Farncombe
Phage

We only did a “mini” cleanup in January, but, surprisingly, that didn’t create too much backlog. Maybe it was our second “mini” cleanup a month back in anticipation of a Povost visit. That said, we’re back on schedule; some good down-on-our-knees scrubbing, spicy food (click through for the image), and a thorough tossing out of old stocks. The result? Well, in Ayesha’s words, here’s the picture Rabia made her take.

At today’s FHS Plenary award, Gayatri was awarded an Outstanding Graduate Student Award, and Ayesha took a prize in the Pecha-Kucha competition! I think that might make us the only lab ever to win twice in the latter… 2 points is a trend, right?

After a round 1 presentation I didn’t get to see at this year’s FHS plenary, Ayesha was invited to the finals - and that I could attend, and boy am I glad I did - she did superbly!

While Dr. Al-Anany came back to Hamilton for a visit, bringing her little one (and future little one) in tow, Christine brought one (hers, I have it on good authority). I really should have brought mine, but then the booking would have been too big for the place…

For the second time this week, we all donned our SciComm hats, and strutted our stuff. Jordan gave a stellar talk, both Sayna & Eve presented their first ever posters (wee!), Ayesha lost her voice answering so many questions, and Rabia snatched up a prize for best poster.

Today was the MedSci Research Day, and both Gayatri and Ayesha gave talks on either end of the morning session. With one opening the session on the subject of induction, the other on supressing induction… I couldn’t have asked for a better narrative structure. And it certainly helps that they both nailed their talks…

So, in mirroring the session itself - the picture here is of Gayatri’s talk, and click through for Ayesha’s!

MSc students have to present once at the Biochem Seminar Series… and it’s been a while since I’ve had an MSc take the stage! Jordan put together a great talk, really highlighting how dangerously close to graduating he is… we’ll be left in the lurch.

We braved the polar vortex (not really), to head out to an Escape Room as a lab. The picture you see is ‘how it started’ (not pictured, Eve or Ayesha), and… for how it ended, you’ll have to click through.

Rabia’s mBio paper - long held up due to genbank shenanigans, finally hit print today. I won’t recap the whole impressive piece of work, but I think it’s worth highlighting two surprises hiding in there that aren’t necessarily the focus of the work; 1) How broadly effective Piperacillin is at synergizing with temperate phages. Maybe a reason PTZ is so effective clinically? (2) Our inability to correlate any likely predictors of tPAS to actual synergy. Check out the paper at this link

Always a touch anticlimactic, given the conclusion - when a student is this good - has been forgone for ages, and yet… still a lot of “feels” - far more than I expected, the third go around. I do get asked if in handing them a warhammer, I fear they might use it against me. Obviously not - not in public, anyway. My graduates are far too smart to get caught.