A University of Excellence in Germany's capital city
Charite is the largest university clinic in Europe and consists of several large campuses scattered throughout the center of Berlin. My lab focused on pediatric cancers, so we were located adjacent to the pediatric clinic in the Northwest section of Berlin. This was probably the toughest summer of my life so far. I had wanted to work in a cancer lab for a long time, and was very excited for the opportunity. I was hoping cancer research might be a future career path for myself. Although the environment was extremely stressful – working with various chemicals, learning how to perform robust cell culture experiments, and even engineering viruses (!) – I believe my MIT education prepared me well. The communications classes equipped me to conduct useful and efficient literature searches to educate myself on my particular project. Furthermore, my various UROP experiences prepared me for the meticulous note-taking, optimizing, and patience required in a life-science lab.
I was pleasantly surprised by the work environment/culture in my lab. I had never worked in a cancer lab before, and needed to learn a huge number of new protocols and techniques. Although, many of my colleagues were busy writing papers and theses, they always dropped everything to come help me – above and beyond their duty. Furthermore, I loved the multicultural diversity of the lab. Similar to my previous experiences in Germany, my lab consisted of people from Germany, France, Spain, Japan, and the States. Lots of conversations revolved around comparing and contrasting our personal experiences and career pathways.
Unlike previous lab experiences, I appreciated that among this group, although everyone came from a different country, communication and respect were never a problem. At the end of the internship, we all went to eat at a fusion food place – because we really are a fusion lab.
Cool fact: my first week at work, the hospital was participating in a huge relay race in Berlin. So I joined four other lab mates to run together! It was such a unique way to get to know everyone.