Sitting here at a lunch table at Sushi Express on Taylor St to celebrate our meeting with Abigail Garrett of Indiana University in Bloomington, a prospective postdoctoral fellow at PSCI Department
This summer, Dee Dee and Xiomarie attended the ASM Microbe 2024 Conference in Atlanta, GA. Here, Dee Dee presents her poster, titled "Impact of Sedative Choice on the Outcome of Klebsiella pneumoniae Lung Infection"
Xiomarie's poster, "Contributions of the two-component signaling system PieRS and its associated regulon to Listeria monocytogenes gastrointestinal colonization" was selected for Spotlight Presentation. Here, Xiomarie with a microphone presenting her latest research
Unbeknownst to the attendees of ASM conference, in the back alleys of Atlanta Convention Center a potion was brewed, labeled "Drink Me!". Whoever tried even a drop of it would shrink to sub-microscopic levels. Xiomarie and Dee Dee drank the concoction and suddenly found themselves surrounded by giant microbes living in carpets of Atlanta Convention Center, as can be seen in this photo. Fortunately, the shrinking lasted only a few minutes, and they returned to Chicago in their usual sizes... When pressed for answers, the conference organizers explained that it was their intention to shrink the attendees to give them a direct experience of how it feels to be very, very tiny, like a microbe!
Last Friday, "poor us" had champagne for lunch in celebration of the new research paper that we published in collaboration with Prof. Laty Cahoon from University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Xiomarie and the future Dr. Andrea volunteered this year to serve as judges at the Undergraduate Research Forum. Here, they stand in front of L@S Ganas office, an UIC organization were they both mentored and taught younger students the basics of science.
Today, on Monday April 8 at 1 pm, we all paused our experiments and quickly went outside to witness the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024. A crowd of people had already gathered in front of the MBRB building staring directly at the Sun in special smoked glasses or looking at its shadow coming through little holes in cardboard boxes. At 2:07 pm our surroundings suddenly darkened, and an unpleasant cold wind blew over our heads. It was the exact time when the Moon blocked over 93% of the Sun in Chicago! We are all looking forward to the next Solar Eclipse of this caliber that will be visible in Chicago in 40 years! But don’t try to save the smoked glasses you have used today until then, as their vision-protective properties are guaranteed for only 3 years.
Today was Jerry's last day at the Freitag Lab. Tomorrow, he starts a new position in the biotech start-up. To celebrate the great lab mate that he was, Nancy treated us to a lunch at Adda Indian Cuisine restaurant on Taylor, located where Francesca restaurant used to be before Covid. We had a great time!
Chicago winter this year started mild but just past the Holidays it became frigid cold with icy blasts and wind chill bringing subzero temperatures and the University closures. Our Holiday Lab Party was postponed twice. Finally, in January we gathered at the Flight Club to celebrate. Here Andrea, Xiomarie, and Dee Dee enjoy sunny cocktails on this chilly day.
The Flight Club had a cozy feel, comfortable benches and homey interior resembling a British pub. The name of the club refers to the game of darts which was new to some of us. Here, Ashley and Jerry wait before the general competition begins.
We often think of Nancy, with all the patience and kindness in the world, as our angel. No wonder that a halo manifested around her head at the party. “Ta da! It’s not a halo you silly, it’s a dart board behind my head!”
