Lisa at the Institute

On 4th March, 2002 Lisa was appointed to a two-year contract as a Senior Research Fellow in a new lab within the Division of Visual Science and Molecular Genetics within the University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology which is attached to Moorfields Eye Hospital on the edge of the City of London.

Soon after starting the new job she wrote that:

"I'm working on the Slit and Robo genes and their role in the divergence of axons at the optic chiasm, an important choice point for retinal ganglion cell axons during developement. The axons enter the chiasm and at that point decide whether to cross the midline or not. RGCs from each eye innervate targets on both sides of the brain and this divergence is critical for binocular vision.

"At the moment I'm taking my first baby steps in molecular biology - last week I made 5 or 6 probes for in situ hybridization studies. Next month I expect to begin the actual experiments - once we get some mice and have our microscopes all in place: EVERYTHING in the lab is NEW!!!!!!

"We're importing Slit-deficient mice from Tessier-Lavigne in the States for our knockout studies. I'm going to be learning confocal microscopy as well as applying my skills in tissue culture and very rudimentary biochemistry. All in all it sounds like it's going to be an exciting time here! I'm really looking forward to getting started!"

Unfortunately, after a few months, what had seemed such an exciting and promising job began to turn into a nightmare. In spite of trying everything in her power to sort out the situation, Lisa suffered a nervous breakdown and was unable to complete the term of her contract. She was finally dismissed (on the grounds of ill-health) by UCL in August, 2003.