At the end of last year, the LMB was pleased to appoint Shalini Arun Prasad to Head of the LMB’s Media Prep and Glasswash Facility.
The Media Prep and Glasswash Facility is integral to the continuance of research at the LMB. The facility provides clean, sterile glassware to all the LMB’s Divisions, along with a range of stock and bespoke growth media, buffers and agar plates. Additionally, they supply fly food and a fly subculturing service. They also provide a sterilisation service.
Each month, the team make around 1500 litres of media, pour around 7000 plates and prepare 750 litres of fly food. Every Monday morning, the team hand washes up to 80 flasks, working up to a weekly total which fills 35 to 40 trolleys of glassware. This is then delivered throughout the lab so there is always a ready supply to meet researchers needs.
Shalini first joined the facility in 2019 as the Lead Technician in the Tissue Culture Division where she was responsible for collection, washing and autoclaving glassware for all Tissue Culture labs, and daily stocking of cupboards and freezers. She also helped prepare sterile laboratory solutions, such as buffers and other media for tissue culture labs as well as the LMB’s Biological Services Group.
Shalini received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College in Bangalore, India and then a Master of Business Administration degree from Sathyabama University in Chennai, India.
Prior to joining the LMB, Shalini worked as a Pharmacy Assistant at Cambridge University Hospitals, helping to dispense pharmaceuticals to various departments, and as a Lab Manager in the labs of Tom Blundell and Ben Luisi at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Biochemistry where she was responsible for monitoring usage of and sourcing consumables, reagents and other appropriate laboratory items. She also maintained lab equipment and coordinated necessary repair and maintenance works.
Additionally, Shalini completed an internship as a Research Assistant in Andres Floto’s group at the University of Cambridge’s Molecular Immunity Unit, housed at the LMB. Here she worked on projects focused on the CRISPR/cas9 gene editing system in Mycobacterium abscesses, and provided support for molecular cloning, cell culture, western blotting, DNA purification and amplification using PCR. She also gained experience in working under containment level 2, preparing culture plates for E. coli and Mycobacterium abscesses under aseptic conditions.
Shalini commented, “I’m thankful to the Media Prep and Glasswash facility that continue to support world class research in LMB. I look forward to be at the forefront of delivering innovative, high quality and sustainable service”
Further references
LMB Support Services
Stephen McLaughlin appointed Head of Biophysics Facility