This Weekend...

So I had this idea last weekend, and I've decided to keep it going this weekend.  Every Saturday, I pick a quote, a song, and a word for my week ahead.  I do this on Saturday because I do my long runs on these days.  I am planning on running a 50k at the end of March, so today I am upping my mileage on my long run from 16 to 18 miles.  It's beautiful here today, and I can't wait to get out on Lakeshore Path after I make my run to Trader Joe's (not much gets done after an 18 mile run besides a nap and watching the Bull's).

My song this week is American Pie by Don McLean, great fun to run to!

A lot of people that I've met have asked:
   "Why do you want to run 50k?"
   "Why did you do Ironman?"
   "What is fun about running that far?"

...and the like.

I guess when I have to explain it, I feel like it won't be understood.  However, a quote out of Born to Run I think describes it best, and is my quote of the week:

“Suffering is humbling. It pays to know how to get your butt kicked.”


I would also add, it pays to know how to kick your own butt.  There are a lot of kids in graduate school that spend all day studying, in lab, devoted entirely to this process.  I have to say that I am not, nor do I want to be.  I think there is something to be said for maintaining balance in life, and was one of my goals for this new year.  So far, I feel pretty good about the balance I have achieved.


This week was a great week overall.  I was officially extended an invitation to complete my Ph.D. dissertation in my current lab, working under Dr. Le Poole, with my work in the area of immunotherapy for melanoma and LAM.  This is a decision that I will have to consider moving forward, but I am very excited of having the prospect of joining a lab that I have very much enjoyed.


I also set up my second rotation with Dr. John Callaci who works with the effects of alcohol on fracture repair in bones.  My project will deal with stem cell recruitment and signaling pathways during fracture repair, a subject that has not been very well studied yet.  I am also very excited about working in a completely different field in an area that is still very much a "black box" of fracture repair.


Off to run...hope you had a great week!


Cheers

The Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center

So I've been pretty busy lately with school related things, so instead of telling you all about what I've been up to, I figured I'd show you...

This is the building where the current lab I work in is located.  The building is the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center on the Loyola Medical Center Campus.  This is my failed attempt to get a picture of the sign on the walkway over to the labs.  This building has the newest and nicest lab and treatment facilities on the medical campus (in my opinion).

 Another view of the Cancer Center, a view from the walkway pictured above, the first floor is all clinic area dedicated for patients that contains a cafe stand and even a hair salon...

The door to Dr. Caroline Le Poole's Lab.  Looks like we work with some crazy dangerous stuff doesn't it?  We don't most of the time, but most labs (anywhere) do contain bio-hazardous material, and do work with radioactive material from time to time.  I spend a good chunk of my time at school in here...

 So I managed to get a picture of Jon (the lab tech) pulling a rack out of the liquid nitrogen (LN2) tank, which I thought was probably one of the cooler looking things that we do.  I guess when I was a little kid I always pictured scientists with foaming beakers and all kinds of crazy smoking things.  So here you go, you can see the nitrogen vaporizing into gas on the counter!  Liquid nitrogen preserves cell lines (among other things) that we want to keep for long periods of time until we need them in an experiment.  LN2 is a very chilly - 200 degrees C (close to - 350 F)!

And here is everyone that is in the Le Poole Lab currently.  I stole this picture from our lab tech, Jon.  I hope he doesn't mind, but I'm sure I'll hear about it either way!  Front row left to right: Kyle (lab tech), Dr. Hee Kap (post-doc), Jeff (4th year Ph.D. student), Dave (Senior at Loyola undergrad, going to med-school in fall).  Back row left to right: Jon (lab tech), Dr. Le Poole (Principle Investigator, A.K.A. the boss), Adam (rotating 1st year Ph.D. student), Dr. Emily (fellow pulmonary M.D.).

Last night I went to dinner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with the Loyola Graduate School.  These musicians are truly incredible.  It was very nice to get out for a night and hang out with some of my great friends I've made here!

Hope everyone is doing well and making it through winter.  We've had an incredibly mild winter in Chicago, I don't even think we've seen a day below zero yet!  Until my next post...

Cheers!