Hi everyone!
I just wrapped up my first week as an intern at the Nerretti lab in the Department of Biology at Brown. The first couple of days before getting started in the lab, I moved into my apartment that I’m sharing with two roommates, and got to know them and their friends. We played a lot of sand volleyball, and they were kind enough to give me a tour of campus and show me the ropes. I began my internship on Monday, and the first day was all about orientation, getting familiar with the lab space, and understanding the broader goals of the project.
The lab focuses on the processes of senescence from their markers and pathways to their greater effect on the body through aging and buildup. The first project I have begun is working with LF1 cells (human fetal lung) and inducing primary senescence by introducing small amounts of drugs so we can introduce those further to the cell culture to analyze secondary senescence through paracrine and juxtacrine pathways. We are also running several computational projects to analyze data previously collected.
(cells with highlighted nuclei)
This week, I spent most of my time working on running data cleaning code. One of the biggest challenges I ran into was running code in a language I was less familiar with, troubleshooting inconsistent results, and learning a new software. Most of my time was spent coding, but I also got a lot of wet lab practice watching as we meticulously fed the cell culture, ran calculations to get ratios of chemicals right, and carefully examined the cells under precise microscopes.
With some guidance from my mentor, Anthony, I was able to better understand data analysis through coding. It was a small success, but I was able to run the three programs I created this week. It gave me a deeper appreciation for how much problem-solving and patience go into day-to-day research. I learned a lot this week and began the practices of proper lab notebook documentation, reading and annotating primary research articles, and asking better and more specific questions during check-ins
Next week, I’ll begin introducing half of our LF1 cells that are still reproducing to the cells that we induced senescence in this week.
Additionally, this week outside of the lab, there were many opportunities to learn about the area. I regularly attended pilates and yoga after labs when I wasn’t researching. There are a ton of cafes and workspaces, which is nice to get out of the office or my apartment for a while. The campus has tons of flea markets, farmers markets, and weekend activities in the parks. So far, it has been an amazing opportunity getting to know Providence.
If you’re an intern or have experience in the lab, I’d love to hear your tips for staying organized and getting the most out of each day.
Here are a few photos of my walk from campus to work.
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