Week 4:
Worth Every Minute

June 23, 2021

    Valuable Long Nights

This week, the lab and I concluded sample collections for this round of the current rotavirus vaccine study. The next round of the same study will begin in August, and in the meantime, we will be analyzing the samples we have taken.

This week was full of long hours and a tremendous amount of learning. Writing this on Sunday evening when the work is finally done, I am absolutely exhausted, but I know it was absolutely worth every minute. I learned about the digestive tract and how to take samples from it. I learned a lot about sterility in sample taking, which I have watched but had never done myself until now. I also helped set up samples for Flow Cytometry, a really neat assay we use to determine which samples are producing specific chemicals. I also learned how to process all the different types of samples we collected over the days.

A Day In the Life

In the mornings, we would all collect samples together. It was chaotic and so amazing to see everyone take on their own roles to make it go as smoothly as possible. Everyone was always jumping to help each other, not only to make it easier on one another but because we were all passionate about collecting quality samples. I loved being in that environment, to see everyone taking pride in our work.

Once all the samples were collected, we would all begin processing them. The process took all day for most types of samples. It was long hours, but the work was very interesting. I got to see the cells I had been working on isolating all day and then collect them. Then I got to determine the concentration of cells I had collected, as well as their viability. After all of this, the samples we had been working on all day would actually be put to good use. We would start ELISPOT assays on the samples, which detect antibody-producing cells in our samples. The samples would also be used to start Flow Cytometry to determine if our samples secreted Interferon-gamma, an early immune response cytokine. We will continue in the coming weeks to perform several assays on our samples to help determine the efficacy of the vaccine we are currently testing.

Big News at Home

While I was working this week, two of my cousins at home became fathers on the same day. Audrey Wilson and Abigail Bennetts came into the world at home in Colorado on June 17th. I am so overwhelmed with joy for my family, and cannot wait to meet these two new cousins of mine.

The work I did this week really hit home when I started receiving pictures from my family. Every hour spent in the lab contributes to the health of little babies worldwide. Work like this that was done in the past will contribute to my new family members if they get one of the rotavirus vaccines approved in the U.S. It is a surreal feeling to know that I am contributing to this cause, especially with two little babies waiting at home to meet their favorite cousin.