A week of soul crushing results turned hopeful. A week of outtakes and bloopers. A week of more emails. This was week five. Monday morning started off with a fresh conjugation. New conjugate release pads ready for testing. In the afternoon, the pads were deployed to compare different sample sizes of 1mg/ml–perhaps the thicker sample […]
Week 4: The Abcam Scam
This week started off with the new arrival of our beads! Finally, with new materials in tow, we can continue our laboratory research on developing the test strip. After weeks of paperwork and digital writing, our team was itching to get back into the lab. Monday morning, we checked up on our old antibodies with […]
Week 3: A Calling from Salone
Heavily involved in the I-Corps program, our team was preparing for interviews. After reaching out to Mr. Sankoh of SHAFS, we had a string of interviews arranged to push us towards our goal of 20. Starting at 8 AM, we set up our Zoom link and began interviews with the staff of SHAFS. We had […]
Sustainable Humanitarian Advocacy for Sickle Cell (SHAFS)
The Sustainable Humanitarian Advocacy for Sickle Cell (SHAFS) supports sickle cell disease (SCD) advocacy and care efforts in Makeni. Founded by Abdulai Ibrahim Sankoh, the group organizes outreach events to fundraise, destigmatize, and educate on SCD. SicklED works closely with SHAFS to ensure necessary measures are being taken in the considerations of the people […]
Week 2: A Microscopic Movie
What does blood lysis look like under a high-powered microscope? Has our lysis procedure been effective in releasing hemoglobin? While our materials are shipping, we decided to do some visualizing of our lysis procedure. Using our newly obtained BSL2 training, we accessed the large microscope in HST. With some short training from Professor Cheng’s PhD. […]
Week 1: Mountaintop Pilot
This week kicked off the Mountain Top Summer Experience program where SicklED is looking to make major leaps in device development and fieldwork preparation. To start the week, we had orientation where each team laid out plans and goals for this summer. Afterwards, we regrouped in HST where we began to lay out a complete […]
Day 17: Tying Up Loose Ends
Our final true day in Sierra Leone had arrived in a flash. We knew we had to make this day count to the best of our ability. Early in the morning, our team traveled to the DHMT for the In Charge meeting that was to be held throughout the day. Thanks to the DMO, we […]
Day 16: Monkeying Around
After a busy two weeks, the teams all took a day off of work to take a day trip to Freetown. Excited for the day ahead all the teams piled, bright and early, into the vans and started our journey to Freetown. The drive into Freetown was long but beautiful. As we drove into the […]
Day 15: SicklED in Action
The past few days have been leading up to today’s meeting with the DMO. To start the day, we organized our final thoughts and materials for the presentation. During the meeting, we presented the poster and flipbook to the DMO. He provided specific directions to tailor the poster to his preferences. Additionally, a member […]
Day 15: SicklED in Action
The past few days have been leading up to today’s meeting with the DMO. To start the day, we organized our final thoughts and materials for the presentation. During the meeting, we presented the poster and flipbook to the DMO. He provided specific directions to tailor the poster to his preferences. Additionally, a member […]