CELLebraTEZ

In one of my introductory posts, I had mentioned that I am a proud young, female Ismaili Scientist. And the primary reason for blogging was to share with the world my experiences in a new city and share a glimpse of what’s hot in science now. However, I realize, I have not shared anything about my faith...  I thought today would be a good day to give a brief glimpse of a celebration I observe as being part of the Shia Ismaili Community. Navroz: Today, March 21 st , Ismaili Muslims all over the world celebrate Navroz. Navroz literally means “new year” and marks the beginning of a new year and the first day of spring. It is a time for spiritual renewal, physical rejuvenation and a positive outlook. Navroz is celebrated in in many countries such as Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Central and South Asia. Most of these countries observe Navroz as a public holiday. Ismailis celebrate Navroz by the recitatio...

I love my Boss. This is an email she sent me and the undergrad student that works in our lab!  ~Cell-ebraTez

Its has been 3 and a half months since the new year and I am not doing too great on my New Years Resolution… to blog more! Here is a quick recap since the New Year! January: ·       Busy with working in the lab ·       Went to my 2 nd Blues game (they were playing the Edmonton Oilers) ·       Went to my 1 st Paint night! ·       Saw my 2nd Cirque de Soleil Show, Varekai.  ·       Work, work, work! @ PaintNite. Added my own twist by making one of the birds a peacock! @ Scott Trade for STL Blues Game Against Edmonton Oilers. Ofcourse STL Blues WON!!  February: ·       BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR! ·       I celebrated my 25 th Birthday!! Went home to visit my Parents and Sister. My mom planned an AMAZING surprise by asking my Best Friend, Madison and Favorite Cousin, Na...

Thank the LORD!!! My PI gave me the opportunity to present at lab meeting today. While she meant no harm, it felt like I was being tested! I pulled an "almost all nighter" getting a 2-3 hour nap in between work shifts and it was felt great!! I felt like I was back in undergrad only thing missing was Agnes Scott College's Science Building 2nd Floor!! It felt like a normal day back at ASC. Procrastination to the max... except this time around I didn't procrastinate, I started working on my presentation during Thanksgiving!! I am glad its over! My experience: it was nerve whrecking! My research on Marfan's sydrome and metabolism is taking interesting turns. Frustrating at times. Sometimes there is a phenotype and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes I see a phenotype I did not expect! So having to put all that together and making a story out of it is difficult. I am so lucky to have the mentor that I do, who helps me along the way! I can only hope that ...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I would make an A-Z list of things I am thankful for from the past year related to my research! It was hard to not double up for a few letters, but a few letters it was impossible to thing of anything :-/  Feel free to ask me questions about any of them... A- Adipose Tissues  B- Brown Adipose Tissue C- Cell culture D- Dissections  E- Elastin  F- Fibrillin 1 G- Glucose Tolerant Tests  H- Hypothesis  I- Insulin Tolerant Tests J- ?? K- Knockout Mice L- Lypodystrophy  M- Marfan’s sydrome  N- Nanodrop O- Obesity  P- PCR Q-qPCR R- RT-PCR S- Stramal Vascular Fraction  T- Thermogenesis  U- UCP1 V- Vitro W- White Adipose Tissue X- X-Axis Y- Y-Axis Z- ?? Happy Labs-Giving! ~Cell-ebraTez

Happy 1 yr Anniversary to me!!! Happy 1 yr Anniversary to me!!  I cannot believe it! It's been a year since I moved to Saint Louis and Officially started working at Washington University!! So much has happened in the last year and I have learned so much about myself. This past year has helped me grow not only as a person but also as a scientist.  Shout out to everyone who has helped me along the way!!! Few highlights: ~ Living alone!! ~ Learning to work with mice! ~ Getting Buttercup ~ Exploring a new city with new friends ~ Being Independent! ~ Finally getting Published!!!!! :D ( De Marsilis AJ,Walji TA, Maedeker JA, Stoka KV, Kozel BA , Mecham RP, Wagenseil JE and Craft CS (2014) Elastin Insufficiency  Predisposes Mice to Impaired Glucose Metabolism. J Mol Genet Med 8: 129. doi: 10.4172/1747-0862.1000129 ) Co-author publication!  One step closer to fulfilling my dream of being a young , female , Ismaili scientis...

Ever sit around the a group of friends and talk about trivial or not so trivial lab issues? Then the awkward moment comes when no one understand your pain? The only way to share your pain is with fellow Lab Techs going through the same thing!!? I would like to open up the web for Lab Techs out there to share their woes. I’ll start! “My high-fat diet mice get too fat and lazy to have sex and make babies for my future experiments” #LabTechProblems “I did a pilot experiment and it worked beautifully. Then I tried replicating it… not once, not twice but multiple times and I can’t get my data to reproduce!! FML” #LabTechProblems So I have got us started! Please share and let’s find some comic relief   in our oh so very stressful work situations! ~Cell-ebraTez