I'm not sure where the time goes, but here are photos from our 5th and 6th annual lab retreats!

Perhaps it is telling that I am not updating the blog for 2021 until the first week of 2022... First and foremost, I am full of gratitude for my incredible team as they continued to rally together and support one another in lab and life during the pandemic. I could not ask for a smarter, more compassionate, creative, or thoughtful group than the 2021 Hamilton lab team! We gained multiple team members- Kaitlyn and Gloria are two exceptional research specialists, Noor- our newest GI fellow, and Daana- veterinary student, in addition to three (!) summer undergraduate researchers- Hritik, Jenna, and Catherine. We pushed our next major paper, led by postdoc Patrick, across the finish line and are currently awaiting news about our revised manuscript submission. We were awarded an additional year of funding from the Lisa Dean Moseley foundation to study stem cells in human IBD and are awaiting news on a couple more pending proposals. The lab had our 4th annual retreat around the birthday of the Hamilton lab (July 1), which included a 2-day "retreat" with a state-of-the-lab address, goal setting exercises, a picnic celebration, and an enlightening team-building session in which we learned our "bird-types" (eagle, owl, parrot, dove). Spoiler-alert: we have a lot of "owls" in the group, a couple "parrots", and one "eagle" (me).  We really enjoyed the exercise and learned a lot about each other's communication styles. On a bitter-sweet note, we were excited to see Lauren off to her new job as a nurse at CHOP after completing her accelerated BSN degree. We are also bursting with pride at Patrick's new position in the American Association for Cancer Research executive office as a Research Analyst. As two of the lab's founding members, it was hard to see them go. But there is nothing more satisfying than helping folks learn, grow, and "fly" after their time in the Hamilton lab. So far, I can share that 2022 will bring multiple new papers from the lab, a new lab manager, some rotation (and hopefully permanent) PhD students, more funding, collaborative projects, and some new directions. Cheers, and happy new year!

Our lab is happy to teach researchers at any career stage. We take great pride in our ability to train people in one of our favorite areas of expertise- the generation and culture of 3D enteroids and colonoids (sometimes referred to as organoids). Over the past year, we have provided hands-on demonstrations, protocols, and advise to multiple laboratories in the Philadelphia area. Our most memorable "trainee" from the past year was none other than my postdoctoral advisor and mentor, Dr. Anil Rustgi from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Over the course of an afternoon, graduate student Louis Parham provided Dr. Rustgi with a hands-on tutorial and was able to discuss and obtain feedback on some of his own exciting enteroid data. In addition to the training, Dr. Rustgi took the time to meet with other Hamilton lab trainees to provide feedback and career advice. The visit concluded with a lab dinner (see photo below). Dr. Rustgi's visit got us thinking about how valuable it would be for our lab to host additional, seasoned investigators to share our expertise and receive wisdom and advice, both individually and as a team. If you are a senior researcher in (or visiting) the Philadelphia area and would like to spend a little time in the Hamilton lab, please reach out to us!

Our lab loves hosting summer undergraduate students from the Penn Undergraduate Student Scholars Program (USSP)- we get to teach them about our exciting research and they bring energy and enthusiasm to the group. This summer, we a pleased to host two USSP students: Gabrielle Largoza from Trinity University and Michael Sun from Johns Hopkins. It's going to be a fun and productive summer!