Duke University | Howard Hughes Undergraduate Program

Hello World!

The joys of research include:

1) Making new FRIENDS

2) Making new BEST FRIENDS

3) Making new DISCOVERIES

4) Making the best of the RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

The woes of research:

1) Sitting on the computer

2) Having back problems from sitting on the computer

3) Getting bad results because you did something WRONG

4) Waiting for the RESULTS

But, I still love research and would not trade this experience for a million bucks! Yippeeee! :)

Until Later,

ooo11

World Report - "Life in the Lab"

A wise researcher once said, "The Winn Lab is where it's at." I agree with her with no reservations.

Why is my lab so cool? I'll tell you why.

The Winn Lab is made up of:

1. Dr. Michelle Winn
2. Dr. Rasheed Gbadegesin
3. Dr. Jason Eckel
4. Dr. Peter Lavin
5. Brandy Bowling
6. Guanghong Wu
7. Alison Homstad
8. Alison Trott

There are also some 'awesome possum' summer research students:

      0.   Toyosi Oyelowo

1. Caldwell Powell-- *shoutout to Western Guilford & Greensboro, NC* FTW
2. Edward Spruill
3. Aerin Spruill
4. Luka Ojemaye

:)

The powers that be declared a blog featuring the Life in the Lab. Here's what I discovered about some of the Winn Lab-sters.

                                                            The Dr. Eckel Day

Some mornings, Dr. Eckel has work in the Clinics. There, he attends to patients. On other days, he comes into CHG and is immersed in interesting research projects. He may have Mouse Work, and spend hours in the Mouse House collecting urine, taking blood pressures, and/or doing surgeries.  He comes back to the Lab after a delicious lunch at Chipotle. In the lab, he analyzes the collected data and looks at the DNA and RNA of the mice. He also does cell work with Luka. He raises B cells by feeding them nutrients!

                                                                The Luka Day

Luka enters the Winn Lab early in the morning and checks his email to find any important assignments and news. He then goes to his mentor, Dr. Eckel, and sees what extra assignments Dr. Eckel has for him. Luka spends his time feeding the B cells so that they stay alive and grow. He also goes to the Mouse House to collect urine to analyze. According to Luka, this step takes a long time. By the end of it, Luka is ready for lunch and spends time outside. After a great lunch, Luka comes back to the lab and does B cell proliferation assays, which test the life expectancy of different kinds of cells. Then, Luka helps the other researchers with their research.

                                                       The Aerin Day                                                                                                                                           

Aerin checks her email first thing in the morning. She then goes to work for Jason and does some RNA purification and extraction from animal tissues. After that, Aerin clocks out for a delicious lunch. After Lunch, Aerin either does some real time PCR or helps the other investigation with their assignments.

                                                    The Caldwell Day

Caldwell enters the WInn Lab around "9-ish." He checks his e-mail and does the first step in the list of duties to complete that day. This may be PCR-ing, sequencing, or running gels. Lunch is the best part of the day for Caldwell, other than any other discoveries he made. However, according to Caldwell, the days he has lunch with me are subpar. :( After lunch, Caldwell analyzes the data he gathered before lunch. He hopes gain research experience and exposure to the scietific field through this summer job.

                                                      The Alison Day

When Alison enters the CHG building, she first checks her e-mail!! Then she's off to the Mouse House for the morning, collecting urine samples, and blood pressures. Sometimes, she sacrifices the mice. When she returns to the lab, she measures and stores the urine for later. She takes a refreshing lunch break and returns to the lab ready to train new summer students, or design, optimize, and hydrate primers.

                                           THE TOYOSI DAY

I know, it's the moment you have all been waiting for! I come into the lab around 10 o'clock. I get ready for the day, by going to my mentor Alison. She gives me assignments to complete while she is in the Mouse House. This may include making master mixes,  running a PCR or measuring and storing urine. After a lovely lunch with my lab buddies, I reunite with my mentor and restart my polymerase chain reaction.  I also complete other odd-end jobs for my mentor and the other researchers. By the end of all that, it is five o"clock, and I say to the Winn Lab, "you are cool, but you are not that cool!" DUECES!

ooo11 

Hello World,

So, every weekday for the past three weeks, I have been going to the Center for Human Genetics. I have walked unto the fourth floor, put on my cooking apron, and oven mits (gloves).

I prepare the special of the day: two plates of Sephadex with a side of Mastermix for my PCR. What kind of meal is this, you ask?

It's the meal of a lifetime. It's what makes my summer reseach project. I am helping my lab with a project they have been working on for the past two years. This project revolves around a family with an hereditary kidney disease--Proteinuria.  So, we have been sequencing much of the DNA from the affected individuals of this family. We are now trying to identify where the mutation is located. We analyze many various single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPS) and splice each exon.

Though many people might not like running PCR's or using the Sequencher computational program, I love it. And can't get enough it. It's delicious which is why I continue to prepare such dishes everyday. Sometimes, my results are burnt and useless, but other times they are crisp and practically perfect. Talking about it makes me crave it. Ah, I cannot wait until Monday.

I also cannot wait until the Poster Session so that I can give the world samples of my Reseach Project Plate!

Until Later,

ooo11

First off, I would like to make a quick correction. My full name is NOT Olytoyosi Oyelowo. It is Olutoyosi Oyelowo, but please call me Toyosi. I am a rising senior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a lover of sports, and a lover of science. I am also a student researcher at Duke University,  getting the great opportunity of viewing life through scientist colored goggles.

So, I just finished my first week in a  lab. It has been extraordinary! I really feel like I am becoming an authentic scientist, especially since I sometimes feel a little silly for making mistakes on protocols and I do not always know the answers to everything.

I have started researching in the Center for Human Genetics. My focus is on the fourth floor, the floor with some of the best lab technicians, investigators, undergraduates, and post-docs.

The fourth floor scientists (including myself..) focus on nephrology and  kidney research through a lot of gene analysis. Oh, how frequently the PCR machine is used! I have thouroughly enjoyed learning about PCR through the great guru, Allison, and everyone else who has been so supportive.

Whenever I ask for help my ilab is 100% willing to help me! I absolutely love the way they make me understand genetic concepts. Genetics is something I had little to no interest in until I got into the lab. Now, I practically live and breathe genetics......literally.

Though I do not get to physically handle any mice ( I really like mice), I still feel like my summer will be more than worthwhile. There really is love in the 4th floor of CHG--lablove.

I can't wait until the end of the summer when I truly become Toyosi the Scientist.

Stay tuned to my blog to learn more about the evolution of my scientific career!

<3

ooo