{"id":120,"date":"2019-06-12T10:45:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T09:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/?p=120"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:45:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T09:45:49","slug":"laura-pellegrini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/laura-pellegrini\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Pellegrini"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Laura
Laura Pellegrini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How would you describe yourself in 3 words?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Creative, reliable, communicative.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brief background\/short CV<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m an Italian neuroscientist working at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB). Previously, I studied Biomedical Sciences in Padua where I worked with Prof Elisa Greggio who inspired me to pursue a career in Neuroscience. I spent one year in Paris during my Masters working on a new therapy for neuropathic pain. I then joined a shared PhD program at the NIH (USA) and UCL (UK) and completed my degree in Neurogenetics in 2017. During the PhD I studied genetics of Parkinson\u2019s disease and related mechanisms of protein aggregation. I\u2019m now working on cerebral organoids in Dr Madeline Lancaster\u2019s lab where she recently developed a model to study the choroid plexus and cerebrospinal fluid secretion in vitro. <\/em><\/p>\n

What do you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently I am working on an in vitro model of one of the barriers of the brain: the choroid plexus. Development of human choroid plexus in a dish could help to perform preclinical tests to assess the permeability of different drugs to the brain. <\/em><\/p>\n

Brief description of a typical day <\/strong><\/p>\n

The protocol to make organoids has multiple stages spread around several weeks. I routinely make organoids and take care of the cells we use to generate them. I prepare samples to analyse and to look at with the microscope. I also spend a lot of time at the computer, working on presentations or analysing data using different programs. I regularly discuss my project with my co-workers and supervisor. <\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing about your job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love the variety and flexibility of this job, the collaborative and creative aspects of research. I like the fact that science is international. I feel very lucky to be able to travel to conferences to communicate my findings and to work with so many interesting and passionate people. <\/em><\/p>\n

If you weren\u2019t doing this job, what would you be doing instead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would probably like to work in science communication, journalism or in a company that advances communication between industry and academia. <\/em><\/p>\n

Your top tip for someone thinking about a career in science?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Science is hard work so I think it\u2019s important to follow an interesting question while maintaining the focus on the bigger picture. Time management and ability to negotiate are also key skills. <\/em><\/p>\n

What or who inspired you to follow your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was always fascinated with biology and biomedical sciences at school. I initially wanted to be a marine biologist and later on decided to study biomedical sciences. I particularly enjoyed the neuroscience and physiology lectures. During my third year of university I met Prof Elisa Greggio, an excellent and enthusiastic young scientist in Padua, who inspired me to continue my career in neuroscience. <\/em><\/p>\n

What did you want to be after you left school?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medical doctor or geneticist.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How would you describe yourself in 3 words? Creative, reliable, communicative. Brief background\/short CV I\u2019m an Italian neuroscientist working at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB). Previously, I studied Biomedical Sciences in Padua where I worked with Prof Elisa Greggio who inspired me to pursue a career in Neuroscience. I spent one year in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-team","entry","gs-1","gs-odd","gs-featured-content-entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www3.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk\/sites\/recipe4life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}