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Jane Richardson, Final Week

For my final week at my lab, I began by continuing my work with antibodies and immunofluorescence. Because we have not seen any positive results with SERT, we have moved on to looking at other antibodies. This week, I began working with the protein CCK. CCK, or cholecystokinin, is responsible for initiating digestion in the small intestine. On the round of CCK that we did, we got some very promising results in the disparity of infected and uninfected slides.
On my last day at my lab, my PI came back from his conference in London and took our whole lab out to lunch. We got to hear about all of the new scientific discoveries that were discussed at his conference, which was extremely interesting and we talked a lot about new projects that the lab could explore. Everyone in my lab was so nice this summer and I really appreciated them taking the time to take me out to lunch. We went to a deli in Georgetown and ate on top of the Car Barn, which is part of the Georgetown business school. We had an amazing view of the city and really good conversation!

Looking back on my lab experience, I feel so fortunate that I got the chance to work in this lab. I got to experience so many new things that I never thought I would get the chance to. I got to work with mice, use an extremely advanced microscope, and grow Giardia. Although there were some times in my lab when things would be extremely slow, I was determined to use that time to my advantage. Towards the end of my lab experience, I began looking for new and interesting opportunities to try new projects while mine had a break. I got to try so many new things that way. If I could give any advice to people going into the lab it would be to make the most of your experience. My project had a lot of hour-long breaks while my slides soaked and antibodies attached. I could have just messed around on my laptop or read in that time, but instead, I was able to join other graduate students on their projects and experience things out of my comfort zone. I really enjoyed my experience and appreciate the amazing opportunity I had this summer!
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