It was hard work, I am not going to lie. But don't be discouraged! It was so worth it. I spent my summer, the hot England sun beating down in between bouts of rain, in a cool lab with not much else but a centrifuge and fibroblast cells as company. And I enjoyed every second of it.
I was allowed a degree of autonomy, independence and self-organisation that I had not seen in a long time, with my days not only structured the way I wanted but also my research directed by my own interests.
Never would I have thought to be involved in trying to make life better for other people in the way I am now. Being at the forefront of lung research, seeing what genetic causes may influence this devastating disease has not only been rewarding for me but also greatly interesting. I believe that these few months have motivated me to help others, work hard and continue to struggle through the hardest parts of research, just so I can improve the lives of others by some degree.
I spent the first month analysing over 57’000 points of data in R-Studio, getting hands on experience (and immense frustration). With this data I was then able to start culturing my cells and investigating my selected gene: NUAK1 also known as ARK5.
My knowledge of genetics, laboratory procedures, ECM construction and hospital procedure expanded explosively and I could not imagine my future as a researcher to be the same without this studentship opportunity.
I thank everyone involved, my professors, my co-workers and especially BALR and Breathing Matters for giving me this life changing opportunity.
Next July I will (hopefully) be representing myself, my professors, BALR and Breathing Matters at a conference in Cambridge where I will present an abstract of my research on the interaction between ECM expansion and NUAK1.
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