A Lab Update

Things are going pretty well in lab these days. There’s nothing too thrilling but there’s a lot of work to be done and that in itself is satisfying. The project has taken a focus in the use of chemoattractants encapsulated in microspheres for the direction of neuronal growth in vitro. I’ve been busy doing literature searches, data analysis, and presentation work this week in order to summarize everything we’ve done thus far concerning microsphere drug release properties. We recently began working with the cells (finally!), introducing them to plates with adhered microspheres. However, we haven’t had too much luck getting them to grow with semaphorin, our chemoattractant of choice.

These days, I work almost exclusively at the Scuola Normale Superiore in the NEST lab. Technically, I’m a student in the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna ARTS lab because this is where the professor who is formally sponsoring me works, but I have not even stepped foot inside that building since the beginning of July. Often times, in the morning, I’ll spend an hour or so at the CRIM lab in the Cisanello hospital in the outskirts of Pisa before going to NEST. I don’t like the CRIM lab so much. We have a trailer with only a few rooms and less than ten people who work there regularly. Such an isolated environment does not permit an influx of exciting new ideas and perspectives.

NEST is great because it’s tucked away in a tiny piazza but it is right in the center of Pisa. At lunch sometimes I go out with people, but more often I prefer to be by myself. I like to wander through Pisa and go to a local park (featured in this entry's pictures) where I spend time on the swings if it isn’t raining (as it is today). Maybe that's crazy, but it makes me smile. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my shadow in my heels on a swing made for people far smaller than me and I just burst out laughing. Anyway, I had to at least try to share the image with you.

I enjoy the environment here at the Scuola Normale Superiore (or simply "la Normale"). The facilities are sparkling new, I have my own desk space, and there are plenty of chances for me to converse with people in both Italian and French which of course thrills me to pieces. When I’m stuck at my computer, as I am today, I slip off my shoes and sit contentedly at my desk with my earbuds on, pleased that I keep my briefcase stocked with a large, fuzzy pair of bright blue socks with those no-slip grips on the bottom. So now, back to work!