Dear MVP students,
With more places going under stricter rules, some of you are switching to all online learning. We’ve talked about COVID fatigue but there is hope. Let’s stay safe and healthy until we reach the end of the tunnel. Keep up a daily routine and join miRcore meetings where we can laugh together.
Microgrant fundraiser
Innovation is hard to get funding for since by definition it is unproven grounds. However, innovation is the key to advances in any field, and medical research is no exception. We want to support innovation and thus we will fundraise to provide microgrants to researchers who have innovative ideas.
In 2019-20, opioid addiction was voted on as our disease of focus, but we halted our annual fundraiser due to the pandemic. While everyone was suffering due to COVID-19, raising funds for something else seemed to be irresponsible. Now, during another big surge of COVID-19 cases, we are resuming the opioid fundraiser. One major reason for this is that opioid addictions got even worse due to the pandemic. MVP officers decided to finish the opioid addiction research fundraiser and then move on to the COVID-19 research fundraiser with a reduced target goal.
Here is the opioid addiction research fundraiser site. Please share it with your family and friends.
https://www.mircore.org/fundraiser/
From the fundraiser committee:
miRcore is announcing a Covid-19 PPE fundraiser. Please add your name to the spreadsheet emailed to you if you’re able to obtain materials (hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks) in bulk from an Amazon wishlist (miRcore will provide the list). If you choose to, miRcore can reimburse you or you can subtract the costs from the donation amount.
Every MVP will be in charge of creating and distributing kits to donors. These will count as your fundraising/advocacy hours (5 hour minimum requirement).
GIDAS leaders: Audrey’s email has more information regarding getting your GIDAS involved in this fundraiser.
This weekend’s meeting:
We will continue connecting dataset and research questions. Since there is no meeting on Nov 28th, please do your best to meet with your group members this weekend.
Focus on what you can do and avoid spiraling into thoughts about what you cannot change.
Make a daily routine!
Inhan Lee, Ph.D.
Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH talks to miRcore students about the role of genomics in modern medicine.
• March trilogy (graphic novel, multiple authors)
• Bone series (graphic novel, Jeff Smith)
• The Door Within (Wayne Thomas Batson)
• To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• Candide (Voltaire)
• The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexander Dumas)
• Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
• I Am Malala (Malala Yousafzai)
• The Cactus (Sarah Haywood)
• 1984 (George Orwell)
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill)
• The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware)
• The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
• Silent Spring (Rachel Carson)
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert A. Heinlein)
• The Farewell (2019)
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)
• Office Space (1999)
• Vinland Saga (Summer 2019 Anime)
• What Happened to Monday (2017)
• Always Be My Maybe (2019)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Gattaca (1997)
• Re:Zero (Spring 2016 Anime)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• “I decided to memorize the dictionary. I got through six pages before I got too bored. I learned next to nothing.”
• Trust Me, I’m a “Biologist”
• “What’s the difference between a poorly dressed person on a bicycle and a well dressed person on a tricycle? Attire.”
• “Why should you save your pennies? Because it makes good cents”
• xkcd
• “Medieval medicine wasn’t always on point, but those medieval physicians sure had a sense of humour!”
• “Twin 1 is in prison for 20 years. After 10 years, he calls his twin.’Hey, remember how we always said we finish each other’s sentences?'”
• “We really need to stop talking about mitosis… it’s such a divisive issue!”
• “A chemist walks into a bar with his friend after work. He tells the bartender, “Can I get an H2O?” His buddy looks at him strangely. “George, you don’t have to say it like that. We’re not at work anymore.”
The first chemist walks into the bathroom and cries. His assassination plot has failed.”
• “Haikus are easy / But sometimes they don’t make sense / Refrigerator”
• “‘My ability to do calculus is limited.’
‘Is it approaching zero?'”
• “‘You got any sodium jokes?’
‘Na!'”
• (^in response^) “I slapped my neon that one!”
• “‘I tried to sue the airline for losing my luggage’
‘Did you win?’
‘I lost the case'”
• Checklists/scheduling
• Planning something enjoyable after studying
• Switching between studying and relaxing
• Using a dedicated study room to shift mindset
• Forest app
• Pomodoro method
• Turning off notifications (Do Not Disturb)
• Classical music/marches
• Turn off any music so it’s not distracting
How to Use Zoom, MVP GDrive, and Skribbl.io
How to use Zoom
Zoom is a free platform that offers video conferencing, screen sharing, and chatroom functionalities. You can seamlessly set up online meetings, send out invitations for people to join, and add meetings to your Microsoft Outlook/Google Calendar using Zoom. All miRcore volunteers are expected to have Zoom installed for use in group research meetings and committee meetings.
You can download the Zoom Desktop application (the “Zoom Client”) for Mac or PC here: here.
Instructions for setting up and using Zoom are available here.
The Zoom application is also available for mobile devices: Zoom at the App Store and Zoom on Google Play
How to Navigate the miRcore Volunteer Program’s Google Drive Folders
At the beginning of each volunteering season, miRcore volunteers receive access to several Google Drive folders containing resources for research, fundraising, and other miRcore activities. Depending on the folder, volunteers will have “View only” or “Editing” permission in each Drive folder.
Please see this presentation (courtesy of Rhea Cong, miRcore Volunteer Program Vice President, 2019-20) for details on how to navigate the Drive system and set up research folders for your research group: https://docs.google.com/
Google Drive Hierarchy (Folders and Subfolders)
• 2019-20 MVP Resources
• Useful files
• RNA division
• Practice Data
• Meeting Slides
• 2019-20 MVP Research
• MVP RNA
• MVP DNA
• MVP online
• MVP general
• Fundraisers
• miRcore Officers 2019-2020 (this folder is accessible only to miRcore Officers)
Skribbl.io Instructions
How to Join:
• Have one member go to skribbl.io
• Have that member click ‘Create Private Room’
• Change the settings to 8 rounds and 40 seconds per turn
• That group member will send the link (at the bottom) to the other people to join
• Once everybody has clicked the link and is in the room, press start!
The goal of the game is to try to guess what other people are drawing. When it’s your turn to draw, try to make your drawing convey the word you are given so that other people will be able to guess. The person with the most points wins.
Today’s game should start and wrap up in about 10 mins.