Mehrafarin Ashiri
Lab affiliation: Brian Mark’s Lab
Degree(s) you hold: B.Sc. and M.Sc. Cellular and molecular biology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): M.Sc. Biochemistry and medical genetics
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Khuzestan (My hometown)-Tehran (Over the last 12 years, before I come to Canada)-Iran
Your research project in one sentence: my research is on the enzyme replacement therapy on Tay-Sachs disease mice model.
Degree(s) you hold: B.Sc. and M.Sc. Cellular and molecular biology
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): M.Sc. Biochemistry and medical genetics
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Khuzestan (My hometown)-Tehran (Over the last 12 years, before I come to Canada)-Iran
Your research project in one sentence: my research is on the enzyme replacement therapy on Tay-Sachs disease mice model.
What do you do to relax when you have a lazy day at home?
I usually watch animations/movies or listen to music. If my roommates were around and had free time, we would play games (board games, cards, etc.). Sometimes I make handcrafts and practice sketching. Since starting the lockdown, I have tried baking some recipes for cakes and bread. Now I am a master in baking a delicious Chelsea loaf :)
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
In terms of academic goals, I would like to see how this treatment strategy will work, and I am so excited to move forward to the animal study. There is still so much to learn and be discovered. Besides academic goals, I am so excited to get to know people in the microbiology department and make new friends. I would like to learn to play an instrument in this year. Also, I would love to restart doing sports that I was doing before I come to Canada.
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Currently, my work revolves around cell culture and protein purification. Other techniques that I am using are SDS-PAGE, Western blot analysis, enzyme assay. Techniques that I will work with are mainly involved brain surgery, behavioral study, and histology.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
At the start of my program, I used a wrong concentration of Tris-HCl for the resolving gel. So the samples did not move with the normal speed and it took along time for the samples to reach to the end of the gel and instead of separated bands, there was a line!!!
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
I had some issues with the purification step as I in my previous purifications, there was always an extra band upper my protein band, but after discussing the issue with my lab mates, I think I found what the problem was.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
Before I started my program, I was expecting to participate more in the conferences and workshops related to my field of study, but with the current course load, it is a little bit challenging to make a balance to do all other activities.
I usually watch animations/movies or listen to music. If my roommates were around and had free time, we would play games (board games, cards, etc.). Sometimes I make handcrafts and practice sketching. Since starting the lockdown, I have tried baking some recipes for cakes and bread. Now I am a master in baking a delicious Chelsea loaf :)
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
In terms of academic goals, I would like to see how this treatment strategy will work, and I am so excited to move forward to the animal study. There is still so much to learn and be discovered. Besides academic goals, I am so excited to get to know people in the microbiology department and make new friends. I would like to learn to play an instrument in this year. Also, I would love to restart doing sports that I was doing before I come to Canada.
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Currently, my work revolves around cell culture and protein purification. Other techniques that I am using are SDS-PAGE, Western blot analysis, enzyme assay. Techniques that I will work with are mainly involved brain surgery, behavioral study, and histology.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
At the start of my program, I used a wrong concentration of Tris-HCl for the resolving gel. So the samples did not move with the normal speed and it took along time for the samples to reach to the end of the gel and instead of separated bands, there was a line!!!
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
I had some issues with the purification step as I in my previous purifications, there was always an extra band upper my protein band, but after discussing the issue with my lab mates, I think I found what the problem was.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
Before I started my program, I was expecting to participate more in the conferences and workshops related to my field of study, but with the current course load, it is a little bit challenging to make a balance to do all other activities.