Name: Abdalla Essam Mohamed Abdalla
            Suez Canal University

Visiting Period: January 13^th (Thu), 2025 - March 2^nd (Sun), 2025

Country: Egypt

Q1. Summary of the internship (Description of the research conducted, aim, introduction of lab, and things you learned)

I stayed at sashida Lab from the 13^th of January 2025 to the 2^nd of March 2025, under the supervision of Prof. Sashida and Prof. Osato at IRCMS, Kumamoto University. The aim of this internship was to work on an already started project where I will assess the relative viability of leukemic cells when they are exposed to certain type of inhibitor, as the theory was that leukemic cells that have RUNX1-RUNX1T1 translocation which are more common in adolescents and young adults with poor prognosis, have higher level of gene expression of certain protein that confer proliferative advantage, so they are supposed to be more sensitive to an inhibitor that blocks the enzyme that activates this highly expressed protein, so I conducted several experiments where we tested our target leukemic cell and other different types of leukemic cells and exposed them to different doses of the inhibitor, the experiment was preformed several times to control variables such as duration of exposure to the inhibitor, dosage of inhibitor and cell count used, so this experiments enabled me to master cell culturing techniques, cell counting techniques and constructing drug curves with broad statistical analysis, in addition I participated with my colleagues in flowcytometeric analysis several times till mastering it completely, also watched mice manipulation techniques including Bone marrow extraction and flushing, together with PCR analysis. The best part was attending many symposiums and lab talks in my specialty (Hematology) that increased my knowledge and allowed me to experience new ideas and discoveries.

During my time in the lab, I conducted a comprehensive analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing data provided by the team. I am deeply grateful to every lab member for their invaluable support and mentorship throughout the internship. Another fascinating task I participated in was related to protein structure modeling, which allowed us to uncover important insights into the project. Although - I had an opportunity to take part in some wet experiments with a chicken embryo.

Q2. What did this experience do for you with respect to your specific career development directions?

The internship was a wonderful experience, because as a physician I am not exposed to much research, moreover the internship allowed me to explore a wide new world of research where significant discoveries can be made, that can contribute to better understanding of cancers and diseases, together with discovering new treatments, all of this inspired me to pursuit research and try to apply for PHD here in Japan, because I do not want to be a person that lived and died just preforming his daily job, I want to be someone that has contributed in discovering new cures and understanding new diseases and be remembered forever.

Photo1: with my amazing colleagues after giving me a wonderful gift

Q3. What did you enjoy about life at Kumamoto University (Kumamoto city or Japan)?

Actually my experience in Kumamoto and in japan cannot be described with words, I have never liked a city or a country as I liked japan, I travelled a lot around the world, but japan is another unique level, starting from the wonderful people that try to help you by every mean possible in spite of language barrier, to the safest streets in any time of the day, to the beautiful castles and architecture of the old buildings, and of course I cannot forget the wonderful sightseeing that is almost everywhere, I visited osaka and kyoto, where I was overwhelmed with the beautiful Japanese culture, but somehow I liked kumamoto the most, Kumamoto is a calm, family friendly city with very pure fresh air, and water that is rich in minerals, which will encourage you to keep walking and enjoy the sunny weather, and finally do not get me started on the food, cause simply I will not finish writing.

Photo2: Lab members

Message to prospective students

My message to prospective students is that IRCMS internship is a once in a life time experience, that will broaden their minds regarding their future and career, and will allow them to discover a completely new world of research, furthermore will give them the opportunity to discover a new unique culture snd meet an amazing people, so simply go for it.

Photo3:with Prof. Osato and his amazing family after having dinner in a shiromiyagura restaurant near kumamoto castle

Photo4:At the top of ASO mountain with my son