I am Joanna Wielińska, a PhD student in Professor Katarzyna Bogunia-Kubik’s Laboratory of Clinical Immunogenetics and Pharmacogenetics at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wroclaw, Poland.
I am Joanna Wielińska, a PhD student in Professor Katarzyna Bogunia-Kubik’s Laboratory of Clinical Immunogenetics and Pharmacogenetics at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wroclaw, Poland. I participated in a short term scientific mission (STSM) on “Molecular and Cellular Biomarkers of Chronic Graft versus Host Disease (cGvHD)” for three weeks in Newcastle in July 2019. The STSM refers to Working Group 2, conducted by Professor Anne Dickinson from Newcastle University.
The main goal of this STSM was to perform the screening of miRNA molecules of selected clinical samples from patients with and without chronic GvHD symptoms, using the NanoString technology. I was supervised by Dr Rachel Crossland in the Haematological Sciences Department during this STSM. I performed laboratory work including extracellular vesicle (EV) precipitation from serum and plasma GvHD samples and then total RNA isolation. Next, I measured the RNA concentrations on Bioanalyzer and used this RNA as input material in NanoString technology. Successfully, I was able to perform miRNA screening in patients with different clinical features. What is more, I analysed the isolated EVs employing electron microscopy as well as NanoSight vesicle tracking analysis.
During my stay, I took part in the processing of NanoString data with Piotr Łacina, who performed the analytical part of this experiment. He evaluated raw output data using nSolver Analysis Software and RStudio to assess the miRNA repertoire of cGvHD and non-cGvHD patients.
The STSM at Newcastle University has been a unique opportunity to gain practical and theoretical knowledge about NanoString technology. During my stay, I learnt how to prepare samples, perform miRNAs expression and analyse the data, which was a new experience for me. Unbounded technology potential can be used to identify molecular biomarkers in other prospective COST collaborative studies.
An overview of the Short Term Scientific Mission 'Extracellular Vesicle Characterisation via Flow Cytometry' undertaken by Kimberly Schell, a PhD student from the Translational and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University. Kimberly was hosted by Professor Marit Inngjerdingen of the Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
An overview of the Short Term Scientific Mission undertaken by Assistant professor Emina Milosevic from the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Emina was hosted by Professor Hildegard Greinix, Head of Division of Haematology, Medical University of Graz, LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz.
I am Julia Nihtilä, a PhD student in the transplantation genomics group lead by Professor Jukka Partanen at the Finnish Red Cross Bloodservice.
I am Darija Bogdanić and currently, I am working as a transfusion medicine resident at the Clinical Department for Transfusion Medicine and Transplantation Biology of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; also I am a PhD student in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Osijek, Croatia.
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