Joy Franco, PhD

Two months into paper writing and current mood can be summed up to:

We may not get to keep our words, but at least we got to write them.

(Mitochondria + Microscopy)Monday =2M^2?

Still feeling those miles from Saturday but getting to fly solo on FLIMmer @ the Micron core the first time was a nice analgesic 🥰.

Primary somatosensory neurons expressing mito-targeted RCaMP1h (plasmid c/o Yellen Lab).

Pls pardon the lack of scale bar 😬

I forgot to share the best part! The proposal that I co-authored with my co-mentor to study cisplatin induced ototoxicity was recently funded thanks to the Claudia Barr program at Dana-Farber, which is supported by the Pan Mass Challenge. It’s one more reason this ride was so important to me!

Side note about the ride gear: I’m training for Gravel Master’s World Championships so I decided to do PMC on my gravel bike. I’ve been way overloaded by paper writing so didn’t have time to swap out my knobby front tire for a proper file tread so I’m very pleased with my >17mph average moving time

I did it! Pan Mass Challenge is in the books. 93 miles from Brookline to Bourne (I decided to up the ante by riding to the Wellesley start from home). 5h18m. Absolutely stoked.

Fundraiser is still going if you’re able to donate-> profile.pmc.org/JF0546 Why I Ride ...

With so much sadness in the world, we have to really celebrate the things that bring us joy. Like finally getting a FLIM-based experiment going to measure mitochondrial function after years of dreaming, thx to support from the Yellen Lab & MICRON core at HMS. Absolutely over the moon about this 🥹

Love to see that my required mechanical engineering undergrad training in the refrigeration cycle is paying off big this week by helping me troubleshoot our -80 problems. Should have, but never did see that one coming 😂

Thank you @wormsense.bsky.social ! 🥹

Given everything that’s happened to science this year, riding in the Pan Mass Challenge and committing to raising $4k for research felt like the least I could do.

Check out my story about why this is so important to me & if you’re able, chip in a little. Every bit counts -> profile.pmc.org/JF0546

Just finished a five day writing spree. 13 pages. 10199 words. Please clap…

…because I am exhausted.

(but watch me go for a celebratory bike ride anyway 😝)

Graffiti that reads “hey endless courage, how are ya?”

Germaine.

Goodrich Lab manager and RA is making great progress with cochlea cleareing and imaging, getting closer and closer to single fiber resolution! 🥳 Perfect for #FluorescenceFriday

Quand tu le publies, je voudrais le lire 🤓. (J’ai utilisé le traducteur pour cette phrase mais juste pour vérifier ma grammaire 🤓🤓🤓)

Genial! Merci 🤩

Pardon me for a second as I celebrate reading a scientific abstract in French for the first time ever and it just happens to be on one of my favorite topics 🤓. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@sfn.org abstract submitted! 🥳 Very excited to share our work with the community in spite of current events. If anything, it’s these events that strengthen my resolve to be with this community in person as we navigate the chaos together.

Hope to see you there!

Photo of a typed quote that reads: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our opportunity for freedom. " - Viktor E. Frankl

Yesterday: getting hit with a grant termination.
Today: settling into lab with the fiercest determination to never give up.

Si, se puede ✊

Today I join the ranks of researchers whose projects were terminated & share their pain. Mine was a K00, a career development award stemming from the DSPAN program that worked to create a diverse neuroscience workforce. I will always be grateful for what this award allowed me to accomplish.

Harvard wouldn’t be able to function without the countless tradespeople who keep this place running and you’d be hard pressed to find a researcher here who doesn’t appreciate that simple fact. Don’t fall for the propaganda that’s baiting people into choosing sides.

J’ai appris un nouveau mot que j’aime:

«les malfaiteurs»

J’aime que c’est très littéral, n’est pas? "Bad-doers" je pense 🤔 ?

(passage de «Le cahier gris» - Martin du Gard)

Who out there has a fun PhD defense outfit photo to share? A student I mentor is defending next week & I want to give her a taste of this fun tradition.

I love suits so I jumped on the opportunity to wear one.

#Academia #PhDLife

Flying into another week of just trying to get my science done while navigating an authoritarian regime.

(Pardon me trying to lighten my mood & brace myself for whatever f*ery lies ahead this week while reliving an awesome race weekend 😇 📸 Content Factory)

I really appreciate what he does. Can’t wait for the official ones to be ready.

I did. It was really hard 🥵 . Lots of rock garden action combined with steep climbing. Thankfully didn’t crash but struggled to get up those hills (had to prematurely snag this from ContentFactory IG story because 🥰).

I didn’t get on the podium but since I did race my mtb today I bought myself some Maple Butter Walnut ice cream from JP Licks. Felt relevant.

It reminds me so much of California! Timing with science didn’t work for a June trip but now I’m aiming for early October as a warm up for Gravel Worlds in the Netherlands🤞

My immediate season goal is to get on the podium at Guilford so that I can win more locally made Vermont maple syrup.

Good morning to all the PhD students, postdocs, and other science friends working hard to stay committed despite setback after setback. Hoping you find some joy today, if for nothing else than as a simple and small act of resistance ✊.

It’s wild to see messages from people who know anything about Harvard beyond headlines and heresay complain about donations and empathy. Our community is dealing with grants lost, people forced out of labs, having visas revoked. To live all that every day, and read some of this hate, it’s just wild.

Nothing can ease the pain in our community right now. The constant onslaught of attacks grates against us all. But know that we do stand together and for each other through it all.

Sending all my love & support to my Harvard colleagues, especially the international ones. ✊ 🫶