So Much So Fast


So Much So Fast

Module 3 would be easier they said. Module 2 was the hardest part of the class they said.

Module 3 was a lot of fun, but I will be honest, I didn’t expect that it was going to be quite the rush that it ended up being. When we got done with Module 2 it seemed like there was so much time left in the semester, but that turned out not to be the case. In no time at all we were selecting ideas, reading papers, and designing slides (and also making batteries). Coming up with a novel idea was definitely a challenge under those tight time constraints. With so many encroaching deadlines, and papers to read, no matter how early we started working on our assignments, it always felt like a scramble.

While the speed at which we produced our research proposal was at times distressing, it was also a lot of fun. Having never done much work with neuroscience I had a great opportunity to learn about Alzheimer’s Disease from Jade and Kayla, both of whom are incredibly knowledgeable about it. At the same time, over the course of our work on the proposal we got the chance to explore a lot of cool ideas. Every time we met our proposal would change a little, because someone had read one paper or the other which had either validated, disproven, or shown something cooler than our current approach. In the end, we ended up stumbling upon a really interesting idea about decreasing GSK levels and possibly activating PP2A and PP2B. Despite being a cool thought experiment, from what we read there is also a lot of reason to expect that this system might just work, which is actually kind of amazing.

So while Module 3 was far more rushed that I expected, or would have liked, I am very happy with the final results. TR pink team produced a proposal that I am really proud of, and actually something that I would be very interested to test in the lab. Somehow, we’re almost done with 109-time to go present!

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