Problem Solver
Vivian Barlos
Areas Vivian Barlos is Knowledgeable in:
Cell and molecular biology, microscopy and immunofluorescence and live cell imaging, genetics, cell signal transduction, developmental biology, cancer biology
Techniques Vivian Barlos Uses:
The two main situations where I need to employ problem solving techniques are at the beginning of a project, where I am deciding how I will go about answering the question that I would like to ask, or during the project, when I either do not get the result I expect or if my experiments fail. At the beginning of a project, I ask myself what my model or hypothesis is, then based on my previous experience, or based on literature of what other groups have done, I design a complete set of experiments that will either support or disprove my model. During the project, when I encounter problems, I go through a complete set of troubleshooting mechanisms, where I assess every single step that could have a deviation or faulty equipment or reagent or just plain human error, then set up a series of experiments where I test each possible point of error to determine where the problem is. This approach has been extremely successful for me. Additionally, as the project progresses, I may encounter some results or situation that requires additional experimental design which leads me to come up with more experiments to answer the question I have asked.
Vivian Barlos's Problem Solving Skills:
- Background research and study via internet sources (ie PubMed and online journals)
- Laser Confocal Microscopy and Immunofluorescence
- Drosophila genetic analysis
- Manuscript writing and publication
- DNA cloning and analysis
- Grant writing
- Biochemical protein interaction analysis
- Student training and instruction
Vivian Barlos's Problem Solving Experience:
- I have developed a biochemical protocol to study the subcellular localization and protein interactions using our mammalian tissue culture cells.
- I have designed a project to study the mechanisms that regulate the proteasomal degradation of the gap junction protein connexin43, that has resulted in multiple publications and one grant successfully funded.
- I developed antibodies specific to my protein of interest, starting from the beginning with designing primers to subclone my gene into the appropriate expression vector, then expressing and purifying my protein which was used to immunize the mice, then subcloning the resulting hybridoma cells and screening for activity. These antibodies have been invaluable in our current studies, and have since been licensed out to a company for commercial sales.