It’s been a while since my last update.
I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder when I was 18, since then I have had times when it has been pretty easy and times where it has been difficult. Over the last year my mental health has deteriorated significantly, and as a result I have struggled to do many even regular daily tasks, so updating my blog was sort of out of the picture. I not fully back to normal, I still struggle a lot and have worries and concerns about my progress, however I am moving through this and know I will come out the other side.
I finished the lab-based portion of my work at the end of December 2022. My supervisor did suggest applying for an extension due to extenuating circumstances however I wouldn’t have any money to live on, and therefore it unfortunately isn’t an option.
Projects
During my MSc I haven’t really had time for side projects, however a number of the projects that I have undertaken as part of the body of work that I will be submitting in my thesis are interesting as standalone projects and I may write about them here in the future.
Progress
In March I had my first first-author paper published. It is a review article, titled “Mechanical environment for in vitro cartilage tissue engineering assisted by in silico models”, published in Biomaterials Translational. The paper looks at how the mechanical environment affects tissue culture, and how in silico modelling of static and dynamic culturing conditions can be exploited to direct future tissue engineering research.
I am now finishing off my thesis, and will hopefully be moving onto my next adventure soon.