Alright.. It is my turn to write my first blog ever! I don’t really know what should I write about so I decided to bore you with a week of my life as a STRATiGRAD student.. First of all, my name is Munirah, proud Saudi citizen.. I’ve been part of Imperial since Sep 2012 where I did my MRs degree, then I got this amazing opportunity to join the STRATiGRADs starting from Nov 2013..
Let’s get started:
1. Clinical Trial, Friday 14th Feb.
I needed to recruit healthy volunteers as control group for my study (liver cancer biomarkers). We started preparing for it more than a month in advance, we needed 3 people to prepare all the logistics, forms, recruit and contact participants, etc. On the study day we were 7 people: 2 phlebotomists, 3 people processing the samples, 2 people completing the questionnaires. For a relatively small number (25 volunteers) it was hard work. It was all about teamwork, and it got me thinking of the effort needed to do good research. Now when i read a medical research paper I really appreciate the effort went into it.
2. Publishing my MRs results, Monday 17th Feb.
I’m working on publishing my MRs results (Evaluating the Effect of Inulin Supplementation on Pre-diabetic Subjects Using Nutrimetabonomics). I’m reanalyzing my data using Matlab, reviewing the literature to see where papers on similar subjects are published and selecting the best journal for my paper.
3. Weekly CSM Seminars, Tuesday 18th Feb.
Dr. Anthony Dona, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Manager, gave us a very useful NMR seminar. He covered topics like chemical shifts, coupling, 2-D techniques and explained some of the software we use like Topspin and Chenomx.
4. Charles of Arabia! Wed 19th Feb.
In case you missed it here is the link! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2562627/Charles-Arabia-Prince-stars-Saudi-dance-swords.html
5. MRs video testimonial, Thursday, 20th Feb.
I was asked to give a video testimonial about the MRs program, scary.. They will post it on their webpage and it will stay there to hunt me all my life haha.
6. Outreach visit to CSM, Friday 21st Feb.
Grade 10 and 11 students visited our section as part of half term holiday outreach program activities. They were divided into 3 groups, disease diagnostics, whats in your pee? (NMR demonstration) and lab tour. It was great fun, hope they enjoyed it!
7. Avicii concert, Friday 21st Feb.
Awesome..
8. Weekend football, Sat 22ed Feb.
One of the weekend rituals is to watch football all day. As a Chelsea FC fan I’m so happy they are still leading the premier league table! wohooo!
Until next time,
Munirah