Visitor of the Week: Philip Salu

Meet Philip Salu of the North Dakota State University! The Ghanaian citizen is a Ph.D. Candidate and member of Prof. Katie Reindl’s lab. He attended the 2022 course on Metabolomics last month; his first in-person course since the pandemic that he found “frankly refreshing”.

Tell us about your research.
The focus of my research is on drug-resistance development in pancreatic cancer. Our main goal is to better understand the underlying mechanisms using appropriately developed cell line models.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
Drug resistance in cancers is a complex phenomenon that is commonly talked about, yet the root cause is not fully understood. There were earlier attempts in my lab at developing specific drug resistance models and so it was a natural thing for me to pick up this project since there is still a lot of discovery to be made.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
My scientific journey began with the desire to work in a field where a lot of exciting discoveries have been made knowing that there are even greater prospects ahead. This is of course fueled by my curiosity and open-minded attitude to solving problems.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I hope to contribute to scientific knowledge regarding the mechanism of drug resistance development in pancreatic cancer. The disease condition has an abysmal survival rate, therefore, any knowledge that contributes to increased disease susceptibility to therapy will have significant implications for patient survival.  

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Soon, I see myself starting a post-doctoral training to further understand the metabolic needs of cancers and their resistant phenotypes. I would also like to work in a lab that is into biomarker discovery before starting independent research of my own.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
Being a researcher gives me the ability to be open-minded and inquisitive. I derive joy from the successes and channel the failures into an energy of motivation.

What drew you to apply to this course?
I have always wanted to determine changes in metabolic signatures of the cells I work with. So, when I found this course on the CSHL website, I knew I had to take it. 

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The field is very diverse and what you do including procedures and equipment are very relevant in obtaining accurate data. I have come to appreciate the importance in finding ways to use instruments that are available to me in answering basic questions. Also, this course has given me insight into things I should consider when preparing my samples and running them to get consistent data that truly answers my questions.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
I will highly recommend this course to anyone interested. But more importantly, make connections, friends and share knowledge. The prospects are just boundless.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
The most memorable moment of the course for me was our “Beeromics” experiment. How we sampled different beer brands each night and the effort it took our instructors to run about 200 samples while making sure all other student projects are taken care of amidst instrument breakdowns.

Is this your first in-person course/workshop since the pandemic? If so, any thoughts you’d like to share?
Yes, this is my first in-person course since the pandemic and it was frankly refreshing to have face-to-face interactions again. It's very interesting how in-person meetings are more fruitful compared to online interactions.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
My favorite thing was our sailing trip on the 138-year-old Oyster Sloop, Christeen. I really did enjoy how the vessel’s history was told by one of the captains.

Philip received a scholarship from Regeneron to cover a portion of his course tuition. On behalf of Philip, thank you to Regeneron for supporting and enabling our young scientists to attend a CSHL course where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Philip for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured scientists - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Philip Salu

Visitor of the Week: María Jose Gomez Hughes

Meet María Jose Gomez Hughes who is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin and Universidad de los Andes (Colombia). At the University of Texas, María Jose is a scientist associate in the Genomic Sequencing and Analysis Facility (GSAF) while she is a collaborator in Andrew J. Crawford’s lab in the Universidad de los Andes. The Colombian national is at CSHL this week attending her first meeting: The Biology of Genomes.  

Tell us about your research.
At the GSAF, I work with researchers through preparing NGS libraries and doing quality control of said libraries. And at the Crawford Lab, I use genomics to understand the conservation status of capybaras and frogs as well as study frog evolution and adaptation to environmental variables.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
I have always found evolution fascinating and have been drawn to understand it, including the role conservation status plays in it. At the same time, I greatly enjoy being in the lab and helping other people.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
I am inspired by all the great women and non-binary people in science, both by their work and by their resilience. I am also inspired by the world around me, by its beauty and intricacy. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I see myself in the same place I am right now. I greatly enjoy my work and wouldn’t want to change it.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
I enjoy solving problems and being able to feed my curiosity.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
I thought the Biology of Genomes to be a great place to learn about all the genomics research taking place all around the world.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
There is way more innovative research going on in genomics, both in wet and dry lab, than I previously thought. I plan to apply some of the things I learned in my research and see what new things I can find.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this meeting?
I would advise them to take it slow. There are a lot of things going on and it can become a bit hectic so try to enjoy not only the meeting and the great science, but also all the natural surroundings.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
There are a lot of memorable things that happened during the meeting and it’s hard to choose one, but being able to engage with other researchers and discuss with them in person was definitely a great change.

Is this your first in-person meeting since the pandemic? If so, any thoughts you’d like to share?
Yes, it’s great to be able to talk to people about their research in person, in particular at the poster sessions. Having presented online before, I know how hard it can be so it’s great to have in-person meetings again; though online meetings are still great for accessibility and to engage with a broader audience.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
How beautiful it is around here. There’s so much nature going on in and around campus. I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

Thank you to Maria Jose for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Maria Jose Gomez Hughes

Visitor of the Week: Madison Altieri

Meet Madison Altieri of Bowling Green State University (BGSU). The Masters Student is a member of Dr. Julia Halo’s lab who presented a poster at our 2022 biohistory meeting addressing Fifty Years of Reverse Transcriptase. This meeting not only represents the first one Madison joins at CSHL but it is also her first in-person scientific conference. We are honored to be able to welcome another bright researcher to the community.

Tell us about your research.
My work focuses on The Role of SINE Sequence in Retrotransposition with the genome. SINEs are derived from noncoding RNA and parasitize a reverse transcriptase from its partner, LINE.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
My start in research began as a box to check off to get into medical school, but slowly turned into a strong admiration for science and asking challenging questions. It wasn’t long before I realized I really loved my research. The dichotomy between the selfish element and the genome is the reason why I fell in love with retroelements and selfish elements. I like studying elements that are not innately good or bad. I’m excited to see what we know about retroelements in the future.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
The women in science who came before me are a big inspiration for my scientific endeavor. Women in STEM have come a long way in science. I thank them for all that they have done in order for me to be here.  

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
What drew me into Julia’s lab was how she spoke about her research and science. Anyone listening knew that she was passionate about her work. She was like the Bill Nye of retroelements. It occurred to me that not only did Bill and Julia express enthusiasm, but she was communicating science in fun ways in which laymen could follow. Something scientists are traditionally challenged in. My objective is to express to my students and those around me that science is incredibly fun, amazing, and for everyone. The need for scientists to effectively communicate scientific ideas is imposing and I hope through work and promotion that future scientists such as my colleagues and students will be embracing of the responsibility.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
Most people would hate the thought of not knowing an answer, but it is in not knowing that scientific progress occurs. Scientific discovery is like a clean slate where creativity flows. Through further research the knowledge is assembled, but the puzzle is never solved and the limits on learning is nonexistent.

What drew you to attend this meeting?
I am still fresh in the realm of research and this meeting provides me an opportunity to learn the history of the reverse transcriptase from those who did the historical work to discover and characterize the enzyme in viruses and other retroelements.  

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
The road to discovering reverse transcriptase was long and the research associated with this enzyme is still ongoing--and the work will never end.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in a future CSHL biohistory meeting?
I would encourage others to participate in future CSHL meetings to meet other researchers interested in the same topics as you, as they really get you thinking about your own research. It is a great opportunity to meet the people in your field of research.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
The most memorable thing that impacted me was the research on HIV drugs and HIV resistance. I was taken back at how innovative these researchers were at inhibiting an enzyme using nucleoside and nonnucleoside RT inhibitors.

You presented a poster entitled “The Role of SINE Structure in Retrotransposition” – how was the experience?
My poster session went very well. I received a lot of questions of topics I haven’t pondered before that challenged me to think further into my research. It was also very refreshing to hear other research avenues on reverse transcriptase as well while meeting and interacting with wonderful people.

Is this your first in-person meeting since the pandemic? 
This meeting is the first meeting I’ve ever been to in person. The sole previous meeting I’ve been to and one oral presentation at BGSU have been over Zoom in the comfort of my own home. After all this time in the pandemic, you’d think I’d be repulsed by viruses, but in turn the opposite has occurred where I’m thrilled to be learning more about reverse transcriptase and the viruses and elements that encode it.

What do you like most about your time at CSHL?
When I first walked around CSHL, I was quite surprised. When I thought of CSHL, I thought of a tall skyscraper and instead I found myself among cabins and a room overlooking the harbor. It provided a more intimate environment that made you feel at ease. Even if that intimate environment allowed me to embarrassingly call a toaster a “toast machine” in front of David Baltimore.

Thank you to Madison for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Madison Altieri

Visitor of the Week: Phoolwanti Rani

Meet Phoolwanti Rani of the San Diego Biomedical Research Institute. Rani is a postdoctoral fellow and member of Prof. David Gilbert’s lab. She spent last week with us at the Eukaryotic and DNA Replication & Genome Maintenance meeting – her first meeting at CSHL —- and “[she] enjoyed connecting with brilliant scientist from all over the world. The poster sessions and speaking with colleagues on Slack were really amazing.”

Tell us about your research.
I am working on developing the technique to generate better map of the factors important for replication and maintaining proper replication timing. MCM is one the challenging origin licensing factor during replication. I am trying to map MCM in a single cell (mammalian) with better resolution.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
During my Ph.D., I worked on Topoisomerases and got introduced to transcription-replication conflicts. I got attracted to replication and finally landed in the laboratory which works on replication timing.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, aerospace scientist who served as the 11th president of India. I read his autobiography in school and got inspired to become scientist. I was also interested in biology, and so chose to pursue my career in the same field.

What do you love most about being a researcher?
Research is limitless. Finding an answer to one question always leads to another puzzle to solve.

What is your key takeaway from the Meeting; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
I was very much interested by the discussion session, and learnt the importance of continuing the discussion in science. Amazing ideas and collaborations come up during discussions.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering participating in this meeting?
It is an amazing platform to share knowledge, build collaborations and look for career opportunities.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Meeting?
My PI mentioned in the meeting that I am going to be working on a very important unresolved problem.

Thank you to Phoolwanti for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Phoolwanti Rani

Visitor of the Week: Modesta Akoth

Meet Modesta Akoth of Egerton University (Kenya)! She is a graduate student in the Protozoology and Molecular Biology labs within the Biotechnology Research Institute, KALRO (KARLO-BioRI). Modesta spent last week with us at the Proteomics virtual course, her first course at CSHL, the format to which she found “convenient in reaching out to a wider audience globally.”

Tell us about your research.
My research entails using proteomic approaches to identify the mechanism(s) of drug resistance in African trypanosome, the hematophagous parasite that causes sleeping sickness in man and Nagana in animals.

How did you decide to focus on this area/project?
From the reported records on upsurge of drug resistance in African trypanosomiasis by other researchers as well as a gap identified from a related study by one of the students in our labs led to this area of study.

What and/or who is the inspiration behind your scientific journey?
The inspiration has been self-driven since I have always been enthusiastic about research. Dr. Paul Mireji, a senior research scientist at KALRO-BioRI has also been instrumental in my scientific journey.

What impact do you hope to make through your work?
I am hopeful that my work will identify potential target sites which will provide insight into the development of novel drugs. This will improve disease management hence, better quality of life among the affected marginalized population. 

What do you love most about being a researcher?
The ability to explore and discover something that can be beneficial if implemented is very fulfilling to me.

What is your key takeaway from the Course; and how do you plan to apply it to your work?
My key takeaway from the course is to work with what works best for me because there will always be working environment factors to consider like the possible limitation in the equipment available. Also, ensure credibility and reproducibility of the generated results.

What feedback or advice would you share with someone considering to participate in this course?
The course is very informative and has competent facilitators with vast knowledge in the area of proteomics, therefore, s/he should not be hesitant to apply if the opportunity avails.

What’s the most memorable thing that happened during the Course?
The prompt elaborate responses by the lecturers towards the questions raised as well as being able to cover almost all aspects of proteomics within four days was remarkable.

Modesta received financial support from Regeneron to cover her course tuition. On behalf of Modesta, thank you to Regeneron for supporting and enabling our young scientists to participate in training courses where they expand their skills, knowledge, and network.

Thank you to Modesta for being this week's featured visitor. To meet other featured researchers - and discover the wide range of science that takes part in a CSHL meeting or course - go here.

Image provided by Modesta Akoth