give her some suggestions.
At the exhibitor session at the conference I had the opportunity to talk to direct representatives of some summer programs that I am interested in applying to for summer 2009.
I was very happy to see the greatness of the conference and the so much interested in science.
But must importantly I got to bond with the other MARC kids!!!
On the Last day, right before coming back to LA, the UCLA student I roomed with and I got a quick tour of Park City and got to see snow for the first time!!

Happy fall 08!!

peace.

Maylen's Summer in Puerto Rico!

Hello Everyone!

I spent the great majority of this summer as an REU Summer Research intern on the El Verde Frield Research Station in the El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico. I left June 6th, and returned August 8th. The two months I spent over there were an amazing oportunity and experience.

My mentors were Dr. Jorge Ortiz and Debora Figueroa. Dr. Ortiz had much work to do, so Debora was really my full-time mentor. I had so much fun working with her on a project designed to quantify the carbon quality in urban rivers in Puerto Rico. The first week I arrived was a nightmare! I had to leave early, before spring quarter ended, so I still had papers to write and finals to take. That first week I had to finish all my school stuff AND do all the research for my summer project because we had a research proposal to turn in and present the next week. After that initial hectic struggle, the rest of the time was pretty well managed.

My field work began right away. I was sampling two rivers, and it was tiring work. We had to wake up during the wee hours of the morning and struggle our way through the brush in order to reach the rivers. Then we set up our equipment and took several water samples for analysis. It was dangerous at times, we even suffered an iguana attack in the middle of a deep pool. It just flew out of the brush and ran straight for us! We survived that and many, many hours of scorching hot sunlight on our backs and necks, which eventually led to a very interesting project.

Aside from work, my roomates (4 other girls) were very nice people. We all came from different parts of the US, and one of them was a native of the island. We took several large group trips to see more of Puerto Rico. We visited the Guanica dry forest, which was at the other end of the island, we visited the city of Old San Juan, which used to be a Spanish fort town in the past. Everything was beautiful and the food was delicious! I think I made some pretty amazing bonds with the other interns that I would have missed out on if I had not taken this oportunity. I was so impressed with my experience at the UPR, that I even started to consider doing my PhD over there.

Finally, after all the field work was done, we had a little trouble with the analysis because machines didn't want to work, and some tests were not sensitive enough, but eventually we got it all done. At the end, I gave a short oral presentation about the project to the rest of the interns and mentors. It was very rewarding because I was complimented on my work.

I thought this was one of the best experiences I've had because I got to live in a setting completely different than LA. I was in the middle of the rainforest, listening to frogs croaking at night and rainfall. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience as well as a priceless learning experience. I recommend to everyone that an internship in another country will be a rewarding and life-altering decision. I hope you all had fun this summer too and I can't wait to see you this quarter!

paola castro SPUR 2008

I'd like to tell you a grasp of my summer experience. This summer 2008 turned out better than I expected.Not only did I get to work in a lab full time. I also got to attend my first scientific conference, thanks to the MARC program, I have a better understanding of what it is like to work in a team, and grew as a person. The scientific conference I attended took place in Wisconsin. The lab I became part of this summer studies aging. Shilpi, my graduate student mentor, and I study aging in the Caenorhabditis elegans model. The all the research presented at the conference I attended was concentrated on this worm. As a result, the conference was a great opportunity to get to know my model even better! Furthermore, Shilpi and I got to meet other researchers that pursue similar studies to our own from other universities.

This summer I got to start on a project that I will continue on fall quarter and that I will get to tell you all about when we get together just before the start of this fall quarter. The main purpose of the project is to investigate the effects that Vitamin C has on the longevity of the C. elegans. Almost all plants synthesize Vitamin C. Our lab is currently investigating whether the worm makes this important antioxidant. The inconclusive results suggest that the worm does not synthesize it. If in fact, the worm doesnt synthesize it, it would be interesting because humans are on of the few vertebrates that do not synthesize vitamin C and must obtain it by dietary intake. I hope to obtain more results this fall quarter and share them with you all!

I hope everyone had a great summer!!
I've attached some pictures. One of me and my poster and the other of cheese hats for sell at the Wisconsin airport.

sincerely,

Paola

Erin Jimenez and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Being an “URP” at CSHL was an extraordinary and unique opportunity. I had the pleasure to work in Dr. Dave Jackson’s laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Robyn Johnston to investigate phyllotaxy, the specific geometric arrangement of leaves and flowers around the plant stem. I investigated maize mutants with altered phyllotaxy to better understand the mechanisms controlling leaf initiation. Working in Dr. Dave Jackson’s laboratory challenged me to think about the scientific process in a very different perspective. For the past year I have studied mitochondrial protein import in yeast at UCLA. Coming from a lab using a different model system and different techniques, I was thrown out of my element. I had to learn and master techniques I never used before quickly. I immersed myself into my project desiring to learn every aspect of it. From the very beginning, my post-doc gave me the independence to make her project my own. Finding myself like a real scientist, I designed elegant experiments to find the answers to my questions. Working in a plant biology lab was extremely challenging and at times frustrating. CSHL and Dr. Dave Jackson challenged me to become more self-reliant and assimilate the knowledge my project demanded in a short amount of time.
I had the opportunity to meet other passionate student researchers from different universities around the world and discuss what it was like to be a young scientist. We gathered weekly to hear faculty discuss their research and had the opportunity to exchange ideas. Our weekly meetings refined my public speaking skills and challenged my intellectual development as a critical thinker.

In addition to gaining new insights in the laboratory, the summer was filled with activities from dinner with the infamous Jim Watson to kayaking around the harbor. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the URPs. The URPs made my summer extra memorable and I miss them tremendously. I will never forget all the laughs we shared, venting, and even volleyball.

Summer Wrap Up

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had a enjoyable and productive summer where ever you went. I stayed at UCLA, as mentioned in my previous post, and I had a great time and got lots of work done. I will pick up from where i left off last time in my previous post.

My work on T. brucei focuses on understanding the regulation of flagellar motility. Briefly, my goals were to identify components of the dynein regulatory complex using a relatively new crosslinking method and also to identify post translational modification and protein differences in regulatory mutants. Unfortunately the work with in vivo crosslinking has been so far unsuccessful and may not work at all if the trypanosomes do not recognize the photo-amino acids as such. It appears that the trypanosomes do not grow in the presence of these photo-amino acids but they still may be taking them up. I am running one last test; hopefully it works! If not I will try some different DRC solubalizing methods to see if I can make regular IPs more successful.
My other project is progressing nicely. I recently received mass spec results on our flagellum isolation preparation and have spent the past couple days pouring over the data, trying to organize it and make it presentable. We have had the help of Dr. Wohlschlegel here at UCLA with this project and he and his lab have really done an excellent job! The preparation contains 951 proteins so I have my work cut out for me. Once we analyze it I will probably begin looking at uncharacterized proteins which are likely to be flagellar and target them with RNAi and tag them for localization experiments. I have a lot of work ahead for me in the Hill lab and I am very excited to keep going.

I look forward to meeting you all soon as well

Jason Melehani

Overview of Summer Research

Finally, I get to see Melinda work in the clean and pristine Mugu Lagoon ;)

Although my work is on the micro-scale, my lab is pretty interesting to be around. During the summer, I worked closely with Emilio (my lab mentor) on his quest to obtain a Ph.D.
I guess I should recap what we actually aimed to accomplish. Most organisms have a sophisticated regulatory system for the sensing and subsequent absorption of iron. Loads of people, especially rich Europeans (iron disorders pretty common for them), are interested in understanding more about the iron-sensing mechanism, and how it is regulated. Presently, only in vivo (mouse) models exist. So our task is to recreate an in vitro (human cell line) model for the iron-dependent regulation of hepcidin (hepcidin is the regulator of iron absorption). Although that was my main objective, I was able to learn lots of other stuff along the way, as well as help my mentor with other experiments, and learn lots about other members' stuff in lab. Anyhoo, during the beginning few weeks, as I was getting acquainted with the experiments and stuff, we got results, and I was like, "Sweet! I am getting great results!" My mentor, Emilio, and my faculty mentor Dr. Ganz, were always less enthused. I wondered why, but I slowly began to realize the results from one single experiment are not enough to convince the scientific community, so you have to be a skeptic about your own experiments. This lesson, for me had a lot more significance than face value, I guess. I became more concscious of the histoy involved in each experiment (previous results and stuff), and what's more, I found it a lot easier to think of experiments as I was performing them. It's weird, because I actually want to know the answer to a question that no one knows the answer to, but I don't mind finding out for myself--I actually enjoy it :)
I digress. Aside from lab work, I really got to know my lab mates quite well, as every week, we did something together, like a walk through the gardens, visiting the new lab (it's friggin' crazy, like "Saw" looking, but new and clean, haha), and parties where we (at least everyone else) brought homemade food. My faculty mentor, Tom Ganz, is an extremely busy guy-- running his own biomed science business, the new lab, and going out of the country to give speeches-- but almost every day he was at the lab, he would stop in to ask how I was doing, and made me feel so part of the lab. Emilio and I are really great friends now, and I seriously cannot wait to get back to UCLA!
Left: Me Right: Emilio

Melinda's Summer in the Fong Lab

Hello Everyone!

I'm Melinda, a first year MARC trainee, third-year Biology major.
This summer’s research has gone by so quickly!!! I am in Dr. Peggy Fong’s lab in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. I got the opportunity to help with several projects ranging in topics from nitrogen-fixation/denitrification, the effects of algae on food web, to upper marsh vegetation and alternative stable states. I worked primarily with Sarah Bryson, who is looking to show salt marsh vegetation and salt pannes are alternative stable states. I also helped out Lauri Green with field work in the mud flats. I have been out in the field at least once a week starting the first week of the summer program. The field site is Mugu Lagoon, located in Ventura County Naval Weapons Air Base. Both the research with the salt pannes and research in the mud flats are conducted in different areas of the lagoon. I must say, this field site is AMAZINGLY beautiful. The favorite part of my summer, and perhaps the most tiring, was collecting samples from the field.

Collecting mud cores for chlorophyll analysis.
I know it looks like we are trying to catch something in the water, but unfortunately we are approaching a dead brown smooth-hound shark.
Another undergrad and I trying to smile for the camera, but that shark was quite heavy. This is also seconds before the guts fell out onto our pants!
A slightly better view of the shark.

A far more flattering picture of me at the SPUR Poster Session.

I hope everyone enjoys the last few days of summer!!!

-Melinda Hernandez

Ekeoma and the Big Apple! (Well, 60 mi FROM it)

Hello everyone! 

I am Ekeoma, and I spent 6 weeks of my summer in Upton, New York, at the Brookhaven National Labs (BNL) with chemist Dr. Diane Cabelli. She studies various chemical properties of the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), which is the same enzyme that I work with in my lab at UCLA. My mentor Madhuri, preceptor Joan (Valentine) and I thought it would be a good idea for me to go to Dr. Cabelli's lab, and that it would provide a good experience for me, since I would have the opportunity to work in industry as opposed to academia. And I must say that it was quite an experience! 

During my time there, I got to work on a different part of SOD research than I usually do. I got the opportunity to learn pulse radiolysis, a technique which uses a machine (called a van de Graff, shown in the picture below) to generate superoxide radicals. It's a method used to measure the activity of SOD, and indirectly measure its inactivation. (To learn more, you will have to hear my talk during the symposium. ;)

I got some interesting data, but I did not get to work on the specific project that I was supposed to work on while there. In trying to prep for my intended project, I kept running into problems. Because the lab I worked in was a chem lab and not set-up for biochem-type work, I had difficulty preparing the enzymes that I needed, and when I asked my mentor at home to send me the needed enzymes, we incurred one obstacle after another. We, Diane and I, eventually had to tweak the project, but we made the best of what we had available. 

Aside from research, I had the opportunity to meet students in some of BNL's summer programs. Honestly, it was great to meet other students like myself that were also interested in scientific research! And I got to learn from some of the other students and other BNL researchers about a field in chemistry, the field of ionic liquids, that I am now taking particular interest in. 

Also, I met my (half) sister, Daria, whom I had never before met! It was great! I met her side of the family (sister, brother, mother, cousins), all reside in Brooklyn, and they took to me better than I could have imagined. We went to Coney Island on the fourth of July with her family, I took her to meet our cousins in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, and we spent time with each other throughout my stay.  

I must say, even though I enjoyed my stay in New York, and enjoyed meeting up with friends I met during my last visit there, meeting my sister, and meeting new people altogether, I actually, for the first time in my life (that I can recall), got home sick! Yes, home sick! Upton itself is actually not very exciting and is about 60 miles from the city. So, as you may be able to imagine, getting to and from the city was not the easiest task, nor was it the cheapest! We, the other summer students and I, made the best of what we could. Though, there is nothing like home, family and friends that you are most familiar with. Seeing as how I really wanted to go to graduate school on the East Coast, I will now have to seriously consider that option. I enjoyed my experience away from home, but there is no place like home! 

I'm glad to be back! =) 

...but now, I'm thinking about when next I will go back and visit...funny how that works. =)

Take care, and thanks for reading! 

 

Alberto and Berkeley MCB REU program

Hi everyone!!! Greetings from the Lone Star State! I'm Alberto and I hope that all of you had a great summer research experience and that all of you are enjoying of the short summer break before going into full throttle. I finally decided give an update: I worked in Prof. Michael Levine lab at Berkeley (for those that don't know he's a fly geneticist) studying the role of a stably bound (or paused) polymerase at genes during early embryogenesis.
To give you a little background, starting the moment the fruit fly egg is laid, the embryo goes through super fast nuclei cleavage along with hundreds of signaling cascades that leads to the patterning formation of the syncytium blastoderm. All this is highly regulated at the level of transcription through transcriptional cofactors and chromatin remodeling complexes. Not long ago was discovered that genes that are turned on during early stages of the fly embryo have a 'stably bound polymerase', meaning that it remains at the promoter region of the gene without the help of transcriptional cofactors. In other words, the polymerase just sits there and is 'ready to roll'. With that, the graduate student and I hypothesized that a stalled Pol II is to enhance synchronous activation. I specifically looked at how genes with paused Pol II are turned more synchronous and less stochastic vs. genes with non-paused Pol II.
The REU program had a similar agenda to SPUR (seminars, workshops, interviews, GRE, etc). As any other summer research program, hours in the lab were long but that did mean I couldn't relax and see interesting things around campus, like the protest to save a grove of redwood trees from 'Guantanamo Berkeley'. I'm glad I came back to the Bay Area because I was able to go around visitng friends and spent some quality time with my family.
Well, I think that's it for the update and see you all at the MARC symposium!
Con gusto,
-Alberto Ponce

Huong's New York update

After ten weeks of being in NY I realize that I really miss California. I wish I had done more for my project this summer but due to lack of time finishing was impossible. I met great students from other schools like Chamanade U in Hawaii and Manhanttan College. NY is a great place to be especially with my sister being here. I was in lab most of the time running columns but there was still time to do other things. I went to a Yankees game, Coney Island, BBQ at the park, and many other fun things. I really like the subway system because of its convenience. I like exploring the different neighborhoods around Manhattan on my spare time. Ny will be missed but California will always be my number one state. =)

This is the building where my lab is located (near Washington square park). I am on the second floor in the window. There would be NYU tours on the street everyday and they could always see me work. I felt like a fish.This is one of the great little things I found while walking around the city. I had a great summer but I can't wait to start my senior year at UCLA.

UCLA - Summer in the Portera Lab

Hi again,

After 10 weeks in the lab through the Amgen Scholars Program, I am happy to say I had a frustrating (ie little data..), yet enjoyable summer experience. I'm not done yet, though.. I'm here for a few more weeks! :) Basically, I worked full-time in the lab and participated in programs provided by the Amgen program and MARC, such as the MARC journal club. Social events with fellow student researchers made the paper- and poster-making processes less stressful. :) Either way, the SPUR poster session was pretty fun! I thank my fellow student researchers and lab for their support at the poster session and for the entire summer. Although I was never able to get my intended summer project to work, I think it may pan out eventually and I am currently reading a lot to see if I could try another project. I'm motivated to continue to work just as hard and I look forward to various MARC events in the coming school year. :)

My awesome roomie, Vicky, from UIndy!

The UCLA Amgen scholars at the Amgen HQ in Thousand Oaks.

My post-doc mentor and I at the SPUR poster session.

Rockefeller University

So everything has been going well here in the big apple. I am really enjoying the work although 13 hour days along with spending my nights applying to MD/PhD programs makes things bitter-sweet. Thus far we have been trying to trouble shoot issues with our microfluidic setup. We think something about the device is causing the worms to react spontaneously but we are going to try and figure this out and if we are unable we will still be able to compare mutants to controls. Although I was supposed to end my program today my lab has asked me to stay on and was willing to fund the transition. I think though that HHMI will be able to supplement the costs which is nice but I am really happy to be working in such a well funded lab and through the well-funded HHMI fellowship. Currently I am very much alone all the members in my program left 3 weeks ago but I am excited because tomorrow I move into Rockefeller housing which may allow me to meet new people to interact with. I am very excited about this opportunity but will right more later.

-Ryan

Biogen Idec - Perspective from Industry

Hello from San Diego! Glad to hear everyone who posted is enjoying their summers. For the new MARCies, my name is Chloe and I just graduated as a MARC scholar in Spring. I will be entering the Biomedical Sciences PhD program at UCSD in the fall and this summer I am working as an intern at Biogen Idec. I am a part of the Immunology Drug Discovery Team and work under Dr. Elisabeth Mertshing. I can't tell you the specifics of my project besides we are working on a small molecule inhibitor to stop B cell activation with our target disease being Rheumatoid Arthritis. It is really exciting working on a translation project that could go into clinical trials soon. It makes me so motivated to go to work knowing we could develop a drug to help millions.

Other than enjoying being touristy and outdoorsy in san diego I have been enjoying the perks of corporate life. Biogen Idec is equipped with a 24/7 gym, volleyball court with sand imported from fiji, a nurse who customly designs your desk to be ergonomically comfortable, and biweekly TGIF's complete with inflatable sumo suits. The company is all about making employees happy and healthy so they will be more productive. The upsides of biotech are new and state of the art equipment and resources while the downsides are not having as much creative freedom with projects as they must follow the goals of the company. Hope to keep updating you all and pictures soon to come.

-Chloe Rivera

Working in the Hill Lab at UCLA

Hi Everyone!

My name is Jason Melehani. I just joined MARC this summer so I haven't had the opportunity to meet many of you but I look forward to being able to. I am spending this summer at UCLA working in Dr. Kent Hill's lab in the MIMG department. I have actually work with Dr. Hill sense Fall 06 and love the research and the people in the lab. I am being trained by a post-doc named Pius Kabututu. Our lab is studying the parasitic eukaryotic Trypanosoma brucei. Specifically we are looking at the flagellum and motility of the parasite. We have many exciting projects going on right now in our lab including cryoelectron microscopy and tomography of flagella, social motility and chemotatic experiments, and isolating complexes to identify their components. I am working on two projects which focus on the regulation of motility through the central pair apparatus, radial spokes, dynein regulatory complex and dynein motors.
For the first, I am isolating the flagellar skeleton from the rest of the cell body by using a combination of detergent and salts. Most of the work comes in verifying the purity of this extraction by western blotting and electron microscopy. Once satisfactorily enriched for flagella, I will send samples of wild-type and two mutants (a central pair apparatus mutant and a dynein regulatory complex mutant) to collaborators in Maryland for iTRAQ mass spec analysis. iTRAQ is a system of tags used to quantitatively compare different samples and has been very valuable in seeing altered regulation in cancers and in identifying post-translational modification differences.
The second project is a little more exciting because it is my own design. I had previous done work on identifying the components of the dynein regulatory complex by immunoprecipitation of the only known component, trypanin. This was successful in showing that a protein, CMF70, interacts with trypanin. However, the current extraction protocol for solublizing the dynein regulatory complex is probably too harsh and likely rips apart most of the complex. There are thought to be at least 7 proteins in this complex but without a more efficient system of isolating these proteins we are unable to identify them. So my new project will hopefully overcome that problem. I will be using a recently developed system (2005) of in vivo crosslinking of proteins through endogenous incorporation of UV reactive Photo-Leucine and Photo-Methionine. While this system has worked in mammalian cells, it has never been tried in trypanosomes. Hopefully, the trypanosomes will use the UV reactive amino acids in building all their proteins. Then, when I expose them to UV light the amino acids will cross link adjacent proteins at the protein interaction interface. Because the proteins will be covalently linked, the extraction buffer will not break them apart and I will be able to isolate the complex and identify the components by mass spectrometry.

Sorry for that long winded summary of my research. Besides lab work, life in LA is great. The weather has been wonderful every day and the water is cool. Today there was an earthquake but luckily no damage occurred on campus.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and I look forward to meeting you all soon!
Jason Melehani

UCLA - Summer in the Portera Lab

Hi everyone,

So I'm finally taking the time to write my introductory blog as a new MARC student. Never too late to start, right? I am currently at UCLA in the Portera-Cailliau lab in the department of Neurology where I have been involved in studying development of the neocortex since April 2007. I have been working with my post-doc mentor, Alberto Cruz-Martin, on imaging dendritic spines in a mouse model for Fragile X Syndrome and comparing them to normal wild-type mice. In the first two postnatal weeks, we have found significant differences in the morphology of spines in Fragile X mice. It's interesting because we are imaging slices during a period where no one has really looked at before. Next I plan on identifying abnormalities in synapse number and distribution in Fragile X mice during this early developmental period. The hours in the lab are long, but so far I am thoroughly enjoying my summer experience. It's great not having to worry about classes and I love having the time and freedom to try different experiments and learn a ton about the field and so many aspects of research. My lab mates are also great to be around, making my lab experience all the better. I'm also in the Amgen Scholars program, which is basically an opportunity to get funded for 10 weeks during the summer and meet students from across the country all interested in biomed research. There are also some helpful workshops and a 3-day (really a 2.5 day) symposium. So far that's been excellent as well. Well, I guess I'll get back to reading papers.. I'll try to add updates when I can.

Best,
Michelle Crespo

Huong At NYU

My sister and I after we finished a five mile race at Central Park

When I first arrived



The Metropolitan Museum's Rooftop Exhibit

Hey guys sorry for the late response but I could not figure out how to write a blog. Well I am living in an NYU dormitory that is steps away from Union Square. I am working in Dr. Canary’s lab in the NYU Chemistry department. I am part of the Science and Engineering of Soft Materials and Interfaces (SESMI) REU program. My project this summer is to crosslink DNA to peptides using click chemistry and native ligation reactions. I am in the lab everyday but on the weekends I visit my sister, who lives in Brooklyn. I have eaten a lot of great foods and visited great places. For example, I went to Coney Island to watch Olympic Gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty Mae play volleyball. I also went to the Yankees game, which was very fun. For all those who are in New York I recommend going to a small “play” called Fuerza Bruta. It is an interactive play. There are full of surprises. I have never experienced anything like it. To top it all off, Susan Realegeno came to visit me for three days. It was nice to see a familiar face. I hope to read more of everyone’s blogs because they are great.

New MARC trainees enjoying a busy summer..

(Left to Right: Paola Castro, Joseph Hargan Calvopina, Melinda Hernandez, Richard Rodriguez, Michelle Crespo & Jason Melehani)

The newest MARC trainees are very busy this summer working in their labs. Melinda Hernandez is working in Dr. Peggy Fong's lab, Paola Castro in Dr. Steven Clarke's lab, Michelle Crespo in Dr. Carlos Portera Cailliau's lab, Joseph Hargan Calvopina in Dr. Hong Wu's lab, Richard Rodriguez in Dr. Tomas Ganz' lab and Jason Melehani in Dr. Kent Hill's lab.

None of them are taking any classes this summer, primarily working in their labs for 40 hours a week. Although the days can be long, all of them are finding the experience to be very rewarding. Richard says that the extended one-on-one time in the lab makes learning much easier. Melinda says that it is good because she gets to focus on more than just the research, having more time to read journals and do fieldwork since she is not taking classes. Jason feels that the extra time in the lab allows him to design his own project and take it in his own direction, something that he is greatly enjoying.

Despite their busy lab schedules, these MARC trainees are still finding time to enjoy their summer. Joseph allows time to go play soccer with his friends when he is free, and Paola lists sleeping as one of her top hobbies. Michelle also finds plenty of time to relax and hangout with friends, even though she is also busy with the AMGEN Scholars program.

Upstate and Downtown - Ryan Dosumu-Johnson

I have been really enjoying my time here in New York, so much so that it has been hard to keep up with the blog. The beginning of my fun excursions was with my being invited to a birdsong conference by one of the most famous birdsong labs, Fernando Nottebohm. I met a grad student in his lab at a 4th of July party and he invited me to go and said he would pay for everything. It was a really great experience because I got to meet all the big names in birdsong on the east coast. Fernando was a really nice invited me back anytime and they actually offered me the chance to work on a project I had thought up about the research they were doing. I really enjoyed being able to dive back into birdsong for a couple days and learning about the amazing research being done on the other coast. The best part was being able to see how the research at my lab in UCLA fits into the grand scheme of birdsong. I realized we are actually pretty different from a lot of labs in that we look at things from a vocal learning perspective as opposed to an ornithologist view point. In addition to going to the amazing conference I met some people in my program which invited me to a great free concert put on by the village voice. Overall the past few weeks have been really great but I have the trouble now of trying to finish my applications to schools.
-Ryan

UCLA Josep hargan Calvopina

Hey guys, this is Joseph. As opposed to traveling all over the place I decided to stay here in LA to get some work done and get everything ready for 199 in the fall. So currently I am situated in the Center for health Sciences in the department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. I'm working under Dr. Hong Wu(PI) and Dr. Reginald Hill(Post Doc) on Pancreatic cancer. We are currently using a mouse model with various mutations to try and mimic the human disease. By using this model we will hopefully someday understand the mechanisms involved in the development of the disease. Unfortunately that day is still far far away, we have to get things to work first, hahaha. So far it has been a lot of trial and error because it is the first time we have tried many of these experiments. However there is some progress slowly but surely. I'm happy we finally got this apoptosis kit to work so I'm excited to get some results. Besides that summer is good, and the weather is cool. Next week members of our lab will go see Batman, so I'll keep you guys informed. Good luck with all your research! until the next post, lates!

Jospeh Hargan Calvopina

The Big Apple

Hi all,

I am still here in New York and I am enjoying it and a little put off by the situation. I love lab work (I just love science wherever I go). I really miss my whole life at UCLA though, my lab, my friends and my family. I have been pulling a lot of 10-12 hour days and it seems to be taking its toll now. Haven't been getting a lot of sleep because of the other work I have to do. Funny thing is I am the one pushing myself so hard cause the post doc I was working with has left and now I'm alone with my project. I am now trying to overcome issues with flowrate because at initial analysis it seemed the worms could sense lower than picometer changes in chemicals and everyone was a little worried about that. Now I have to use math and run some physics-like experiments to try and adjust the flow rates. Also I have been having a lot of trouble with the MATLAB code we are using so I have had to play around with that. All in all this is not the kind of work I am used to but I am adjusting and it is most definitely good science just not birdsong. It is hard to be completely naive to a my current system but I am slowly getting things. I have enjoyed going out when I can here in New York. I got to go to a great jazz club this past sunday and have had the chance to eat a different restaurant every day here so far, something that would require a car in LA. Here are some pictures of the view from my lab( almost every room has huge windows with absolutely amazing views) and around New York.

-Ryan Dosumu-Johnson

Tomas Ganz' Lab

Hello Everyone,

Hope your summer experiences are going well! Where to start with mine. Well, this is my first real professional research lab position, and I am working under a 2nd year Ph.D. student-Emilio Ramos, in the Defense Lab (Tomas Ganz) in CHS corridor 5-2 at UCLA. The lab is centered around iron and its metabolism. Lost for words, but, man it feels like I'm part of something big. the PI is incredibly intelligent, incredibly successful, but really approachable. Always busy, however, as he's starting a business. His right-hand, Ella, is also really neat. I want to say more, but hey, this is just about us, eh? My mentor, Emilio, it is almost scary how similar we are. Both lefties, both dad's drive trucks, both first gen. collegiates, both into the same kinds of music, etc., etc. What's more, he looks like an older, darker version of my brother. I really need to post pictures, hehe. I've talked with peers in the summer programs, and many have mentors that are older. I feel kinda lucky to have a younger mentor, as we quickly built a great rapport, and it's not difficult to ask a question. On to the research aspect. It's kinda weird, this "cutting-edge" research, because no one has the answer. I never realized how little we actually know, but at the same time, it's not that hard to ask the "next question," since as we experiment, we're already asking it, hehe! Personally, I'm working with my mentor to elucidate the molecular mechanism of regulation of the hepcidin hormone - which regulates iron levels in the body. The major disease we're concerned with is hereditary hemochromatosisI won't go into too much detail, but we all know about iron and rust...imagine it in your liver, pancreas, bones, joints, and brain! I never really thought about it, but iron overload is pretty bad, haha! Insofar, we're testing in vivo hepcidin expression levels in response to different diets (in mice). We're soon moving on to in vitro cell lines with different gene mutations, etc. I actually understand what's going on, haha! Workin' 6 hours straight in a microbiology lab is friggin' exhausting though! I'm tired every day. Nevertheless, I know this is for me :O) Richard A Rodriguez (RAR)

Dr. Watson's Pink House!

Never in my life did I imagine seeing Dr. Watson!  He is often seen driving around in his Jag.

-Erin Jimenez

CSHL

Later, I will post a photo of Dr. Watson's pink house.