Travel report from Kings College London by Daniel Doyon

Why did you chose to visit Kings College London (KCL)?

My PI has a close affiliation with KCL, notably because he is a part-time professor and lecturer in their Neurology department. He also has a long-standing collaboration with Diana Cash, a professor and group leader at KCL specializing in preclinical imaging and drug studies. Diana is a co-supervisor of my PhD because of my interest in incorporating these methods into my thesis work. Thus, it was only natural that I would visit Diana and her group to gain a deeper understanding of the techniques used, to perform experiments and to analyze data.

What did you do during your lab visit? 

My visit consisted of analyzing the data for experiments Diana’s group had done with biological samples that I had sent to her some months prior. After looking through the results, I spent time analyzing the data and generating figures to use for publication. I also shadowed ongoing imaging experiments with Diana’s lab to gain better understanding of the process and watch the data being generated in real time. I had discussions with various group members about the technique and developed a better understanding of how the complex imaging data is transformed into usable numerical values. 

I also attended a journal club seminar with Diana’s group in which I got to ask question and discuss ongoing work. Finally, as I was preparing for my halftime seminar at KI, I spent a lot of time writing my report and preparing my seminar presentation while in London. A very productive visit indeed!

What were the major differences between working in a lab KI and KCL? 

I would say the main difference is that my lab focuses on so-called “wet lab” techniques, while Diana’s lab focuses on imaging techniques, and these two areas of research are quite different, even though they can produce complementary data about neurological disorders. Doing imaging is very costly, very time-consuming, and requires highly specialized experts to operate the instruments and generate the data. Working in a wet lab involves experiments which are much faster and less expensive, wherein many different samples can be analyzed in the same experiment, and the techniques can be learned quite quickly. In addition, 

Diana’s group has quite a lot more PhD students than my group at KI, which was very nice as I got to interact with many more of my kind.

What was your impression of London? 

I have been to London before, but only for short amounts of time, and only as a tourist. Staying for almost 2 weeks and going to work every day gave me a much better impression of the London lifestyle, which I very much enjoyed. 

London is a mega-metropolis which is hustling and bustling and absolutely bursting with energy, culture and life. As soon as you come out of Victoria station, you’re met by an overwhelming crowd of eclectic people from all walks of life: business men yelling on their cellphones, street performers, skateboarding teenagers, retired folks out for afternoon tea, and everything in between. This is NOT Stockholm. I am fortunate to have an old roommate from once-upon-a-time who was born in London and still lives there today, so I had a local guide with similar interests who showed me the highlights of this incredible city. We went to concerts, ate at some excellent restaurants, drank in pubs, cycled around Brixton, went up into Horizon 22 to see the most spectacular view London has to offer, watched stand-up comedy shows in Camden town… all while working very productive days at KCL. This trip left a fantastic impression on me and I can’t wait to visit again.

Do you have any recommendations for anyone wanting to do a lab visit in the UK? 

I encourage any students who have an interest in visiting labs abroad and who have some interest in UK culture to apply for this travel grant and to go for it. 

My main recommendation would be to try to find someone who knows the city; with such a massive capital, many people have either visited or lived there, and discussing your visit with them is the best advice I can give. London is absolutely huge and there is so much to discover, so having a bit of a guide can be a great starting point to plan your experience. 

I would also encourage finding a nice balance of work and visiting. I made sure to do a satisfactory amount of work every day, so I could go out and enjoy the city every afternoon and evening. Guinness at the pub tastes much better when you’ve worked for it!

If I were to share a memorable experience from my stay...

On one sunny day I decided to bike from my accommodation in Streatham all the way into London centre after working from home. It’s about 12km of winding streets through big parks, quiet neighborhoods and high-traffic areas. In the afternoon sun, with my shades on and my hair in the wind, biking through South London and stopping at every interesting street corner or cute flower garden was a beautiful experience. I probably took 2 hours to make that bike ride and it was worth every minute.

To what extent have your impressions and experiences from your stay abroad affected you personally? 

This work trip reminded me how much I love experiencing new places and living in different parts of the world. As I mentioned, I have seen London before, but never lived it until now. Personally, this got me so much more excited to return to the UK and perhaps even look for work there after my PhD. I think London is an amazing place and it was very inspiring to work there for a few weeks.

What will you bring back to KI? 

Apart from some Yorkshire Tea and a tacky fridge magnet, I’m bringing back dozens of figures and graphs from my experiments and about 20 pages of written report for my halftime. In addition, I’m bring back a suitcase full of memories, laughs, smiles and good times, and a newfound appreciation for driving on the wrong side of the road.