Im about to Lyse

February has been a very interesting month in the city of New Orleans. Mardi Gras was a great deal of fun, however I was very concerned about the vast amounts of plastic and litter that lined the streets following the parade. As an avid runner, the cleanliness of the streets is an important factor for me not only for aesthetic sense, but I am very scared of sliding on some forgotten beads and breaking some bones. I was also concerned by the vast amount of plastic needed to produce beads for the parades. If an eco- friendly material can be used instead, I think Mardi Gras will become a holiday of the future. On a separate note, the masters of pharmacology program has continued to be great. I enjoyed augmenting my knowledge of neuropharmacology after spending 4 years on it during undergraduate studies at Rutgers University. I enjoyed making new connections to the material taught to us and integrating the material I learned previously. Volunteering has also been a great joy for me thi...

January has been a tough month in the crescent city. Adjusting to the class schedule was a challenge after a winter break of inconsistent sleep cycles. The endocrine and reproductive module were were interesting however, and it was time to start really working on the thesis, which related heavily to the endocrine module we were going over in lecture. So naturally, I started researching and writing my thesis based on the backbone of what I was learning in class. In addition, I formed a thesis committee, and narrowed down my thesis to the contribution of genetics, inflammation, and hormones on the pathophysiology of Lipedema, a hormonal fat disorder. On the volunteering front, I have completed 12 hours due to two training sessions I attended in Baton Rouge   to help Louisiana HOSA students prepare for a state confrere in March. There is also an opportunity with this organization to attend a Pelicans game in March to meet with some of the sports physicians as well as the players! I ...

December was a great month in the Pharmacology Masters program. The winter banquet was very fun and it was interesting interacting with professors beyond class hours. I really liked the cancer module in medical pharmacology though there were many drugs to memorize. I learned a great deal while working in lab, improving my PCR techniques and cell culture knowledge. In addition, I really enjoyed doing my 6 community service hours. I have been working with LA HOSA in training the state officers elected to the program and planning for the State Leadership Conference. I also was able to get involved with the Louisiana Department of Public Health which is a partner of LA HOSA in a program targeting secondary and post-secondary students to make a difference within their communities. I look forward to working more with LA HOSA and the LDPH in the months to come. I will be traveling to Baton Rouge this Saturday-Sunday to help train the state officers in person and help set up for the State Lead...

November was a really interesting month in terms of the Pharmacology program. I learned a great deal in the Cardiovascular module as well as the Renal/Pulmonary module. The team based learning exercise for the cardiovascular chapter was one of the coolest things I had the chance to participate in and it really put into perspective what we were learning in class. This month has also been interesting in the laboratory. I am working with a post-doctoral graduate and other students on a Lipidema project which has been giving me chances to practice my in-vitro techniques that I learned about in class. I ran my first Real Time PCR a few days ago and will doing more cell culture work in the future. However, my experience in the past has been predominantly in-vivo , so I am excited to be working with animals again next semester. On the volunteering front, I got more involved with Louisiana HOSA: Future Health Professionals this month. I talked to a few of the state offices as well as past s...

October has been a fun month. It took the majority of September to get into the mindset of being a student again. Pharmacology classes have become very interesting, especially with the new material on cardiology that I never went over in undergraduate classes. I find myself doing well in class and often look forward to studying an interesting topic. I also joined a lab this month to work on stem cell research, because I believe stem cells might be the future of medicine. From what I learned in class, its potential is something that will probably be explored more and more in the coming decades, and I really thought getting some practice working with them during this program would be an advantageous skill to have going forward. I have been learning in- vitro techniques so far since the majority of my past research has been in- vivo. On the volunteering side of things, I reached out to an organization I had been a part of for the past decade- HOSA: Future Health Professional's Louis...

Moving to New Orleans and beginning this program has been an extremely exciting new chapter in my life. I thought the move from New Jersey to the Big Easy would be seamless and easy, but I was met with a variety of challenges. During the heatwave, the air conditioning in my apartment malfunctioned and I was sentenced to sweat for what felt like an eternity. This ordeal left me with a new appreciation for well-maintained air conditioning units and this was the first time I ever missed New Jersey.   The classes have been very interesting thus far and quite recently when I was watching an episode of “House”, I was astonished to recognize a majority of the conditions and drugs that had been referenced in the show. Classes have led me to meet very interesting people in the program and I look forward to building friendships with them. However, this blog post would be incomplete without reflecting on my love that has been left behind in the Northeast. I acquired this motorcycle, that...