Busy, busy

So I've been pretty busy this past week. I had orientation for my Master's program on Tuesday. I'm in the Health Sciences faculty, and my program is Medical Sciences. This program is broken down into 6 fields, and I'm in the Physiology and Pharmacology one. Orientation went well, I filled out all the forms I needed, got course permissions, signed up for my courses and got my new student card. Lucky for me, the bus pass is valid year round (unlike undergrads where it is no longer good in the summer).

I've been working on my project for 2 months already. I really haven't gotten any research done, since I'm still writing the Research Ethics Board (REB) applications. But once I do get approval, I'll be culturing human airway smooth muscle cells and human adipocytes (fat cells). This is so I can test whether something the fat is producing will affect the normal function of muscle cells (growth, migration, contraction and secretions). This is relevant because obesity is linked to asthma - obesity often precedes asthma, and obese individuals have a harder time controlling their asthma. I'm looking into whether there's a direct effect from the fat... but my supervisor and I think that the link is more mechanical. In other words, I think obese individuals have a harder time with asthma because the extra weight constricts their breathing, and leaves them with a smaller lung volume.

Sorry for all that science mumbo-jumbo...

I'll also be TAing this year. And it will be the one course I really, really wanted to TA. My undergrad was biopharm, a program of 20 students, and we had one year-long lab course. That's the course I'm TAing ~ yay!

So, everything is coming together. I have some grants to write, and that REB form to finish, but I am on my way.

On a more administrative note, my laptop has been having a hard time recognizing my camera... so picture may be sparse.