Explorers 2021 is a new chapter in my life. I had great expectations about the program, and I can confidently say that Explorers 2021 met my expectations and more. Everyday of the past two weeks we had the opportunity to be instructed by incredible and inspiring guests. As a highlight of my two weeks at Explorers the guest speaker and the lesson that I found the most engaging was Alicia Morales with the Imposter Syndrome Phenomena/Experience. The first days at Explorers 2021 I really felt like I did not belong and that someone else deserved my spot. Since most of the people on the program seemed to have more knowledge about science and cancer. As soon as Alicia defined what Imposter Syndrome was, I felt really identified and I knew it was all in my head and I was not the only one that felt that way. I started to tell myself that I deserve my place and that I was chosen for my work and not by mistake. Which greatly changed my perspective of the program and got me excited to continue. I feel that this type of subject should be taught in schools since the mental health of students is very important, especially in teenagers who are going through difficult situations. I could not just pick one discussion that surprised me or changed my thinking on a topic since I came to Explorers to gain experience and grow my love and enthusiasm for science and each of the discussions had a different impact on me.
(I most identified to the natural genius and the situation on the image is one I have experience multiple times in school and even in the Explorers 2021)
For us it’s just a common cold virus but for patients recovering from a bone marrow transplant it could be their worst nightmare. Human parainfluenza virus (HPIVs) is a group of viruses that cause different types of respiratory infections which are most common in infants, but anyone can get HPIV illness. Nevertheless, Hutch researchers are discovering there are new hopes for transplant patients vulnerable to HPIVs. The protagonists of this discovery are Dr. Justin Taylor a Fred Hutch immunologist and Dr. Jim Boonyaratanakornkit who treats patients with infectious diseases at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. The purpose of the research is to give clinicians a tool to help prevent or treat parainfluenza infections. The goal established by Taylor and Boonyaratanakornkit was to know if laboratory-manufactured copies of monoclonal antibodies could be formulated into a drug that could be injected into transplant patients to prevent or treat parainfluenza. This discovery is highly important not only for the science community but also for all those transplant patients who after years of fighting and overcoming their cancer face the probability of losing it all due to a virus that in healthy people would be just a common cold. For the science community this is great news, after years of study from human blood and tissue samples, finally found protective antibodies against parainfluenza virus. As good as it gets, this tremendous discovery does not end here since Taylor and Boonyaratanakornkit decided to take the next phase of this research with the new goal of discovering and developing an array of potent antibodies against several different viral diseases that threaten immunocompromised patients. I chose this study because it is exciting to see how science advances and how it helps improve the quality of life of human beings.