The Bolivia Project

The first rule about research is that you do not talk about research. Or maybe that's the first rule of Fight Club... I tend to confuse the two. However, the rules are completely thrown out the window when a national paper, such as the Wall St. Journal, publishes an article about your research to the entire country.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304707604577424493732692180.html?grcc=88888Z0ZhpgeZ0Z0Z0Z0Z0&mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_health


In summary, the article briefly scratches the surface of what's actually happening at the moment, and how much work is being put in to the project. The article interviews our PI (principal investigator), Dr. Rob Roach, who states the basics of what we're looking at. In short, we're sending 24 subjects down to Bolivia to see how the body responds to acclimatization at high altitude, and how well it retains said acclimatization after being de-acclimitized for a certain amount of days.  With multiple schools involved, including CU Denver, CU Colorado Springs, Utah St, The University of Oregon, Brighton, and a school from Switzerland (I believe the University of Geneva), a multitude of ethnicity and personalities entered our lab here at the UofO, all with the common goal to learn more about High Altitude Physiology. 


This is where my inner nerd takes over and gets to talk about how neat of an experience this has been.
Everything, everyone, and (mostly) every subject has been amazing. There is an overwhelming amount of overlap in personalities and ambition between researchers here, and it's important to note that we're not only from different parts of the country, but also from all over the world. 
Personally, I've been extracting muscle, analyzing blood gases, caught subjects who have fainted and vomited, sterilized equipment, and I continue to run left and right (or any direction I'm asked to run) to make sure everything is on track and on schedule. Most importantly, I've been able to learn about everyone's specialties other than just our own, and I've made some great connections in doing so. All of the subjects could easily be considered friends, they're all approximately my age and great people to be around, and it's been difficult to try to distinctly divide the relationship between researcher and peer. 


Of course, there have been downsides to the study too. If many of you were wondering where I've been (as so many of you have been begging me to come out with you), last week was approximately ~100-110 hours in the lab.  This involved coming in between around 7 am, leaving between 9-11 pm, falling asleep, and repeating. I wasn't even able to have one shirtless yogurt sessions with Dan, and that's what usually keeps me motivated to work hard. Did I get to ride my bike? Absolutely not. I think I got one spin in once, and it really gave me a sense of the mental stress I had put on myself during the duration of the study. Also, this job is based on a salary, so I am payed to work 40 hours a week only, regardless of how many actual hours I put in; 30 and 110 hours pays the exact same. 

We officially sent three individual ~600lbs crates out this past week to Bolivia, of which we had to intercept one in Tangent, Oregon because of some stupid customs rule. 

One of the three crates. Fully loaded, it took 6 people to put them together. Once intercepted, only my co-tech and I were there to reassemble. 

As the crates left, so did the project from Eugene, as all other researchers have headed back to their own schools until they reunite in Bolivia. 

Personally, I will not be going to Bolivia, as someone needs to hold down the fort in Eugene while everyone else is gone. I have absolutely no complaints about not going, as my co-lab tech has done a magnificent job in organizing this project and rightfully deserves to go. 

With some down time, I've been able to relax a little bit more these past few days. I plan on being shirtless far more often (preferably with Dan, but I'm open to other suggestions), as well as spending quality time with friends who are graduating in upcoming weeks.

This past week alone, I was able to wish a happy birthday to my oldest friend, Brian Ki, in person. I've also been able to celebrate the completed Doctoral work of one of the grad students I work with. 

Being social for the first time in weeks. This is the 13th time I've been able to wish that guy a happy birthday. Classmates since we were 9 years old.

However, the highlight of the week had to easily have been a text message from Lauren Gross, inviting myself and Dan to a party at her apartment and hit up the bars afterwards. The decision to go was obviously a no brainer for me, as I was willing to throw whatever plans I may have had (probably browsing the internet) out of the window.  However, Dan decided to go to the East Coast and the most inopportune time imaginable, and was unable to attend. Dan laid out very clear instructions for me; don't embarrass myself so badly that the girls on the team associate my failure with him. And I agree, Dan deserves to have the opportunity to screw it up himself. 

Alas, screwing things up was not meant to be, as Lauren came through in the clutch again without a hint of awkwardness. I officially met Kat and Kellie as well, although I've seen them play 20+ times, but they were also super chill. Overall, they were great people to hang out with (the football players weren't too bad either), and I don't think I've ruined anything quite yet. The three players on the team decide it would be hilarious to send Dan a photo of me with them, just to make sure he would know what he was missing out on. I humbly agreed. 

Although extremely pixilated, and somehow it looks like I'm wearing lipstick, this picture shows that  I continued my social streak this week by hanging out with what are possibly the coolest girls at the University of Oregon.