Sara M. Nolte
Sara Nolte holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and Masters of Science in Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences from McMaster University. Her MSc research focused on developing a cancer stem model to study brain metastases from the lung. She then spent a year working on developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. Throughout a highly productive graduate career, Sara became interested in scientific communication and education, and later pursued a career as a Physician Assistant (PA) in order to build medical expertise. Working as a PA in Emergency Medicine helps her find ways to bridge the gaps between laboratory and clinical science, and to improve scientific and health-related communication with the public. Outside of science, Sara enjoys participating in a variety of sports, and is a competitive Olympic weightlifter hoping to compete at the National level soon!
Posts by: Sara M.
What’s in a name? A cancer stem cell by any other name is still a stem cell – or is it?
> I have previously written about the phrase “cancer stem cell,” and how it can be misleading for researchers and the public alike. As scientists, we go through great pains to be specific in our use of ‘cancer stem cell’ (CSC), referring to a cell that possesses the stem cell abilities of self-renewal and multi-lineage […]
Inside a cancer stem cell researcher’s toolbox: CSC markers & flow cytometry
> In my previous toolbox articles (sphere formation and xenotransplantation), I’ve talked about assays that are pretty useful in determining the existence of cancer stem cell (CSC) populations based on function. What these assays cannot do is provide us with a way to identify the specific cells. Well, guess what? There’s a tool for that […]
More than just the pizza: A new approach to Journal Club
> It’s September again! That means new grad students in the lab, seminars and courses start again, committee meetings, grant deadlines, product shows, and… Journal Club. What is Journal Club – and why am I about to spend an entire post talking about it? Ideally, it is a dedicated meeting where lab members come together […]
Inside a cancer stem cell researcher’s toolbox: Xenotransplantation
> In previous posts, I have alluded to the fact that studying cancer in a dish (in vitro) is not optimal (here and here). Today, I give you the next essential tool in a cancer stem cell (CSC) researcher’s toolbox: xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation is an impressive mouthful that simply means the transplantation of living cells, tissues, […]
Bad luck, bad science, or bad reporting?
. If you’ve been on the Internet at all in 2015, you’ve probably stumbled across headlines like “Two-thirds of cancers are due to ‘back luck,’ study finds” (CBSNews), “Most cancers are caused by bad luck not genes or lifestyle say scientists” (The Telegraph), “Cause of cancer revealed: majority of cases down to ‘bad luck’ rather […]