Chris Graham
Lab affiliation: Brassinga Lab
Degree(s) you hold: BSc in Microbiology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): PhD
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Chilliwack, BC
Your research project in one sentence: I study the molecular biology of how Legionella pneumophila controls different virulence processes, and how these processes impact the interaction of the bacteria with the eukaryotic host cells it parasitizes.
Degree(s) you hold: BSc in Microbiology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): PhD
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Chilliwack, BC
Your research project in one sentence: I study the molecular biology of how Legionella pneumophila controls different virulence processes, and how these processes impact the interaction of the bacteria with the eukaryotic host cells it parasitizes.
What do you do to relax when you have a lazy day at home?
A lazy day? Nothing, ideally. I find myself reading or playing games on my computer. Lately I’ve been trying to work on improving my previously (possibly still) abominable cooking skills.
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Excited to finish writing, defend, and graduate! In terms of goals, figuring out the next step is the big one…
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Beyond the standard selection of molecular biology tools used to build strains. I’ve done a lot of growth assays and transcriptional assays/promoter reporters. I have focused heavily on infection modeling, so I’m familiar with cell culture and microscopy as well.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
Way back when I started working in a lab, I learned, the hard way, that TAE buffer does not work for running SDS-PAGE protein gels. Also, I have a *really* bad habit of not properly labeling my bottles before autoclaving them. Mystery media, anyone?
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
Right now I’m wrapping up writing my thesis, so it’s mostly looking back at the early parts of my degree and figuring out what’s worth including from that (There were a lot of false-starts) There’s also a small but growing to-do list of experiments that need to be done to get a later chapter to publishable form, and trying to figure out what’s worth doing is always tricky when your goal is to get it done ASAP.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
I worked as a lab tech for years and realized that I was about as far as I could go on that path, so coming back for grad school was an obvious choice. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I came in, and from a practical perspective I’d say those expectations are still mostly true. That being said, I underestimated the value of the personal growth that comes with a challenge of the scale of a PhD, particularly when facing seemingly unsolvable technical problems – there are huge lessons there in the value of tenaciousness, problem solving, and of course, your colleagues – you never know who has an idea that will instantly cure what troubles your experiments!
A lazy day? Nothing, ideally. I find myself reading or playing games on my computer. Lately I’ve been trying to work on improving my previously (possibly still) abominable cooking skills.
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Excited to finish writing, defend, and graduate! In terms of goals, figuring out the next step is the big one…
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Beyond the standard selection of molecular biology tools used to build strains. I’ve done a lot of growth assays and transcriptional assays/promoter reporters. I have focused heavily on infection modeling, so I’m familiar with cell culture and microscopy as well.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
Way back when I started working in a lab, I learned, the hard way, that TAE buffer does not work for running SDS-PAGE protein gels. Also, I have a *really* bad habit of not properly labeling my bottles before autoclaving them. Mystery media, anyone?
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
Right now I’m wrapping up writing my thesis, so it’s mostly looking back at the early parts of my degree and figuring out what’s worth including from that (There were a lot of false-starts) There’s also a small but growing to-do list of experiments that need to be done to get a later chapter to publishable form, and trying to figure out what’s worth doing is always tricky when your goal is to get it done ASAP.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
I worked as a lab tech for years and realized that I was about as far as I could go on that path, so coming back for grad school was an obvious choice. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I came in, and from a practical perspective I’d say those expectations are still mostly true. That being said, I underestimated the value of the personal growth that comes with a challenge of the scale of a PhD, particularly when facing seemingly unsolvable technical problems – there are huge lessons there in the value of tenaciousness, problem solving, and of course, your colleagues – you never know who has an idea that will instantly cure what troubles your experiments!