"My Research, My Pride"

        Isn’t that a nifty slogan?! Mahidol recently hosted their graduate research exposition, where this was the catch-phrase. I was lucky enough to be able to attend an assortment of lectures, poster presentations and even a community ‘hot-pot’ dinner. It was awesome. I love seeing other people’s research. I love talking to them about it. I love academia on display. Love. It. 
It was really intriguing to see how a Thai university conducted an event like this. Movie stars were hired to lend their voices to the campus-wide advertisements. Young professors served as trendy MCs for the event. Trivia was played between speakers and the prizes were legit (500 baht... heck yes!). It was basically like a 2-day celebration of all things Mahidol Research related. And, the best part? It was mostly in English... Score!
I was incredibly impressed with the sheer scope of research going on. I knew that the Faculty of Science encompassed a wide-range of departments but it really hadn’t dawned on me how diverse my campus is. There were mathematicians who worked on nanotube structure, physicists who devised electronic noses, and chemists who invented antibiotic/antiviral infused, natural rubber gloves to help prevent infection from needle-pricks. Basically, I sat in awe for the duration of the day. 
Most of all I loved the student support that the research received. Every single speaker gave their presentation to a standing-room-only crowd. Whole departments would sit together and wave hand-made signs of support when one of their own presented. The clapping, hooting and hollering that followed each presentation was deafening. It was a true community of support, encouragement and love of research. I realized all over again why I was so lucky to be at Mahidol and why I wanted to be a lifetime-academic. 
I have always, in longer terms, took“My Research, My Pride” as a personal mantra. How nice it was to be surrounded by people who thought the same thing and weren’t ashamed to make it publicly known. 
Second to the actual research, the highlight of the event was the final ‘hot-pot’ meal. All the students and faculty gathered in ‘The Canteen’ the main dining hall for a traditional cook-it-yourself dinner. Each table had its own cooking contraption, a massive basket of veggies/noodles and a gallon bag of broth. Meat and fried rice was served buffet style in one corner of the room. Each table got a heaping plate of meat, lit their wood-fire and went to town. It was delectable. 

To top it off, a karaoke stage was set up so that professors and a few students could share their renditions of Thai pop tunes throughout the night. I couldn’t help but wonder if the professors of Willet Science Center at Mercer would be game for some pop karaoke at the next Undergraduate Research Symposium. Doubtful and not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

      Fear not. Living abroad has not turned me into an October caroler. In fact, I remain unhealthily elated at the prospects of skipping Christmas altogether this year. (My grinch-tendencies will be elucidated in a Holiday post) No, my title is referencing the emotions which surround running gel electrophoresis. Not even kidding. 


  I’ve detailed the “bench-high” that I experience in the lab, but the excitement-wonder-anticipation emotion amalgamation that surrounds running a gel is on another emotional plane entirely. First, there is the preparation of the PCR mixtures and the 4-hour thermo-cycler run. This step requires attention to detail, proper technique, and patience. Much like a Santa-obsessed child minding their actions and wriggling in excitement on December 1st, I usually get a little antsy during this process. I double check my PCR cocktail calculations, obnoxiously re-check that the thermo-cycler is running properly, and busy my hands on lab maintenance (or blog writing) during the wait.
  Then comes the making, setting and loading the gel. This is basically like wrapping a Christmas present... In theory, the gift will appear to be more thoughtful, grander, and more sincere the nicer the wrapping technique. At least, that’s the case with gels (I contend that the wrapping quality is irrelevant at Christmas or Birthdays). Therefore, I am a stickler for proper loading technique. This is when my OCD tendencies really rear their Type-A head... I aim for perfectly straight lanes, edges free of bubbles or anomalies, and evenly filled wells. 
  The overwhelming anticipation/excitement of Christmas morning comes as the gel runs. For 35 minutes, which seem like hours when you are anticipating really, really good presents er.. bands, I have to sit and wait for the DNA to creep down the agarose. It reminds me of sitting at my grandparent’s breakfast table, my 5-year-old self ready to tear through the pile of presents visible in the living room, only to be told to sit up straight and finish my grapefruit. I have to pretend like I am cool-as-a-cucumber during this time when, in reality, all I can think about is whether or not there is some hidden gem of a band waiting to reveal itself to me.
  Finally, I get to dig into the Gel Electrophoresis goodies. Just as some people gasp in excitement while tearing into the wrapping paper of their Christmas presents, I hold my breath as the UV light flutters onto full power and illuminates my gel. I am quite happy if I see bands that I expected to see (in the case of DNA quality checks). These bands prove that my extraction and PCR protocol is valid and that I didn’t screw up along the way. Nice to have (a real drag when they are not there), but these are not nearly as exciting as having a pathogen band show up. These bands are the equivalent of getting a present that I wanted but didn’t expect. This is usually the point when I do a happy dance, let out a yelp of glee, and smile so hard I am sore the next day. 

Suu-ay Mak! Thai Standards of Beauty from a Farang Perspective.

      I am told I am beautiful (Suu-ay in thai) on a daily basis here. Sometimes, depending on my activities, there is a deluge of compliments. The motorcycle taxi driver gang just outside my apartment, women sitting next to me on the bus, the lady I buy my grilled banana breakfast from, students in the Biology department at Mahidol; all of them exclaim how beautiful I am whenever I encounter them. It is a little odd.  At first I thought it was just a form of simple flattery for farang. Perhaps they assumed it was one of the only thai words that I was familiar with and they wanted to be kind or, more insidiously for those peddling goods, that they wanted my business. Now I realize that not only is it genuine but it comes from a deeply-engrained and complicated set of beauty standards. 

      First of all, there is the issue of skin hue. A short stroll through any beauty department will reveal an overwhelming number of skin bleaching products for both men and women. There is eye cream, face cleanser, body wash, deodorant, foot creme, face masks, body scrubs, and bar soap.  In fact, finding any of these items without skin whiteners or brighteners is basically impossible. Even imported brands have added ingredients. (Good thing I brought enough BMe, Jason Organics, LUSH, and Burt’s Bees to ration out until someone comes to visit!) I am whiter than white and I suspect that the use of any sort of whitening agent would take my skin from beyond-fair to translucent. I love my pale skin but I also like having enough color so I am not confused with a corpse. But Thai people? They buy and use these products on a daily basis. Pale skin is a sign of beauty, wealth, and a high-class background. Women especially are subject to light skin standards. They carry umbrellas on sunny days, wear long sleeve shirts, and spend obscene amounts of money on lotions, potions, and spa treatments to turn their almond hued skin porcelain white.

Portion of the the "Beauty" aisle in Big C. All whitening. 

      Think about the American obsession with tanning beds, sunless tanner, and sun-bathing. Women in the States spend obscene amounts of money and time to risk melanoma and future wrinkles in order achieve the ideal sun-kissed look. Precisely the opposite of the Thai ideal... In fact, while my fair skin earns me compliments here, I cannot count the number of times someone has made a snide comment about how pale or sickly I look in the States. People have joked about how they are ‘blinded’ by my whiteness or commented that I would look so much more attractive with a bit of a tan. 

      I want to be clear that both standards are harmful, obsessive, and generally ridiculous. Both endanger a person’s physical health and mental well being. Both suck ludicrous amounts of money from the pockets of people who buy into advertisement campaigns, lifestyle ideals, and beauty standards that fail to accommodate the natural variety of human skin pigment. On one level, I am more than a little disgusted by both of them. On another level, I feel sorry for anyone, Thai or American, who feels as though they have to alter their appearance in order to be considered beautiful. I say screw them all and own what you have. Easier said than done, I realize, but if more people adopted this attitude it would wear on the rigidity of these standards. 

      Secondly, Thais regard European facial features as highly desirable. Most actresses and pop-stars that appear on television, in movies, on print ads, and on billboards look far more Western than Thai. And most Thai women see their own shallow-broad noses, pronounced lips, and almond shaped eyes as ugly and, instead, aspire to the pointy noses, thin-flat lips, and rounded eyes that characterize a European face. Just as American women flock to plastic surgeons for lip plumps and rhinoplasties to confound their European heritage, affluent Thai women undergo blepharoplasties and lip reductions to appear more Western. It fits the overused cliche that one always wants what they don’t have. 

      Keeping all this in mind, it is difficult for me to accept a ‘You’re so beautiful’ compliment without listening between the lines to hear an ‘I’m so ugly’ self-assessment... particularly when I am complimented by women. It bothers me and I try, as much as possible, to return the compliment using specific examples of why I think they are beautiful. Sometimes it works, most times they just brush it off and say that they are not pretty in comparison. In reality, even the most ordinary Thai woman is breathtakingly beautiful. The Western standard is deeply engrained as the way to be attractive... most of these ideals are the result of Americanization of media and advertisements. I could be politically correct and say “Globalization” but that is simply not a genuine representation of what is going on here. It is American T.V. shows, movie-stars, advertisements, and products that have, for the most part, resulted in this push toward Westernized beauty. Shame on the advertising and telecommunication companies who have allowed this to happen. 

Chalao's Birthday!

         I discovered that last Tuesday was Chalao’s birthday thanks to the omnipotent powers of Facebook. I love birthdays. Not my own, but other people’s. Why, you ask? Cake (duh) and the general atmosphere of celebration... a birthday forces everyone to be cheery. Love. It. 

        Needless to say, a cake was a necessity. I had no clue what thai tradition was but I brought a cake. Had I been in the States, I would have made this cake (it is my favorite act of gastronomic creativity... I have taken decorating classes and everything. no lie) but a lack of an oven makes that impossible here. A store-bought cake would have to suffice. Luckily, the local Big C had several options. After some debate, I chose an S&P ‘Black Forest’ cake with dark chocolate trimmings. If you know me, you’ll notice that my choice was hardly altruistic. 

       I think it went over well. He was totally surprised and it was nice to get a few people from the Biology department together to celebrate. It ended up being a very casual and relaxed get together. There was lots of laughter, a healthy dose of cake, and the quintessential air of celebration I love so much.  

Peculiarities of the Thai Laboratory & A Preliminary Overview of my Project

(The title of this post sounds best if you pronounce “laboratory” in the british manner a.k.a. “lab-OR-a-tor-y”...)

Sometime within the past two weeks I started working regularly in the laboratory at Mahidol. [Insert nerd joy here] To say that I am completely and utterly stoked about this is a gross understatement. I am one of those sick and twisted individuals who loves, loves, loves the trials, tribulations and satisfaction that working at a lab bench brings. Until you have done it, and enjoyed it, it is a hard sensation to explain. The only way I can begin to explain it is to compare it to a “runner’s high”. Many avid runners (or swimmers/bikers/rowers/etc) claim that they can reach a state of euphoria whilst engaged in their physical activity of choice. Instead of getting my kicks from the side-stitches, lack-of-oxygen, and knee beating that running induces in my body... I get that same rush of endorphins from working in the lab. I kid you not. My own little “bench buzz.” And, I’m admitting to you all right now, I am an addict.

Working in a lab here has its own set of challenges. First of all, I am a ‘guest’ someone else’s lab. I was the head-honcho (or as Dr. Smith might say “Grand Poobah”) in the lab at Mercer. So, being in the new-kid-on-the-block and walking-on-eggshells mode has been interesting. Naturally, most everything is at least a little bit different than what I am accustomed to. Here’s a quick and dirty overview:

1. No bunsen burners. Oil lamps are used instead (I actually really like this... I hate lighting gas
2. A battery operated pestle "motor" is used to destroy the tick during the DNA extraction. Apparently, it is too much work to destroy it manually.
3. There were no gloves large enough to fit me. I felt like an ogre in the land of hobbits.
4. The pipettes have fully functioning tip ejectors... an upgrade from what I am used to.
5. I have to make my PCR cocktail from scratch. No ReadyMix... I have a brand new appreciation for the convenience of lab kits.
6. Sandals are acceptable footwear... I don’t think I can break my habit of wearing closed toe shoes.

Additionally, I am in the ‘prove-it’ stage with my mentor and fellow lab mates. While there are all incredibly nice and very accommodating, I am being constantly watched... often I even have someone peeking over my shoulder, double checking my pipette settings, and analyzing my technique. Not my favorite position to be in, but I hope that this will die down now that I have now passed the first “test” of successfully taking an engorged tick from extraction to DNA quality analysis via gel electrophoresis on my first attempt. Did I mention that I got my very first, successful results this week (on my first try, no less)???!!!! Boom-shakalacka. After a fair amount of anxiety that I somehow could have lost my lab juju somewhere over the Pacific, I not only got results but was complimented on the clarity and intensity of the bands in gel run. Let’s just say this makes be a very, very happy camper. (This is that endorphin rush I talked about earlier...)

And, for those of you who held tight through all the nerd-speak, I now have my quasi-official project!! Here is my still-being-developed-schpeel:

I am working with engorged ticks, of varying species, found on vertebrate hosts throughout the Thai National Parks system. The hosts range from the expected (wild dogs, dear, boar) to the totally bizarre (monitor lizard, asiatic water snake, king cobra). This is a small (120) subset of ticks that has been collected, over a period of 3 years, by the Ph.D student, Chalao. The vast majority of the ticks collected for his dissertation research were taken directly from vegetation (much like the ticks I collected in the GSMNP), so “my” subset are the oddities. I’ll be identifying the ticks taxonomically and then doing the molecular tests necessary to determine what (if any) pathogens they are carrying. I will be using primers that test for a wide variety of pathogens including bacteria, protozoans, and viruses.

The scope of this project is much bigger than anything I have every done and I am REALLY looking forward to spending the next 9 months with it.

Feels Like Home to Me

The moment I set foot on the Biology floor of Mahidol-Faculty of Science I felt at home. I was still in the throughs of apartment searching and living out of suitcases, but the familiarity of the labs, research posters, and people served to re-assure me that I was going to be just fine. This sort of comfort is a hard sensation to describe. It is not the sort of emotional comfort that comes with being in the presence of family or friends. Nor is it any varietal of physical or sensory comfort associated with settling in to a beloved piece of furniture or eating a much-loved meal. It is a comfort that arises from identifying and finding your niche in this world. Maybe I have made is a bit too existential, but if you have ever felt as though you had found you ‘calling’ then you know exactly what I am talking about.

The campus of Mahidol-Faculty of Science is, technically, a satellite campus of the main undergraduate institution. Therefore, only the hard science departments are represented. SInce I am coming from a university where such departments are limited to a single, 3.5 story building, the notion of an entire campus dedicated to only biology, chemistry, environmental studies, tropical disease and physics is quite novel. The biology department is relegated to the fourth floor of the sprawling main building complex. Open-air skywalks connect the buildings and the views they afford of the surrounding neighborhoods are pretty magnificent. The department has, at minimum, about 15 independent lab spaces and the professor I am working with shares one of those rooms with another faculty member.

The labs themselves are not quite what I expected but wholly adequate for what is being done. All of the lab equipment, while meticulously well taken care of, is a few years older then would be acceptable stateside. Various freezers and large centrifuges line the hallways and there is an obvious lack of storage space. I was surprised to see undergraduates, Master’s students, and PhD. candidates working side by side at the bench. I suspect my experience at a primarily undergraduate institution jaded me against this sort of arrangement. Oddly, It is easy to distinguish the undergraduates since they are required to wear a strict uniform anytime they are on campus.

The lab I am working in is primary graduate level. Since my faculty mentor is one of the junior-most in the department she has only one Masters and one Ph.D student working on the tick and tick-borne pathogen ecology project. Both students are extraordinarily kind, as is my mentor, Ajun Arunee. ‘Ajun’ is a thai term of endearment/respect for a teacher/mentor figure. I attempted to call her Dr. _____ upon our first meeting and was quickly invited to use Ajun instead. Normally I would hesitate to drop the ‘Dr.’ but adopting ‘Ajun’ greatly simplifies the pronunciation procedure and lessens the chance that I make a fool of myself or offend her. All things considered, ‘Ajun Arunee’ it is.

I have completely lucked out with her as my mentor. Her research interests parallel mine, our personalities compliment one another, and she is by far the kindest, most empathetic and easiest to talk to person I have met so far. I don’t know what I predicted, but the person in my mind was not nearly as awesome as her. Dually so, I think she expected me to march into Mahidol, commandeer her bench and take over her project. (When, in fact, that is precisely the opposite of what I came here to do.) Its nice to be in a situation where mutual assumptions have been improved upon. I think we are both quite relieved.

A bit more about my first interactions with her: We had ‘the talk’ about expectations and goals during which she seemed a bit taken aback when I explained that I wanted to play a supportive role in the current work of her Ph.D student and that I didn’t want to concoct some naive, self-centered research project. (I mean, honestly, where would I even begin?) The project that Chaloa, her Ph.D student, has been working on is precisely what I outlined in my grant application as to what I wanted to participate in. Besides, this man has been working on this for 2.5 YEARS. Who am I to march in and take the lead? The very nature of a Fulbright is international and cultural collaboration, not hijacking. I feel honored enough just being considered worthy enough to butt-in on her project. When she prodded further she realized that I have no ulterior motive to use her data back in the states for my own dissertation or a desire to crank out publications while I am here. In fact, I want them to utilize me however they see fit. I am no expert and both these folks know vastly more about this topic than I ever will. I am quite content to bask in the glow of their knowledge and soak up whatever comes my way. That’s not to say I won’t be doing some serious lab work, just that I have no interest in flaunting my Fulbright status to obtain undue accolades. The project scope is immense and I have no delusions as to what can be accomplished in my 10 months here. My contribution will be a drop in the bucket compared to the many years that have been dedicated to the cause. I only hope that I can introduce some lab techniques or testing protocols that simplify or hasten what they are already doing. I can already tell that I am going to be helping design a tick-assay protocol... something I am comfortable with and uber excited about. All in all, I think humility and support build better international bridges than self-service. Just a hunch.