Official FB Update 3

(L-R, Yosselin, Theo, Manuel, and Dr. Unnasch - I was there, I swear, just taking the picture:)


Another full month already, time is really starting to fly. This one started with a visit from Dr. Thomas Unnasch, an Onchocerciasis expert from the University of Alabama who is part of OEPA (Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas) and was in Ecuador to attend a conference on Oncho as well as work with our lab. In addition to dispensing several vital and costly reagents he worked with us for a day and half to refine and troubleshoot the complicated DNA extraction and subsequent PCR and ELISA procedures. The visit was a great success and our first full trial run yielded the results we were hoping for. All the positives came out positive, all the negatives were negative, and none of the test samples were positive, great news for the people of Agua Blanca! We have been mainly working on this project since Dr. Unnasch’s visit and now have only about 250 pools left to test.

The huge Oncho push has put the Chagas disease project on the back burner a bit. However, we still managed to prepare T. cruzi antigen for use in the two confirmatory tests we need to carry out in order to be sure the putative positives we have are actually real positives; one test is never enough.

My immunology class continues to provide ample opportunity to push myself academically and socially. We just got our first test results back and I did better than I thought I would going into this experience. I’m not in the class to obsess over grades but doing well doesn’t hurt anything☺ I also continue to make headway with my fellow students, they even saved me a seat recently after I arrived a bit late!

My latest excursion of the month was to Baños and I had an amazing time. Two of my companions for the trip are in Ecuador visiting a mutual friend and vacationing. There is nothing like being around people who can hardly speak any Spanish to help me see how much progress I am making.

I’ve also come across a new area of interest as of late. In addition to my time researching tropical diseases I would like to step back and take a look at the big picture of healthcare in Ecuador. Towards this end I’ve been talking with any Ecuadorian who will hear me out about where do they go when they are sick, what have they done during health crisis, what do they think of the system in Ecuador, etc. Carlos, a guard on my street, put it this way. “When a poor person here gets really sick, well, they just die.” Talking with my Cuban host-father about the system in Cuba has been an interesting contrast. I’m not sure exactly where this side-project will take me but I’ll be sure to keep you informed of all developments.

A recent source of great enjoyment in my life has been playing with my four-year-old host brother in the park by our house. Soccer, “chase,” sliding, and more! The two-year-old daughter of our empleada is often around too, she can’t quite speak coherently yet, but we have great fun; she loves being swung around and trying to eat all my things.