Blog 2: Research

My arrival at the lab was at the very start of a new mice model experiment the doctor and his post-doctoral researchers were beginning. Each of these experiments at this lab last a total of 26 weeks, so my time at the lab of 10 weeks was not sufficient to help them with that experiment in particular. Instead, in the lab, I was doing additional research to help back up their findings in their previous mice study which was researching the impact of a particular gut bacteria on the presence and progression of colorectal cancer. The first three weeks I was there, the post-doc researcher, Gar Yee, helped teach me the lab protocol, but she moved to work at the University of Florida on the fourth week and I learned independently from then on.

My lab space I worked in while in Boston. The grey incubator on the left housed my cells and the fridge on the right housed reagents and solutions needed for experiments.

During my time, I gained experience independently in cell culture assays, growing and splitting colorectal cancer cells and hTLR-4 cells, along with PCR analysis, ELISA assays, Caspase-3 assays, TLR-4 activation assays, as well as assisting with Western Blot analysis, immunohistochemistry, and TGF-beta activation assays. Additionally, my analysis of TLR-4 activation led to a partnership in which I analyzed samples from a lab at Northeastern University to help identify the effects of certain bacteria on cell lines. My time at the USDA HRNCA was also supplemented with visits to 2 conferences and multiple speakers to heard about advancements in nutritional and cancer research, as well as to see my boss present on his findings at our lab. The experiments I learned and knowledge I gained during this experience was an excellent addition to my curriculum at Rollins and will aid my future lab work in Biology and Biochemistry practices.