PML SPRINTS
Science moves fast, and so do we.
At the Lab, doctors, engineers, biologists, and data scientists work side by side, tackling questions no single field can answer alone. But collaboration only works when everyone speaks the same language. That’s where PML Sprints come in – quick, focused workshops designed to bridge knowledge gaps, spark curiosity, and encourage people to think beyond their expertise.
Sprints are short, hands-on workshops designed to spark curiosity, build skills, and exchange ideas. Each sprint consists of a focused session that includes both a lecture/didactic component and a hands-on/practical activity, giving lab members the chance to step outside their routine and explore new tools, concepts, or creative approaches. Sprints also serve as a method of horizontal skill transfer, allowing knowledge to flow across disciplines, so a biologist might pick up coding tips, a data scientist might learn lab techniques, and everyone gains a broader perspective.
Who Can Join?
Sprints are open to all lab members: researchers, students, engineers, clinicians, analysts, and select sessions welcome external participants; no prior experience required.
These one- to two-hour crash courses are led by lab members who take us deep into their domains. Over time, they’ve become a lab staple. We’ve seen biologists build circuits using Arduino (guided by our in-house electrical engineer!), and data scientists ace oral anatomy quizzes. Bioinformaticians have decoded KEGG pathways, while medics explored Generative AI, synthetic biology, and even space biology.
Season One Highlights
Our first sprint season featured 10 instructors from across the lab who conducted beginner-friendly sessions in their areas of expertise.
We kicked off with Maryam Shah’s session on Protein-Protein Interactions, where she broke down hubs, nodes, and how genetic variations can be understood through network analysis.
Then came Hammad Iqbal and Ibrar Amin from the data team with back-to-back Machine Learning and Deep Learning sprints—timely sessions that helped our medics and biologists fill knowledge gaps and dissect papers with greater confidence, enabling them to participate in lab huddles with increased confidence.
Abdus Salam followed up with a high-impact session on Gene Expression in Cancer, a topic central to much of the lab’s research.
Sabaoon Zeb demystified the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), guiding everyone through the pathway maze—a fun fact: the highest quiz scorer was a third-year MBBS student attending from outside the lab!
In Shagufta’s Cancer Biology sprint, we took a deeper dive into the tumor microenvironment, new ground for many on our data team. And in a fun twist, the dentists turned instructors, walked us through oral anatomy, lesion detection, and the many tooth numbering systems used globally, plus an intro to cysts, tumors, and other oral pathologies.
Hina Zamir tackled the genomics giant and made it digestible for our data and clinical team.
We ended the season on a high note with Khudeja Salim in the cell culture lab, where she taught the team how to handle basic wet lab tasks, such as DNA extraction, cell feeding, media changes, and more. Hands-on, messy, and memorable!
But Sprints are more than just crash courses.
They keep us aligned, especially during the summers when new interns and elective students join us for two months. They create a space where no one’s afraid to ask questions, no idea is too wild, and cross-disciplinary learning becomes second nature.
What’s Next
After a short break, Season Two is here, and we’re scaling up. The team’s grown, new projects are in the pipeline, and as always, science waits for no one. So we’re making sure everyone is equipped to contribute to scientific discussions, conference debriefs, and quick-fire brainstorming huddles.
We’re also opening up some sessions to external participants, because why not build a bigger, bolder learning community? If you’re passionate and curious about the idea of learning things outside your domain, stay tuned!
Season Two Is Here: Spring 2025 Series!
Because sometimes, the best way to learn about complex systems is to build one yourself.
We kicked off the season by getting our hands dirty. Led by Asem F. Khan, a biotech grad with a knack for art and science, the sprint titled Make Your Own Terrarium invited lab members to design and build their own miniature ecosystems in glass jars, using mosses, pebbles, isopods, and soil. Along the way, we learned how terrariums function as closed-loop systems, offering insights into soil microbiomes, water cycling, and humidity regulation.
But this wasn’t just a DIY plant project. We zoomed out to explore the role of self-sustaining ecosystems in space biology and how terrarium models could inform future life-support systems for long-term space missions.
Upcoming Sprints:
- Thinking in Networks
- Data Wrangling with Excel and R
- Python + Machine Learning Basics: A Practical Introduction
- Inside the Dish: Cell Culture Logic and Troubleshooting
- From raw reads to interpretation of Genomic Variants
- Sustainable Creativity: Upcycling Paper into Canvas
- How to design a protein that does what you want
- Differential Gene Expression Analysis and Interpretation
- Introduction to Oral Anatomy and Pathological Processes with an Overview of Digital Histopathology
Science moves fast, and so do we.
At the Lab, doctors, engineers, biologists, and data scientists work side by side, tackling complex problems that no single field can solve alone. But collaboration only works when everyone speaks the same language. That’s where PML Sprints come in—quick, focused workshops designed to bridge knowledge gaps, spark curiosity, and get people thinking beyond their own expertise.
These one- to two-hour crash courses are led by lab members who dive deep into their domain. Over time, they’ve become a lab staple. We’ve seen biologists building circuits using Arduino (guided by an electrical engineer!), while data scientists have tackled oral anatomy—and, surprisingly, acing the post-sprint quiz! We’ve had bioinformaticians decoding KEGG pathways, while medics have taken deep dives into Generative AI, synthetic biology, and even space bio.
But Sprints are more than just crash courses. They help us stay aligned, especially as the lab expands each summer with fresh interns and elective students. They create an environment where no one hesitates to ask questions, no idea is too wild, and cross-disciplinary learning is the norm.
