Lakshini Mendis
Lakshini Mendis received her PhD from the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland, where she studied lipid changes in the human brain in Alzheimer’s disease. She is currently working as a freelance science editor and writer, before pursuing a postdoc. She is also a strong advocate for women in STEM and is the co-editor-in-chief of the Scientista Foundation blog. Follow her musings on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn!
Articles by Lakshini Mendis:
Hot Tips for Creating a Scientific Special Interest Group at Your Institute
Universities are often organized by faculties, colleges, schools, and/or departments. So, as an academic, you often work closely with colleagues studying similar subject areas. A common interest, however, often transcends the boundaries of this organizational structure. Enter scientific special interest groups. What Are Scientific Special Interest Groups? Scientific special interest groups are member-led initiatives within…
The A to Z of Histological Stains
With the use of stains and dyes, histology allows researchers to visualize particular tissue structures, chemical elements within cells, tissues and even microorganisms. The advent and evolution of histology follows that of microscopy as outlined in ‘A (very) Short History of Histology’. Histology, which means ‘tissue science’ became an academic discipline in its own right…
Applying Your MALDI Matrix Like a Boss
Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (or simply, MALDI) is a type of mass spectrometry method. If you are new to mass spectrometry, check out our excellent primers, titled How Does Mass Spec Work and Get Out of Western Blot Hell: An intro to Mass Spec. Basically, however, mass spectrometry allows you to measure, sort, and quantify small…
A Quick Guide to Organizing Your First Academic Event
Scientific meetings provide an opportunity to learn, network, and explore new ideas. They are also an exciting break from the usual lab routine. Although organizing a Departmental or Institutional academic event takes up your research time, the experience helps develop leadership, project and budget management, and problem solving skills that will make your CV shine.…
Fine-Tune Your MALDI-TOF to Produce Good-looking Mass Spectra
Mass Spec is all about getting the perfect peaks. Without a good peak assigning the correct mass is impossible and you cannot make accurate identifications. Make sure you know how to adjust your MALDI-TOF instrument parameters to achieve your perfect peak. In our previous posts ‘How does Mass Spec Work’ and ‘Imaging Mass Spectrometry: the…