April 7, 2011

Okay. Lest my admin assistant continue to point out the absence of a blog update, here it is! Maybe winter is just too depressing for blogging. But spring is here…

People:
I have a new summer student lined up for this summer – more dendritic spine analysis! Ironically, my last summer student is getting ready to do a Masters’ project. It isn’t with me, I admit, but it is on prions, so I must have a little bit of influence… 

This past winter has seen my first “499” student. And no, this does not mean I had 499 students, as one applicant misunderstood. This is just a course number, for a research project in final year undergrad. Alas, we hit many obstacles. Trying to make fibrils out of prion protein turned out to be more of a challenge than it should have been. Even just acquiring the protein took months. I requested “full length” prion protein from our on site resource facility, only to find out later they had given us a protein that was missing the first 6 amino acids. When I asked about this, I was told they didn’t think the first 6 amino acids would make any difference… Sigh. Always read the fine print…

As I train more people, I am also learning that not everyone is really cut out to do science. There are some basic math skills that really are needed. I am considering starting a collection of unusual mathematical calculations – like a 0.05% Tween solution being made by starting with 35mL of Tween… (okay, I’ll help you out with that one – to make a 0.05% Tween solution, starting with 35mL of Tween, would create a final solution volume of 70L!! That is more than my car gas tank holds!)

I am really enjoying having post-docs though. I now have three on board! If only it didn’t take a year to hire people! It is a challenge to convince people to come work with you when you are such a new researcher, and I can only extol the virtues of moving Edmonton so far… But, now I can actually spout ideas and have people run off to read about stuff, do experiments and bring me data! Of course, whether I actually believe their data is another issue. Ah, the dreaded control experiments…

I also have a great new admin assistant who pesters me just the right amount to keep everything on track (even this blog). And she makes yummy chocolate too…

Experiments:
I wish we were further along with experiments, but with more hands in the lab now, things are moving faster. We have great infections going, and we have tga20 mice to use now, which make more prion protein and are infected faster. Gene gunning the brain slices is still not optimal though. We are going to try using fluorescent mice (ah, the power of transgenetics) to see if this helps us.

We had some interesting confirmation that proteinase K really works well to chew up protein – even when it has been boiled and stored at minus 80C! Knowing this, we have made some adjustments and our immunoblotting looks much better. I think we may be able to snag a better antibody though…

We are making and comparing our allele a and b prion protein fibrils, with some early but interesting differences seen – and not what we expected. I’m not sure how to explain this yet, but that is part of the fun of research!

Grants:
I actually am allowed to spend money from my CFI grant – as of Feb 9, 2011. You know, I first started putting this grant together in May, 2009!! New Investigators beware…

I also wrote a CIHR operating grant. That is one of the “big” grants, where you are really judged as a researcher. So, come September maybe I’ll have more good news. Although the success rate for these is only 18%, so I am not feeling very optimistic…

Equipment:
The confocal microscope is set up on site – just waiting for a CO2 regulator so we can do live cell imaging (why is everything always on backorder?). And I have bought my fancy field flow fractionation machine. I decided to go with a different company than the one I used as a post-doc. I hope it pays off, especially given the $175 000 price tag. With any luck it will be delivered in the next month.

The Centre:
Sigh. Ah, the Centre… Well, the basement area did actually get certified and activated. Of course, my need is the main floor space. And that NMR? Still no hole in the wall for venting helium. There are days when I feel like proactively making that hole… So, we still wait. Maybe May? Is there even any point in estimating the date? It is SOOO frustrating!! If a protocol has been submitted but no one is there to read it, does it still exist? I can’t believe how much of my time here has been spent trying to help get things rolling, but in the end I mostly feel like Sisyphus. Better him than Prometheus I guess.

Clinical:
I have now been involved with 3 cases of CJD since being in Edmonton, in addition to the general neurology I do in clinic. I really enjoy the clinical side of my career - there is a more immediate impact than I get from the lab. But, every time I tell someone they or their loved one has CJD, and I hear them say "I'm so scared", it really pushes me back to the lab to figure out this nasty disease...

Talks:
I have given talks on how to give a presentation, on career choices, and oh yeah - some on my prion research! The most fun recently was joining Jay Ingram on his Alberta tour where he was discussing prions. Dr. Stephanie Czub and I were invited along to “answer the hard questions”. It was a lot of fun, and there were some really good questions too!

Other:
I am still with Concordia Symphony and the TEMPO group and I’m playing with some quartets now. I have also added some musical theatre into the mix, playing White Christmas over Christmas, and I’m doing Sondheim Into the Woods in a few weeks. So, my backup career is still thriving. Curling is done for the year (Go Stoughton!), so it is time to get my bike out again.