Kathrine

Thank you for joining me today. To start, would you mind introducing yourself and your area of research?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah, of course. Hi, my name is Ileana Gonzalez. I'm currently a scientific technician at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Dr. Jin-Hwa Woo's lab. I'm a recent, or maybe not recent, I graduated a year ago from the College of New Jersey with a biology degree and am planning on pursuing an MD-PhD in the near future. With our research, our lab falls within cancer research and more specifically follows molecular and structural biology, which means we try to gain a better understanding of certain molecular systems and that helps inform potential therapies for cancer treatment.

Kathrine

So I guess for those who don't know, what exactly is a research technician?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah, so a research technician, it really depends on the lab, but we fall into a category of someone who is in the lab, is gaining expertise on the equipment that we use, and then also falls into kind of like a lab manager role. So wherever we need to fill in for if equipment fails or if there's orders that need to be placed for stock that we use regularly in the lab, anything like that scientific technicians can cover.

Kathrine

So thinking back, what first sparked your interest in cancer research?

Research Technician Gonzalez

So ever since I was younger, I had always had my heart set on medicine and specifically oncology. I've always wanted to be an oncologist. And then in freshman year of college, I joined an organization called Sockness, which supports Latinos and is really just a diverse organization now in STEM, in all different types of disciplines, so medicine, research, and things like that.

And through that organization, I learned how much research actually contributes to both science and medicine. And it has the potential to impact thousands of lives that I might never be able to reach just through medicine. So I decided at that point that I wanted to combine my desire to become an oncologist with my interest or new interest in pursuing research.

Kathrine

So what kind of questions does your lab study and what is your role in this project?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah, so our lab studies a lot of different things. But essentially, it's cell-to-cell communication and how proteins within cells or on cell surfaces are interacting and how those interactions affect immunity, cancer progression, among several other things. Most of our focus right now has been on proteins called integrins, and they're involved in cell signaling.

But when they're not functioning properly, they can be linked to tumor cell growth, metastatic cancer, and other diseases. Our lab utilizes a ton of different approaches. The main approach, I would say, uses structural biology techniques, so x-ray crystallography and NMR to determine 3D structures of proteins, which is really helpful.

And that's where I primarily contribute to our lab by purifying proteins. We use a technique called column chromatography, and then we attempt to get those proteins to crystallize. And when we get crystals, we can hopefully determine the 3D structure of those proteins.

There's other members in our lab that also work with cell cultures to assess different effects on actual cell function. And we also utilize computational techniques as well for data analysis. And all of that combined can be used to inform future experiments and also potential strategies for therapies.

Kathrine

So I know you already kind of lightly touched upon it, but could you walk me through one experiment or lab technique you use often?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah. So an experiment that we use often is protein crystallization. So that covers a ton of different experiments, realistically.

But basically, we take a target protein and we purify it through chromatography or column chromatography. And then we set up very tiny drops of the protein, which is in a solution with a kit of different types of solutions, so buffers and reagents that have been used to crystallize proteins in the past. So those can be commercially made.

We can also make up a smaller plate that is a gradient of well solution. So we make those ourselves. And hopefully, we get crystals within those drops of our target protein.

And then we try to use the smaller plates with gradients to optimize how those protein crystals look. And then when we get protein crystals, we can get information about the structure through x-ray.

Kathrine

So can you describe a time when an experiment didn't work and how you troubleshot it?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah. So there are a lot of times when experiments don't work out. Recently, an ion exchange column that we use for crystal column chromatography to isolate a target protein from impurities based on charges had a super low flow rate.

So basically, the buffers that we use for the columns were not going through the column at the speed that we can set it to on our software. And I was worried because that can affect the yield or the amount of our target protein that comes out of the column. It didn't seem to affect the yield, which was good for me.

But the concern was that for future use, it could really mess up that column and also the system that we run the column on, which is super expensive and something that we use pretty much weekly, if not daily. So that was very, very stressful for us to try to figure out. I discussed with another postdoc in our lab, and we thought maybe the column could be clogged, which can be an easy fix.

So we tried a few different ways to clean the column and we got it working again. So the next time I used the column for another target protein, everything worked out great. We had no issues with the flow rate and the system didn't have any issues.

So we were really, really happy that there wasn't a bigger problem at play there.

Kathrine

That's wonderful, I guess. So what does a typical day or week look like for you as a research technician?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Yeah, so as a tech, my weeks can really vary based on whatever I'm working on. I'll plan my week to cover experiments based on whatever the team is discussing in our lab meetings, or that builds on something that I have been working with in previous weeks, trying to maybe optimize or change the protocol for one of the experiments that I've been working on. I also always make sure that there's time for lab upkeep.

So this can include ordering lab materials, making stock solutions for the lab itself, and troubleshooting any issues with our equipment, like that column that I mentioned before. Sometimes staff in other labs also need to use some of the more expensive equipment that we have. So part of my job is to assist them, make sure that they are learning how to use it, but also that I'm there to make sure that, you know, we don't have any issues.

FoxChase also has visiting professors or researchers come in and do seminars. So I try to include that in my schedule because they're always a great opportunity to continue growing my learning.

Kathrine

Yeah, so what skills or qualities would you say matter most for being a good research technician?

Research Technician Gonzalez

Well, I think in research in general, the biggest quality anyone can have is patience. Sometimes the experiments you're working on are not going to work out, and especially as a tech, there will be other things that go wrong in the lab that need your attention that you weren't planning on that week. So being patient is so, so important.

And honestly, depending on what lab you're working in, skills can vary, but I would say any tech should have good communication, be able to adapt, and a willingness to learn. No one's expecting a tech to be an expert when they first come in, but being able to communicate with a team really well, adapt to anything that comes your way, and like an actual desire to learn the things that you don't know will create a path toward success.

Kathrine

And finally, what advice would you give to a high schooler who wants to explore cancer research or work in a lab someday?

Research Technician Gonzalez

My biggest piece of advice would be to take any and all opportunities that they can to experience what working in a lab or what doing cancer research actually looks like. My first research experience was in a dry lab, so that means I worked in an office working on computers, and at first I didn't fully connect with this experience. I thought that meant that research as a whole was not the right fit for me, but I still wanted to do research weirdly.

So after a while, I realized it just was the environment that wasn't the right fit for me, and that's when I found this lab and learned, okay, no, I really do love this. So hands-on learning allows you to figure out what actually interests you and what might not be the right fit for you. There's a huge advantage, especially for high school students, to planning out next steps within science and building a network, and that can help with how competitive STEM can feel at times.

More importantly, there are so many different types of cancer research and labs, so having diverse experience will help in deciding what is the best fit for yourself.

Kathrine

All right, so that's a wonderful place to end. Thank you so much for sharing your advice with me and your experiences. I really appreciated it, and I think students will learn a lot from hearing your perspective.

Research Technician Gonzalez

Of course, thanks so much for having me.