Category / Steps to Ph.D.

by Gabriele Feigelman

Breaking the Silence: A Call to Share Time Management Strategies for Parents Seeking Careers

As Seneca once said:

“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy.” 

Unfortunately, time is the only asset that cannot be recovered once lost. Unlike other material possessions, someone borrowing your time cannot return it to you. Even now, as a mother of a one-year-old, I find time management and productivity fascinating. My focus has shifted from seeking tips from productivity experts to finding inspiration from parents who work and study. Therefore, they are my current source of inspiration and true time-management champions, helping me utilize time efficiently.

Having a child completely changes your understanding of time. You feel its fragility more than ever. You chase it constantly. Becoming a parent means you can only fulfill your career goals with excellent time management skills. Finding parents who balance work with parenting and are willing to share their experiences is challenging.

The Need for Relatable Examples

First-time parents need inspiring examples of how to manage a career and parenthood. On social media, it’s easier to find realistic depictions of a stay-at-home parent’s day than examples of busy parents juggling both responsibilities. Parents rarely share the road to successful parenthood and a career. In many cases, they ignore the impact of their daily lives on reaching professional goals. Often, they don’t have time to share their experiences outside of their family. It takes time to find these parents so you can learn from them.

Students and parents can find practical advice at the university.

I found Technion’s mentorship group for mothers in academia very helpful. It helped me anticipate future challenges and provided solutions I may not have thought of otherwise. I could say more about this group, but it’s enough to say that every university should have one. There, I heard academic staff members’ stories and their children’s opinions about what it meant to see their mothers working. Seeing the struggles and achievements of these parents can be incredibly helpful.

The Missing Components in Efficient Management of Parenthood and Career:

  • The not applicable portrayal of parenthood in social media for working/studying couples
  • The importance of acknowledging and addressing feelings of guilt, exhaustion, and the need for help
  • Examples of how to use short periods of work/study while caring for a child
  • Not considering each family’s unique situation: workload, background, economic situation, and family support.

  • Dealing with guilt for not being present. Parents often feel guilty at work when they think about their children and at home when they think about their work. Living in the present is the first step to overcoming this. Bringing work home or dealing with home issues at work is pointless. Plan your day to accomplish your work tasks.
  • Feeling guilty for not spending enough time with your children. Parents often compare themselves with people living a completely different lifestyle. Working parents should not compare themselves with stay-at-home parents. They should consider examples with similar lifestyles or stop comparing themselves at all. I knew what it felt like to be raised by a working mother. My mother worked daily from 7 am to 9 pm. Despite everything, this did not damage our relationship. I still consider her one of my best friends and advisors.
    Even if I knew from experience that it was possible, I had to hear it from others. Thus, I was relieved to hear professors at Technion admit that their careers have not retroactively affected their family life. Hearing that they also felt guilty while raising their children was comforting too.
  • Fight productivity decline due to low energy levels. Parents and workers need to care for themselves to be productive. This involves asking friends and family for help and resting while the second parent is with the child. If you can share the load, do it. There is no need to do everything alone. Work from home when your energy levels and environment allow—in the morning or at night, depending on the parent. Many people use a weekend day to catch up on work while sending their partner and children to play dates or to family visits.
  • Seek help from alternative sources. I heard about a mother who paid her teenage neighbor to watch her toddler/baby during her maternity leave so that she could work. It’s a brilliant idea, one I wouldn’t have thought of myself. As she pointed out, she does not need a babysitter at home. She can feed and care for the baby but needs someone to occupy him while working. This is much cheaper than hiring a babysitter and gives parents additional flexibility.
  • Make time for your kids. Be present, close the phone, and enjoy the moment. Include your kids in family activities. Your chores might be the perfect game for them when they are small and want to get to know you. My baby found it funny that I threw wet clothing into the dryer. Although it takes more time to do the chore, it gives your children a sense of independence and time for bonding.
  • Make a plan for 20 minutes a day. Free time can pop up suddenly, so make the most of it by planning what to do. Parenting means you value those 20 minutes, and there is still much you can do. You can write an e-mail, pay the bills, exercise, read for fun, or clean a room. In 20 minutes, it’s challenging to do something creative, but other tasks requiring low creativity are doable.
  • Consider cost-effectiveness. If you can afford it, hire help rather than do it yourself. Ultimately, we choose what we work for. Instead of doing house chores you hate, you can work extra shifts at your preferred job. Your financial flexibility should guide your decision. For 60 EUR/66 USD, would it be worth spending four extra hours with your kid? By working from home or an extra shift, the cost of 4 hours of help for the family decreases, and you still have 2 hours for family interaction.

The career-driven parents: the real heroes of time management

After returning from maternity leave, many mothers report increased productivity at some point. Despite the new need to care for a baby, child sickness leave, on average, they have higher productivity than when they didn’t have children. As my Hebrew teacher said, all changes come gradually: “You are born as a mother or father when the baby is born. The amount of experience you have as a parent is similar to your baby. A two-month-old baby has a two-month-old parent.” The experience you gain in time management equals two months, but as time passes, the experience grows. Stories from many females confirm this, but science has limited data to back it up. It may be time for more research, for more voices to speak up.

Science emphasizes the importance of a support system for females that would allow them to pursue their carrier. According to a study by Matthias Krapf et al. 2014, motherhood boosts female researchers’ research productivity throughout their careers. But Matthias Krapf et al. also found that unmarried women, as well as women under 30, are negatively affected by parenthood. Thus, females need a support system that allows them to pursue a career. An effective support system can be a family member, a mentor from the university, or an example of successful parents who manage their careers and time while raising their children. The world needs more heroes to speak up about how they managed their time to pursue careers and maintain family ties.

Literature Source:

Parenthood and Productivity of Highly Skilled Labor: Evidence from the Groves of Academe Working Paper 2014-001A by Matthias Krapf, Heinrich W. Ursprung, and Christian Zimmermann. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.05.010

by Gabriele Feigelman

Planning Your First Laboratory Experiments: Unveiling the Process of Thoughts

Introduction:

Embarking on your first laboratory experiments can be both exciting and overwhelming. You can use this guide to ensure your experiments are well-planned and the planning process runs smoothly. We will use an example to explain how to plan experiments from the beginning. So let’s dive in and uncover the steps to successfully design your first laboratory experiments.

Step 1: Analyze the Research Question

Begin by clearly defining your research question. For instance, “Do macrophage-fibroblast interactions influence the metastatic spread of tumor cells?”

Step 2: Exclude Keywords from the Research Question

Identify the keywords in your research question and extract them. In our example, the extracted keywords are “interaction” and “metastatic spread.”

Step 3: Determine Descriptive Characteristics

Think about what characteristics could describe the keywords you excluded. In this case:

– As a result of interaction, things overlap, but they don’t exist separately in the same way. Thus, this cooperation can diminish, amplify, or even generate new effects.

– The metastatic spread has several amplified characteristics, depending on its stage. There is increased proliferation, angiogenesis, transcription of proliferative genes, and decreased transcription of dormant genes.

Which assays can you use to measure separate characteristics of the keywords?

ProliferationCCK-8, BrDU
Gene ExpressionPCR
Extracellular Proteins (secreted)ELISA
Intracellular Proteins and their distributionIF
Intracellular proteinWB

Step 4: Explore Existing Literature to Shape Expectations

Research what is known in the literature about your research question to shape your expectations. In our case, macrophages and fibroblasts should interact to promote metastasis.

Step 5: Define the Desired Outcome

Decide what effect you want to observe in your experiments. This will further refine your focus and guide your experimental design. In our case, the desired outcome is a change in the metastatic spread.

Step 6: Determine the Cause

Consider how you will prove the cause of the observed effect. In our case, we know that metastatic cells spread due to the interaction between macrophages and fibroblasts. We wonder if this interaction occurs directly with tumor cells or indirectly through soluble messengers. We are not interested in tumor cell-macrophage or tumor cell-fibroblast interactions. Thus, we will focus on an indirect approach that prevents other combinations of cell-cell interactions.

We will test this through different experimental setups.

Experimental Design:

Part 1: Examining the Effect of Interaction on Tumor Cells. Test tumor cells with and without supernatant derived from macrophages grown with fibroblasts. Identify if the change in the metastatic spread is present.

Part 2: Identifying the Source of the Effect. Identify whether the effect is caused by macrophages, fibroblasts, or their interaction. Investigate what drives the impact.

– Group 1: Tumor cells treated with supernatant from macrophages grown with fibroblasts.
– Group 2: Tumor cells treated with supernatant from macrophages alone.
– Group 3: Tumor cells treated with supernatant from fibroblasts alone.

Optimizing Experimental Conditions:

To ensure reliable results, consider the following factors:

1. Type of media and its volume. Choose a medium type and volume that supports cell growth and viability during the experiment.

2. Decide on Main Control. Part 1: Tumor cells without supernatant. Part 2: Tumor cells treated with supernatant from macrophages grown with fibroblasts.

3. Number of cells and incubation time. Ensure that the cell density allows proliferation without overcrowding. Adjust the number of cells and the incubation time accordingly. Some genes and secreted proteins may need longer incubation times. Follow color changes in the cells’ media throughout the experiment, as they could show overcrowding.

by Gabriele Feigelman

Protocol for Decellularization of Deposited Lung ECM from Primary Lung Cells

  1. Preparation of Lung ECM:
  • Obtain fresh mouse lung tissue and rinse with PBS to remove blood or debris by perfusing 3 ml PBS through the trachea or main bronchi.
  • Place the lung tissue on a cell strainer 70 microns on a 50 ml falcon tube.
  • Gently mash them with a plunger to extract the cells and tissue fragments.
  • Rinse the cell strainer with sterile PBS to collect any remaining tissue pieces.
    A Pro tip: Lift the cell strainer a bit from time to time to improve PBS drainage.
  • Centrifuge the collected cells at 2000 RPM for 7 minutes to remove red blood cells.
  • Implement red blood cell lysis if needed (Sigma Product No. R 7757):
  • Add 1 ml of buffer to the cell pellet.
    • Gently mix for 1 minute.
    • Dilute the buffer with 15 ml of PBS.
    • Centrifuge at 2000 RPM for 7 minutes and decant the supernatant.
  • Resuspend the cell pellet in full media (DMEM, 10% FCS, 0.5 % Pen-Strep, 1% glutamine, 1% NEAA, 1% pyruvate,1% fungizone) at a density of 200,000 cells per 75 microliters with 37.5 microliters of supernatant from HL-60 cells that are enriched with growth factors.
  • Plate the lung cells onto a 96-well plate and incubate for 72 hours to give time for cells to attach and secrete the ECM.
  • Preparation of Lung ECM:
  • After 72 hours of incubation, remove the media from each well.
  • Wash each well with 100 microliters of sterile PBS to remove any cellular debris.
  • Place 100 microliters of sterile distilled water (DDW) into each well to decellularize the wells for 30 minutes.
  • Remove the DDW and add 37.5 microliters of fresh ______ full media to each well. (depending on the cell line)
  • Seeding of Cells:
  • Prepare a cell suspension of 20,000 cells in 37.5 microliters of ____ full media. (depending on the cell line)
  • Plate the cell suspension in quadruplicates on a 96-well plate containing either lung-decellularized ECM or plastic.
  • Switch  ________ full media to serum-free media with or without treatments after overnight incubation. (depending on the cell line)
  • Incubate the plate at 37°C and 5% CO2 for ____ hours. Recommendation (48-72 hours)
  • Analysis:
  • After the 96-hour incubation period, assess the cell viability and proliferation using standard assays such as CCK-8, and collect supernatants.
  • Compare the results of the cells cultured on lung decellularized ECM with those cultured on plastic to determine any differences in cell behavior.

For 96-well plates, you can download a protocol template:

protocol-for-decellularization-of-deposited-lung-ecm-from-primary-lung-cellsDownload
by Gabriele Feigelman

Protocol for Orthotopic Mouse Tumor Injection (Breast Cancer):

Materials:

  • Cultured tumor cells (200,000 cells in 40 µL saline per mouse)
  • 1.5 mL Eppendorf tubes
  • Sterile 27-32 G needles (A Pro tip: Adjust needle size by checking if counted cells stay alive in vitro after drawing them and dispensing in plate vs. the exact number routinely seeded – if not, lower the G of your needle)
  • 1 mL syringe
  • Isoflurane
  • Q-tips (used for iodine solution and eye cream applications; to give an extra stretch to the skin)
  • Iodine solution
  • Balb/c mice
  • An eye cream that prevents dryness
  • Gauze Pads

Preparation of Cells:

  1. Mix the tumor cell suspension well but gently.
  2. Draw the cells without the needle attached.
  3. Attach the needle (to remove bubbles) and adjust the tip to align with the scale.
    A Pro tip: If you want to eliminate bubbles, draw more L than you need. You’ll need to draw some air into the syringe to increase the distance between the fluid level and the tip. To remove bubbles, flick the syringe. Empty all air and dead space until you see the first drop at the tip of the needle. Make sure you leave only the volume necessary for injection.

Preparation of Mice:

  1. Weigh and number the mice.
  2. Anesthetize the mice with isoflurane.
  3. Cover the eyes of the mice with protective ointment to prevent dry eyes.
  4. Lay the mouse on the gauze pad before shaving.
    A Pro tip: It is easier to collect hair with gauze pad.
  5. Shave the mice.
  6. Remove all the hair with the gauze pad.
  7. With a Q-tip dipped in an iodine solution, scrub the injection area once.
    A Pro tip: Iodine solution stains all the skin except the nipple area, which makes it easier to identify injection sites.

Injection Technique:

  1. Identify the fourth abdominal mammary gland.
  2. Lift the skin (3-4 mm) near the fourth mammary gland nipple area while placing the forceps (1-2 mm above the nipple) before injecting.
    A Pro tip: Some mice may have stretchy skin that obstructs vision. To improve access, ask your colleague to gently stretch the skin above and below the injection site using Q-tips.
  3. Insert the needle (2-3 mm) from the side at an angle of 180° under the nipple area. The tip should be inserted with an additional 0.5-1 mm.
    A Pro tip: Once the needle has passed the skin barrier and been positioned at the correct depth, lift the tip of the needle with the nipple. The cells are injected beneath the nipple.
  4. Inject 40 µL (not more than 50 µL) of the tumor cell suspension.
  5. Remove the needle slowly to avoid leakage.
  6. Injecting properly will form a visible, palpable round bump that disappears without leaking any cells.
  7. Observe the animal after waking up from anesthesia in its follow-up cage.
  8. Return the animal to its original cage.

    Tumor growth and development should be monitored twice a week in the mice. Depending on the cell type and number injected, tumors are palpable approximately seven days after injection and can be measured with calipers. It should take 2-3 weeks for tumors to form a tumor that can be removed easily.

    It is highly recommended that you watch this video, even though the injection technique is different, in order to see how the fourth mammary gland nipple area is identified and what the bump looks like.
by Gabriele Feigelman

Bradford Assay

Materials:

  • BSA (bovine serum albumin) standard solution stored with a concentration of 1.4 mg/ml
  • Bradford reagent (dye-binding reagent)
  • Test samples containing protein
  • 96 well Microplate
  • Spectrophotometer

Procedure:

  • Prepare the BSA standard solutions of different concentrations (e.g., 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 µg/µL) by diluting the BSA stock solution with distilled water as follows.

    BSA standard preparation for working concentration 1mg/ml
  • 45 µL (BSA 1.4 mg/ml in DDW) +18 µL DDW
Final BSA Concentration µg/µLVolume BSA from 1 mg/ml (µL)Volume DDW (µL)
0025
0.051.2523.75
0.12.522.5
0.2520
0.37.517.5
0.41015
0.512.512.5
0.61510
  • Add 10 µL of each BSA standard solution to the 96-well microplate in duplicates.
  • Lysates diluted 1:10 in DDW, e.g., 3 µL Lysate + 27 µL DDW.
  • Add 10 µL of each diluted lysate in duplicates.
  • Add 150 µL of Bradford reagent using a multi-channel pipette.
  • Measure Immediately OD at 595 nm using a spectrophotometer.

PRO TIP: Practice proper pipetting technique as it is clearly presented here.

by Gabriele Feigelman

How to Prepare Lung Lysates from Mice Lung Tissue

  1. Label Eppendorf tubes.
  2. Prepare the Lysis Buffer by mixing 270 µL with 30 µL of Protease inhibitors (Sigma Cat. No S8820, 10x) for one lung tissue measuring approximately 2×2 mm. The ratio should be 1:10. Calculate the required volumes based on the number of specimens:
  • N of specimens x 300 µL = Final Volume
  • N of specimens x 30 µL = Required volume of protease inhibitors
  • Final Volume PBS = Final volume – Required volume of protease inhibitors
  1. Sonicate specimens on ice using short pulses not exceeding 5 seconds.
  2. Incubate specimens on ice for 30 minutes to cool down.
  3. Centrifuge at 12,000 RPM for 15 minutes.
  4. Collect fresh supernatant in a separate Eppendorf tube.
  5. Determine the protein concentration using the Bradford Assay (see Protocol for the Bradford Assay.

    PRO TIP: Maintain optimal cooling conditions during lung tissue preparation, sonication, centrifugation, and supernatant collection
by Gabriele Feigelman

Steps towards a Ph.D.: How to make repetitive work easier?

Data processing can be time-consuming, but it’s an essential skill. If you don’t handle repetitive tasks smartly, they can drag on. Plus, knowing how to manage these tasks easier will save us time for more meaningful things or give us a minute to relax.

For example, during my thesis, I learned how to make some tasks on the computer faster and more automated. As a result, I could focus on more relevant jobs, invest more time in hobbies I enjoyed, and even write this blog.

The lab’s most valuable resource is time, and using it wisely is the key to success. So, in this article, I wanted to share eight tips that I’ve found helpful to make repetitive tasks easier:

“He who can copy can do” -Leonardo da Vinci. 

When it comes to working fast, using prepared templates and protocols is essential. Let’s say we are repeating an experiment a third time while using the same conditions; the number of samples is different. We can write the protocol from the beginning, copy it from our previous experiment, and make small changes.

The best way to accomplish this is using an electronic lab notebook, such as Notability. With this app, you can upload separate protocols in the same notebook, add hand-written comments, mark progress with an Apple pen, and, most importantly, use the lasso tool. This tool allows me to copy and paste previous hand-written calculations and to update relevant information, such as the number of wells and the outcome of my calculations.

For a quick tutorial on using the lasso tool cleverly, I’d recommend watching this short video – it’s straightforward.

Alternatively, you can prepare a template in excel for your calculations. Or, you can check out the collection of electronic protocols for typical assays used in research (work in progress) here.

Combine fun and work 

We are tempted to passively perform repetitive tasks and to divide our focus. While outlining irregular wound scratch assays, I sometimes watch TV or do something else. When I outline them, the program I use mustn’t freeze or lag, the process itself should be as smooth as possible, and mistakes should be easy to fix. It works for tasks that do not require full attention and are easy to fix if something goes wrong. To outline irregular migration assays, which lack contrast to the background, investing in an Apple pen was extremely valuable.

The picture was generated via the link, using Bart Simpson Chalkboard Generator.

Optimize your focus 

The first thing to optimize your focus is to identify tasks requiring a high level of attention. These tasks demand thinking or cost a lot of resources (time, materials) to fix if a mistake has been made. As a result, I have developed several ‘hacks’ that have helped me stay focused on what I’m supposed to be doing. Firstly, you can track your progress on known protocols even when you are tired or multitask between experiments by marking ticks as you proceed. Changing the alignment of test tubes after working with them is another trick. A task that is not recorded on paper is not completed. Successful focus begins with a break during which you wind up and satisfy your basic needs.

Whatever you can batch process, do it

In the world of computers, there’s this thing called ‘macro,’ which enables you to batch process almost anything. I have a video about this, and if you want to find out more, I have a pretty awesome guidebook about batch processing in image j, excel (in progress). 

The idea behind macro is that we don’t push buttons or icons repetitively to perform the exact same task on the program. Instead, we teach a computer what steps to do, which files to process, and where and how to export outcomes.

And if you’ve had that experience where you’ve pressed a thousand times the same three buttons on the program, and you’ve entirely started to feel like a robot, that’s just because you haven’t given this task yet to macro, an actual robot that should have been doing this in the first place. 

Save time by investing in time-saving skills.

There is something about the word programming that can instantly induce anxiety for some people. It’s especially true when we’re just starting something, and we don’t know what we’ll be able to achieve. At the start of any learning, we need an injection of positivity, simplicity, and instant results to see whether it is worth our efforts. But if we can see that these results are applicable and save us time, like understanding basic programming to batch process our data, we should dive into it.

Whether you want to batch process your data using image j, Excel, or R or simply survive your biostatistics class, here is a basic introduction to programming.

There is no need to do everything on your own

As my friend advised, I should place my pride/fear of asking for help deep in the drawer and lock it. It can be retrieved after meeting people. There is a huge chance that someone has already faced your issue or has enough experience to handle it smarter, not harder. Indeed, dealing with people has its peculiarities, such as working on a collective project, but as the African proverb goes, “Go alone if you want to go fast. If you want to go far, go together.” [1]. Do I always listen to my friends’ advice? My heart tells me it’s the right way to implement it, even if I’m not always convinced.

Choose bare-minimum time for implementing tasks.

Most of the time, I do tedious, repetitive tasks with a timer because starting is the biggest problem, and I keep putting it off. To make your lazy days’ tasks more manageable, pick the minimum time to complete them. Compounding effects work in the end, so sometimes it’s better to do a bit than nothing. If it worked in economics, it would work for you too.

Conclusions

Time is the only currency people steel; they quickly trade but never get it back. Your time in the lab or doing something you enjoy is worth more than being a robot pressing the buttons, so do repetitive tasks smarter, not harder.

[1] Whitby Andrew. Who first said: if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far. Accessed on the Internet [3 Jan 2023]. Available via link

by Gabriele Feigelman

Cell Viability Protocol

Protocol:

  1. Seed (number, cell type) cells per well in a 96-well plate in (volume) μL of (type) media.
  2. Incubate the plate for 48 hours under experimental conditions.
  3. Add 10 μL of the CCK-8 reagent (not sponsored; we use it – Abcam, cat. No. 228554) to each well.

Pro Tip: Prepare a mix of CCK-8 (10 μL) and serum-free media (100 μL) for all wells, and add 110 μL of mix into each well. Use the multi-channel pipette to load the mix into wells.

  1. Incubate the plate for an additional 1-2 hours.
  2. Measure the absorbance at 460 nm with a 540 nm reference using a spectrophotometer. The water-soluble tetrazolium salt WST-8 5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-3-(2-methoxy-4-
    nitrophenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium, inner salt, monosodium salt is taken up and reduced in the mitochondria of viable cells to a soluble orange formazan dye. The absorbance is directly proportional to the number of viable cells.
  3. Normalize the cellular proliferation to the experimental control.


Key Notes:

(a) To save time, use the pro tip.

(b) Calibrate the number of cells, so there is minimal variation between duplicates and triplicates of each sample.

(c) Calibrate the number of cells so the supernatant can be collected at the same time for ELISA analysis. 

(d) The method does not require cell lysis, so it is possible to move on to additional cell-based assays or downstream applications without killing cells [1].

To download the template, use the embedded document:

cell-viability-protocol-templateDownload

Bibliography:

1. JEAN-FRANÇOIS TÊTU. Do you use MTT or WST-1 to count cells? Created on 20-05-2016. Accessed on the Internet [14 Feb, 2023] via the link: https://www.tebu-bio.com/blog/still-using-mtt-or-swt-1-for-cell-counting/

by Gabriele Feigelman

Why Does His Work Speaks for Itself Better Than Yours?

A few years ago, I attended a conference for pharmacists who specialize in working with medical cannabis. An expert on cancer and medical cannabis gave a presentation after the introductory speech. The lecture was intended for a general audience without prior experience in lab work. It is likely that he was able to secure substantial funding through his brilliant research, strong management skills, and ability to effectively deliver his ideas from brain to tongue. In addition to scientific findings of his team, his presentation was engaging in another aspect. There was a sense of confidence and persuasiveness in his presentation.

According to the presenter, his lab was capable of conducting 96 independent experiments simultaneously to test the hypothesis, namely whether Cannabis extracts inhibit tumor cell viability. His team found that Cannabis extracts with similar levels of (-)-Δ9–trans-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had significantly different effects on tumor cell survival in vitro, and that tumors respond differently to cannabis extracts depending on their receptors [1]. It is currently mandatory to specify the route, concentration of cannabidiol and THC when prescribing medical cannabis to patients in Israel [2]. Based on this research it is critical to note, however, that even extracts with similar levels of THC affect tumor cell survival differently. As a result, more research is clearly needed to improve guidelines for prescribing cannabis for medical purposes.

So far, medical cannabis benefits are more based on the host and the product. There are no guarantees when it comes to anti-tumor properties for a specific tumor, especially with current knowledge, guidelines and products. It is no secret that products in the country are changing very rapidly. Basically, I don’t claim it works as anti-tumor agent, I don’t claim it doesn’t, but it is clear that more research is needed. For now, let’s put this aside.

However, what does it actually mean to be able to perform 96 different cell viability tests each time?

Was he right? Yes, he told the truth. Did it sound impressive to a general audience at that moment? I think so. This choice of words emphasizes repetition, adds a sense of quantity, and gives the listener a sense of trust in the data. But is it really that impressive? It’s doubtful… A simple 96-well plate is used to seed tumor cells, incubate them with viability agents, and then read them on a plate reader or using another method. Almost any Ph.D./M.S. student does these 96 experiments every day/week. Some people are naturally good at it, while others need to look carefully for ideas on how to present their work.

According to Austin Kleon in his book “Show Your Work! : 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered”:

” Words matter. Artists love to trout out the tired line, ” My work speaks for itself”, but the truth is, our work doesn’t speak for itself. <…> The stories you tell about the work you do have a huge effect on how people feel and what they understand about your work affects how they value it”

I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a boost to start showing their work. Available via a link on Amazon. It was a personal recommendation, not a promotion. It’s thanks to Ali Abdaal that I got this book.

How important is it to speak up for your work?

Aside from academia, medicine, conferences, and pharmacy, we express ourselves at every job requiring human interaction. Often, we represent our workplace. Making meaningful connections, providing professional advice, and sometimes even persuading others to follow our expert advice depending on how we talk about what we do. The art of words may help us acquire funding or get published. We use it sometimes to express our appreciation to sponsors.

Recently I received an email from Technion informing me that my thank-you letter has been selected for delivery to Technion supporters for my Doctoral Fellowship in 2021/2022. Is it a big deal? Probably not, but knowing I can reach somebody to advocate for my work with a few keystrokes is pleasant. In the future, I hope that my son will be able to speak for his work or at least express himself in a way that touches other people’s souls no matter what field he chooses to pursue.

[1] Baram, L., Peled, E., Berman, P., Yellin, B., Besser, E., Benami, M., Louria-Hayon, I., Lewitus, G.M. and Meiri, D. (2019). The heterogeneity and complexity of Cannabis extracts as antitumor agents. Oncotarget, 10(41), p.4091. Available on Internet via link. Accessed on Internet [6 Feb 2023]

[2] Aviram, J., Lewitus, G.M., Vysotski, Y., Abu Amna, M., Ouryvaev, A., … & Meiri, D. (2022). The effectiveness and safety of medical cannabis for treating cancer related symptoms in oncology patients. Accepted to Frontiers in Pain Research.‬‬‬ Available on Internet via link. Accessed on Internet [6 Feb 2023].