Currie Lab Summer 2021 Update!

The summer has flown by and a lot of changes have happened over the summer! I'll use a bit of the evaporating summer time before the semester hits (!!) to give some impressions of our summer.

Through most of the summer, our crew has consisted of three rising Junior undergraduates - Landon Bradshaw, Sean Jones, and Tommy Mehaffey. All three were part of the lab during the Spring 2021 semester and were able to continue over the summer through funding provided by the Wake Forest URECA Program and Merit Scholars Program. Thank you to Wake Forest University for providing funding opportunities!! 

Currie Lab, Summer 2021. From left to right, Landon Bradshaw (rising Junior), Tommy Mehaffey (rising Junior), Sean Jones (rising Junior), Halle Stump (incoming PhD student), grizzled PI.

---

Everyone worked on distinct projects while we continued to get the animal facility running smoothly and establish techniques in the lab. The students embraced organizing the lab and animal facility, which is definitely the love language of any new PI. We occasionally had some help from a diminutive equipment consultant. 

We setup a database for the axolotl colony that lets a user scan a QR code to look up entries

How many people does it take to assemble a cart? Apparently, 2.5!

---

In addition to lab work and setup, we had a weekly journal club to go over the newest results in the regeneration field, talk about results (or lack thereof), and learn about techniques such as CRISPR and HCR FISH. We also explored the food scene in Winston-Salem during a weekly lab lunch. Landon introduced the lab to bacon-maple glaze donuts, and I have to say they are surprisingly delicious. 

---

We weren't the only organisms to enjoy some delicious treats! It was fantastic to see animals breeding, growing, eating, and generally thriving in a facility that didn't exist a few months ago!

The axolotls love blackworms a bit too much

---

Last but definitely not least, I am super stoked to welcome PhD student Halle Stump to the lab at the end of July! Halle is coming from her Masters at Indiana University and will be working on molecular signals that work to recruit cells into the regenerative blastema. 


​

That's (almost) a wrap on Summer 2021! Looking forward to converting the summer's momentum into a fantastic Fall semester and 2022!

A picture Halle shared after receiving her acceptance letter from Wake Forest. We are happy to have you here!