Neil Lorente Cobo
Lab affiliation: Gerd Prehna
Lab Degree(s) you hold: BSc Biomedical Science, MSc Molecular Medicine
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): PhD
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Barcelona, Spain (2yrs) Cairo, Egypt (16yrs) Colchester, United Kingdom (5yrs) Winnipeg, Manitoba (1yr thus far)
Your research project in one sentence: Understanding the structure and function of type VI secretion system effectors in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
Lab Degree(s) you hold: BSc Biomedical Science, MSc Molecular Medicine
Degree being sought (M.Sc./Ph.D.): PhD
Hometown (City, Country—list multiple if you have them!): Barcelona, Spain (2yrs) Cairo, Egypt (16yrs) Colchester, United Kingdom (5yrs) Winnipeg, Manitoba (1yr thus far)
Your research project in one sentence: Understanding the structure and function of type VI secretion system effectors in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
What do you do to relax when you have a lazy day at home?
For Gerd’s sake I’d like to say I read papers. Unfortunately, on a lazy day, I just binge-eat, binge-drink and binge-watch shows. Thank you, super metabolism!
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Academically, I’m excited to establish myself in the research community by publishing my first paper. Personally, I’d like things to go back to normal so I can experience a normal social life, the Canadian way.
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Protein expression, purification and crystallisation with a hint of structure building.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
If we’re going with a silly mistake and not a “how are you a PhD student?” mistake then we’ll go with making a major calculation error and adding 1000x the required amount of primer for a PCR. That’s $5 I’ll never get back.
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
I recently purified a new protein but forgot to label it, and it ended up down the drain. I haven’t been able to reproduce the same results. I’ll be retransforming it and trying to get it purified.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
When I first applied for a Master’s, I saw it as just another notch in my belt, but I realized how fun working in a lab independently was. In hindsight, I wish I’d taken an MRes instead of an MSc (in the UK, MScs last only a year and have 3 months of labwork, while a Masters of Research has an entire year of labwork). I have a lot of research experience to catch up on during my PhD, and I think I’m doing a good job so far. All thanks to my brilliant PI and lab members.
For Gerd’s sake I’d like to say I read papers. Unfortunately, on a lazy day, I just binge-eat, binge-drink and binge-watch shows. Thank you, super metabolism!
What are you most excited about for 2021? Goals?
Academically, I’m excited to establish myself in the research community by publishing my first paper. Personally, I’d like things to go back to normal so I can experience a normal social life, the Canadian way.
What techniques do you/will you most often use in your project?
Protein expression, purification and crystallisation with a hint of structure building.
What's one silly mistake you've made in the lab?
If we’re going with a silly mistake and not a “how are you a PhD student?” mistake then we’ll go with making a major calculation error and adding 1000x the required amount of primer for a PCR. That’s $5 I’ll never get back.
What are any current problems you are having with your research?
I recently purified a new protein but forgot to label it, and it ended up down the drain. I haven’t been able to reproduce the same results. I’ll be retransforming it and trying to get it purified.
What did you hope to get out of grad school in the beginning compared to now?
When I first applied for a Master’s, I saw it as just another notch in my belt, but I realized how fun working in a lab independently was. In hindsight, I wish I’d taken an MRes instead of an MSc (in the UK, MScs last only a year and have 3 months of labwork, while a Masters of Research has an entire year of labwork). I have a lot of research experience to catch up on during my PhD, and I think I’m doing a good job so far. All thanks to my brilliant PI and lab members.