Week 3: Canada Day festivities

This week was a bit slower on account for the holidays.

As a French Canadian living in the USA, I got to experience three national holidays over the past two weeks: Saint-Jean Baptiste (June 24th), Canada Day (July 1st) and 4th of July! It truly was a blessed week for eating delicious food.

With regards to actual science and work, I've been involved in a lot of interesting small projects. Namely, I've started working on implementing two sample preparation workflows for our collaborators in both the nephrology and bone marrow transplant departments. For our nephrology collaborators, I've been working on a protocol to better preserve urine samples at room temperature. The degradation of urine samples can be substantial if it is not immediately stored, which can be difficult to do given the busy days of doctors and nurses. As such, I've been studying and looking into preservation products that would slow down degradation.

For our BMT collaborators, I've been involved in establishing a more extensive workflow from sample collection all the way to receiving it in Ithaca. This was a new experience for me, as the previous labs I've worked in had these protocols established before I got there. This is in part why I love being in such a newly established lab; I have more responsibilities and am learning things that I might not have working in an older lab.

Next week I'll be returning to the nephrology department, and I'm excited to go back to rounds and understand a bit more of the medical terms  now that I've had time to bone up on the lingo.

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