Jemma Geoghegan

Best of Boston

I write my final blog sitting at home in Fife, and what a surprise, it's raining today. 

The past 2 months have gone by so quickly, I wish I was still in Boston eating quasadillas everyday for lunch.  It's been a great summer and I have learned so much from Genzyme and met some very inspiring people.  Today I got an email from a friend telling me the staff meeting consisted of talking about my data and how 'amazing' it is.  I guess my final report went down quite well!

I thought I'd sum up my experiences in Boston with the best things that happened this summer (original I know). 

1. Genzyme- the surgeries and procedures I have seen, the people I have met and the advice and inspiration it has given me.

2. Boston- the city that has been 'home' for the past 2 months, Harvard Square, window shopping on Newbury, nights at the Charles river.

3. Birthdays (x3)- Chris's 21st, I wasn't too sure of the drink measurements at this time! My 22nd at the Red Sox v Yankees game, and Matt's 21st at the Radiohead concert.

4. Exploring- Cap Cod with jaws and dancing and lots of fun on the beach.  New York City with it's sky scrapers and mega clubs.  Connecticut with it's big casino where we won...em...our dinner!

5. The guys- Matt, Graeme, Chris...we've had some laughs this summer and I survived living with 3 boys!

Thanks for everything Saltire Foundation, and thanks again to Mark for making it possible for me to have worked with Genzyme.   

Happy Labour Day

Happy Labour Day folks! It's monday of our last week and happens to be Labour day so we've had a long weekend off work. We were planning to head to New Orleans to meet up with the other interns but we thankfully changed our minds before Gustav hit. We had a busy week, trying to see and do everything before we leave. Last weekend we had the 'unofficial' tour of Harvard University by some Harvard students. We got some inside gossip as well as shown the dorm rooms of the Simpson's writers (who would have guessed it?), Matt Damon (drop out), Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore (who happened to be room mates) and a few of the presidents. Bill Gates ended up dropping out too, but still was awarded his 'honoury dioploma'.
One evening last week we spent at the top of the second tallest building in Boston, the Prudential. On the 50th floor we had a great view of the sunset over the city.
Work is going well, my project is wrapping up and I'm currently writing a paper on the work I have done. The inetrns all met up for our last lunch as they are all going back to college this week. I have met some really nice people and I'm sure we'll all stay in touch. Catherine, in the university relations department, has been especially helpful during my time here. She has organised most of the networking events in which I have met some interesting people and helpful future contacts. Not only that but she also gave me a harp lesson, and I fed the cat while she was out of town in return.
Yesterday we experienced the Italian festival in Little Italy, and sorry about the steriotype, but very tastey pizza. Last night we boarded the china-town bus at 9pm and headed to Conneticut to the second biggest casino in the world, Mohegan Sun (thank you Family Guy!). We were given a free $45 bet, which was lost when I went all in on black. The rest of the night I was too scared/sensible to gamble, while Chris came out nearly $200 up!
Today we took advantage of our Boston discount cards and went on a 3 hour whale-watching trip. This was truely amazing! I know they are the biggest animals in the world and everything, but I wasn't expecting them to be that big! Luckily they were happy to show off for the camera so I got some good pics.
So after being here for 7 weeks, yesterday we found out there is a fitness suit on our building! Oh well better late than never!
Work tomorrow, only 4 days left so I'm sure I'll be kept busy.
I'll write again soon, Jemma

The past couple of weeks at work have been so busy.  After making good progress with my project I am now in the process of writing operating procedures for the experiments I have done and a report of my results.  As my boss mentioned, this will be good practice for writing up my Honors Project for 4th year at university. 

The highlight of the week was finally meeting with Mark Bamforth, a senior VP at Genzyme, and one of the trustees for the Saltire Foundation.  It was great to meet with him and talk about how our internships are going and express our opinion about the Saltire Foundation etc.  He also went to Strathclyde University so we had to gang up on Chris a bit for being a G.U. student!  Mark talked about how he came to work with Genzyme in the UK and back then there were around 200 employees.  He also mentioned that biotechnology and life sciences are one of the main focuses for Scotland's future.  Chris and I grilled him with our questions and gave him our sincere thanks for making this possible for us.  Plus it was great to hear another Scottish accent hasn't been lost!

It's Boston Restaurant Week so we're taking full advantage and heading to the best Bistro in town for a 3 courser tonight.  Well everyone did say I was going to come home Super-sized!

I 'heart' New York

My boss kindly gave me the day off work so at 7am Friday morning we headed for the megabus to New York City!  When we first arrived I was overwhelmed even trying to cross the street and avoid the crazy yellow taxis who clearly don't know what a red light means.  By Sunday, however I felt like a regular New Yorker learning to just shout "coffee" if I wanted a coffee please.  The first stop was waiting in line for half price tickets on Broadway.  Next we headed for the Rockefeller Center.  'The Top of The Rock' gave us amazing views of the city (and no day-long ques to wait for).  That evening we went to see "Avenue Q" which is like the Muppets in adult humour...very funny!  On Saturday we took the Saten Island ferry which gave us a close up of the Statue of Liberty, then proceeded to Ground Zero where The Freedom Tower is under construction.  After walking down Wall Street we dragged the boys to Macey's for a bit of therapy.  That night we headed to the Meatpacking District where we danced the night away in one of New York's "mega clubs".  On Sunday we walked around Time Square and window shopped in Bloomingdales before eating at the 'Singing Diner' where our waiter serenaded us with the Proclaimers!  Good times!

Practically Famous

Ok so if everyone's going to do this then I am too.  Check it out...

http://www.strath.ac.uk/features/saltirestudents/

Another week at work has nearly come to an end.  My project is going well and I'm making some real progress.  All of the interns got together for a spot of networking, aka: lunch, at the local Chinese buffet on Wednesday which went down a treat.  We're planning a night out next week for Boston Restaurant week (it's where some of the best restaurants in town do a special 3 course meal for only 30 bucks!). 

The four of us are heading (megabus style) to Leanne's pad in Manhattan this weekend to see the sights.  I will eventually get round to posting some photos up soon I promise. 

This is going to be short and sweet but I'll write more after the weekend.

Adam Levine and a $200 bottle of bubbly...I don't ask for much

Time's fun when you're having flies.  Nearly half way now and I don't want it to end!

The week at work was very productive.  I'm currently getting stuck into my project which mainly involves trouble shooting with different concentrations of many many many different chemicals to make up solutions that do what they're supposed to.  It's a slow process but it's a good feeling when I get it right and my supervisor seems pleased with the progress I'm making.  So I won't bore you with all the chemistry talk right now (although it's exciting stuff if you're anything like me!)...

Leanne made it up from New York last Friday to join us for a weekend of Boston antics.  After work we relaxed in the cheers bar before going to the local Italian in Harvard to enjoy the buskers and pasta.  In the morning we enjoyed a bagel in the Boston Common to the sound of an anti-war protest and then proceeded to some serious shopping on Newbury street and lunch on the patio of yet another Italian restaurant.  In the evening we proved typical girls and took a good few hours to get ready for a night on the town (the boys had pizza and beer to keep them quiet).  While waiting in line for the night club we were asked by a group of guys if we wanted to chip in for a table and a free bottle of champagne (otherwise the bouncer wouldn't have let them in).  I just heard the free champagne and agreed.  As a thank you for getting them into the club, the four of us got the table and champagne to ourselves.  It turned out that the waiter brought us the wrong bottle and we were sipping a $200 bottle (thats about $6 a sip!).  Luckily it was their mistake which we didn't have to pay for!  So as I was savoring the bubbly, Maroon 5 walk past and sit at the table next to us.  How's that for a night out?!

Rectum...nearly killed 'em

I feel like I need to explain the title of this one...

So today I proved that I have the coolest internship ever! (sorry interns but I totally do!) For the past two weeks I have been researching one of the most successful products that my department has invented.  It's an adhesion barrier used in surgery to prevent adhesions such as bowl obstructions in the intestine or obstructions in the uterus after a Cesarean section etc.  Today I got to see it in action so after scrubbing up (Grey's Anatomy style) I went into surgery.  In the room were around 10 sales reps who we (Royal we) were teaching how to use the product, and they would then show the doctors how to in surgery.  When the reps left I was allowed to stay and help suture which, believe me, is harder than it looks.  The product is now widely used in surgery all over the world and is now being researched for it's other uses.  Next I watched laparoscopic surgery (I got to hold the camera at one point!) while we tested different samples of new products being developed. 

Although Genzyme is a business, and like all pharmaceutical corporations there is money to be made, it is such a patient focused company.  Their goals are all centered around their patients and it makes it feel so rewarding being a part of that. 

So to sum up, the title...a little surgeon's joke for you.

Let's go Red Sox...

It's been an eventful week.  Work is going well, I haven't been given my project yet but hopefully I will have more of an idea what I will be doing this week.  I have been let loose in the lab by myself now though so I must be doing something right.  Our work outing was a great day; ate way too much BBQ food, got soaking on the bumper boats and it was an open bar so...let's just leave it at that. 

On Friday I turned 22 (21+1) and so I got taken out for lunch by my boss to an all you can eat Chinese buffet and then got to go home early to start celebrating.  I have to thank Helen Sayles for her generosity.  I don't know how she managed it but we were given 4 tickets to the Red Sox v Yankee game which made it a memorable birthday to say the least.  Her son, Iain, showed us the ropes and explained the game to us (thanks Iain).  Although the Red Sox lost it was a great atmosphere at the game and a brilliant way to spent my birthday. 

There are lots of interns at Genzyme and so Chris and I have been put in charge to reach out to them and organize social events etc.  The four interns I work with are all going to Medical School next year so needless to say they are very bright people with lots of ambition.

I treated myself to a new SLR camera so will post photos soon.

Jemma

P-Town Adventures

So working 9 'til 5 is quite different from student life where everyday can be a weekend.  I understand now why my parents always go to bed so early.  We headed to Cape Cod (aka: The Cape) for our first weekend away.  Stepped off the ferry into Privincetown...which is culturally diverse to say the least!  There was a gay-pride festival on so it was a pretty interesting experience.  Among the crazy bars and drag shows we found a bit of jazz to boogie to and chilled on the beach for the rest of the time.  The four of us have a lovely glow of pink now from the sun. 

I experienced that Monday morning feeling getting up for work after recovering from the weekend.  I feel really settled in work now which is good and I've made some good friends.  I'm working in the analytical chemistry group just now which is quite daunting but I'm learning a lot and actually surprising myself about how much I know on the subject!  We have a work outing on Thursday, going to a BBQ and playing mini golf and bumper boating which sounds like a lot of fun. 

Boston is such a great place.  A few nights a week we will go into Harvard Square and watch the street performers or walk down to the Charles river and day-dream of being able to afford a boat.  We're starting to get to know the area well and really settling in.  The four of us are getting along good so far (the guys are surprisingly good shoppers!)  Its my birthday in a few days so I'm sure we'll have some stories to tell later in the week. 

Bye for now

Jemma

1st week

I can't quite believe it's been a week now since I arrived in Boston. My first day at work Chris, the other interns and I were shown the Genzyme Centre building (which happens to be about 100m from my front door!) which is one of the only buildings in the world to have platinum rating for being so 'green'. I am working out of town at another Genzyme building in Framingham which is the science centre. My supervisor, LiPing Yu, and her team are working in the biomaterials side working with naturally occuring biopolymers that have many medical implications. The projects they have been working on sounds so exciting and I think I'm going to learn a lot while I'm here. I've met lots of interns in a similar position to me and we're planning a work outing next week sometime. We have also organized a car-wash fund raiser which sound like a lot of fun :)

There has been a lot of play time too though...

The first weekend we did a lot of exploring the city and took a duck tour (a bus that goes in and out of the water) and it was a great way to see everywhere. Our apartments are pretty amazing and we're in such a nice part of town. The other night we went for a walk down to Charles river and ended up jumping in...the locals probably thought we were crazy like we would if someone went swimming in the Clyde!

I'm looking forward to next week at work and getting really stuck into the projects. I have also signed up for salsa classes at MIT in the evening so I'll keep you posted how that goes!

Better be off to work now,

Jemma