A Change of Plans

I was craving the actual lab bench work, and what it means to be a neurobiologist. While the project I was working on was very interesting in its own right, it simply did not involve enough basic science for me. More than using mass spectrometry to measure contents of someone’s breath, in my future, I see myself working in a bio lab – with tubes, pipettes, mice, and cells. Rather than discovering correlations in the clinical setting, as a scientist, I crave the excitement of experimentation and discovering the underlying causal biochemical pathways – by inducing mutations, differentiating cell cultures, cloning bacteria, injecting viral vectors, and measuring electrophysiology of neurons. And thus, after a lot of consideration, some fortune-telling, and weighing of all the possible options, I decided to switch labs and hence, correct the course of my scientific career.

It was definitely not an easy decision to make but, in the retrospect, I don’t regret it a bit. As a result, this spring, I joined the lab of Dr. Bosco, where I embarked on a new adventure. Moreover, his lab collaborates with that of Dr. Luikart, where I had already spent some time before – during my rotation now almost two years ago when I worked on implementing CRISPR/Cas9 technology in his projects. I am very excited to start this new chapter in my life.

Currently, I am conducting a personal literature review to bring myself up to speed with the most current discoveries in the realm of Autism Spectrum Disorder and the related research techniques. Although my plans are not set in stone as of yet, I already have quite a few very exciting ideas about what my PhD thesis might be about – and it includes a combination of both bioinformatics as well as lab bench techniques, in order to use the full spectrum of the skillset I have been working so hard to acquire but am also looking forward to grow further.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the beautiful summer in New England. In fact, this week the temperatures will be above 90°F every single day. Unlike in the New York city, where I lived for the five years before coming to Dartmouth, there are plenty of opportunities for outdoors activities here. It is very easy to just go play some tennis or soccer with your friends, go for a hike, or take a little kayaking trip down the river.

As you can tell, this summer is going to be very exciting for me and I can’t wait to see what comes next!