Placement Presentation Adina Dorobantu 2023 (2).pptx

1. SHEFFIELD
INSTITUTE FOR
TRANSLATIONAL
NEUROSCIENCE
My placement year
experience as a Research
Technician at SITraN
https://oceangloberace.com/charity/

2. SITraN
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/smph/peop
le/neuroscience/pamela-j-shaw
• SITran is a world leading organization that focuses
its research on potential disease modifying translational therapie
s for motor neuron disease and other neurodegenerative
diseases, such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,
stroke and neuroinflammatory diseases
• Recent breakthrough: the Phase 3 clinical trial investigating the
positive impact of the investigational drug Tofersen on
disease progression of 2% of MND cases affected by the
SOD1 mutation, led by Professor Dame Pamela J Shaw in the UK
• https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/neuroscience-
institute/news/promising-mnd-drug-helps-slow-disease-
progression-and-benefits-patients-physically
• https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/future/mnd

3. • General technical team duties:
• Autoclaving
• Dishwashing
• Stock maintenance and ordering
• Reception of deliveries
• Maintenance of
laboratory workspaces
• Mycoplasma testing
• Mouse genotyping
• PCR
• Gel electrophoresis
My responsibilities

4. • Feeding and splitting fibroblast cell cultures
• Freezing down confluent fibroblast cell cultures
• Preparation of the necessary reagents
• Use of the light microscope to analyze the
fibroblast cell growth and determine the level of
confluence
• Maintenance of the workspace and equipment
required: hood, incubator, centrifuge,
microscope etc.
My responsibilities
•Tissue Culture
https://www.mndassociation.org/research/our-research/research-we-fund/understanding-
clinical-progression/multicentre-biomarker-resource-strategy-in-als
https://nic.ucsd.edu/facilities/cell-culture.html
https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-4939-9473-1_6

5. My
responsibilities
• Histology activities
• Microtome sectioning
• Staining procedures
• Standard stains
• Special stains ex.:
Immunohistochemistry
(IHC)
• Tissue sample processing
• FFPE tissue embedding
• Slide scanning
• Organization of databases
• The Sheffield Brain Tissue Bank
(SBTB)

6. ACQUIRED SKILLS
TECHNICAL
SKILLS
 Valuable and
transferable
laboratory skills
gained by
performing a rich
variety of procedures
PLANNING, TIME
MANAGEMENT
AND
MULTITASKING
 Tissue culture
 Genotyping
 Delivery reception
 Histology activities
 Stock organization
and maintenance
 General technical
team duties
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
 Tissue culture
 Delivery reception
 Attending Technical
team meetings
 General technical
team duties
 Shadowing and
training staff
TEAM WORKING
AND
LEADERSHIP SKIL
LS
 General technical
team duties
 Tissue culture
 Genotyping
 Stock organization
and maintenance
 Database
organization
 Shadowing and
training staff
PROBLEM
SOLVING AND
DECISION
MAKING
 General technical
team duties
 Attending technical
team meetings
 Tissue culture
 Genotyping
 Histology activities
 Stock organization
and maintenance
 Database
organization

7. REFLECTION
• I have gained valuable insight
into the industr y organization
and oppor tunities to look for in
the future, as well as potential
career paths
• I have developed my
commercial awareness
• I have developed valuable
practical and transferrable skills
• I have expanded my network
within this field
My placement year
experience as a Research
Technician at SITraN was
valuable because:
https://www.tricals.org/en/locations/university-of-sheffield/

8. REFLECTION
Things to consider :
Travel and financial consideration
Determination, perseverance and
independent study
Good planning skills
https://www.tricals.org/en/locations/university-of-sheffield/

9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• SITran Technical Team
• My Work Placement Supervisor (WPS) Ian Coldicott
• My Academic Placement Supervisor (APS) Dr Keith Miller
• The entire community at SITraN who I have had the
opportunity of working with and who supported me along
the way