What I Do

I often get asked by people, "What are you doing in Switzerland?" While it would probably improve my social standing amongst the group of capri-wearing, purse-carrying man teens who hang out at the metro stop and pretend that there cell phone is some sort of hi-fi stereo system to respond, "To snowboard man!", in actuality I am here to do science. (I do like to snowboard, but if I am required to show off my white calves and get a mullet to fit in with the 16-20 year old Swiss "fast crowd", I think I'll pass).































Since they say a picture is worth 1000 words (and 1000 words would bore you to no end), I thought I would include a few pictures that I have taken during the course of some of my experiments. Now when friends and family ask you why Brandon is in Switzerland, you can tell them I am here as a snowboarding photographer, which sounds much cooler than, "He is developing model systems that recapitulate the intestinal microenvironment for elucidating the mechanisms of lipid entry into lymphatics and developing nanoparticle drug carrier systems that target lacteals and thus avoid first-pass metabolism". The first image (above) is taken from the intestine of a mouse and shows a lymphatic vessel (green) surrounded by blood vessels (red). All of the fat that you eat during the day is picked up from your intestine by these vessels. The second image contains intestinal cells secreting fat (green) that is transported through the lymphatic cells (outlined in red). The third image shows intestinal cells absorbing fat (green). And of course the last image is me on my snowboard right before I am about to take a sweet jump.