Week 4- Mariela

This week, I was able to better establish the protocol for the first part of my experiment here, the benchwork part. The game plan goes as follows:

• Gather blood samples from healthy donors and prostate cancer patients, at least three of each.
• Isolate and purify the platelets for RNA extraction and imaging and cell picking with the CellCelector.
• Also isolate and purify the lymphocytes from the buffy coat for RNA extraction.
• Hopefully go on to microscopy and RNA extraction without a hitch.

It's been going smoothly so far (knock on wood!), so I'm hoping this also goes smoothly. I already have one healthy donor done that was supposed to just be a practice run, but it went well enough that I can use it as part of my experimental samples. Because of the holiday, this week's work was a bit shorter, and it did involve more planning and writing, so nothing exciting happened. Next week looks like a doozy, with sample prepping, as well as observing more surgeries and more clinical shadowing.

Fun in NYC: I was able to see part of the Pride Parade this weekend. Seeing all those people be their true selves is so inspiring and heartwarming. For Independence Day, a group of us went out for a picnic at Central Park. The weather was lovely (if a little warm), and it was so nice to spend the afternoon with friends from the program.