Hannah's Research, Roadtrips, & Goals 🔬🚙🎯

Hi there, give a warm welcome to the one and only Hannah Loredo, one of our fellow guitarrónists and Guitarrón Chronicle hosts! Take a look at what Hannah has been up to as we approach the end of this year’s summer blogs.

‧₊˚❀‧₊˚. Hannah’s Summer Update 8-21-25 ‧₊˚❀‧₊˚.

Hey guys! I, Hannah Loredo and co-host of The Guitarrón Chronicles, will be taking over the blog this week to update you about my summer!

Research

As I said in our first blog at the beginning of summer, I’ve been working at a lab at The University of Chicago. I’ve pretty much mastered smaller tasks like DNA extraction and genotyping, so lately I’ve spent more time learning about tissue culture with iPSCs, or induced pluripotent stem cells. Below are some pictures I took of my mentor’s progenitors that will eventually differentiate into blood cells. The left is an image of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) expansion, and the right are my favorite type of progenitor cells, CFU-GM, because they look like a group of stars and galaxies.

I am also a part of a dry lab project where I was in charge of manual variant calling for the largest database of mesothelioma patients. I had over 14,000 different mutations to go through one-by-one, and it took me pretty much the entire summer. However, I recently finished and it felt SO rewarding when I finally got to the last one. Sometimes after work, I’ve made the most of my close proximity to downtown by going to dinner or doing side quests at Chicago public libraries like a bouquet-making class.

Chicago Shenanigans

Ok I actually lied I don’t just save impulsive trips downtown for after work on weekdays. I also go almost every weekend with my friends and explore random farmers markets, food festivals, and craft fairs. I even visited the Art Institute of Chicago for the first time and got to see some works by Francois Boucher (my all time fav), Frida Kahlo, Monet, Picasso, and other famous works I admired throughout my childhood.

More recently, I went hiking in the middle of Illinois with my brother and our friends, and afterwards we were so hungry that we drove all the way to Chinatown for THE BEST hot pot ever. I ate so much food that I didn’t think I could eat again for another month, but that proved to be absolutely wrong because…

Canada Road Trip

We took a family road trip to Toronto! Of course I had to take advantage of being in a city that is recognized globally for its rich culture and incredible food scene. We ate momos, Thai food, poutine, Canadian bacon, and all sorts of sweet treats. We didn’t just go to Canada to eat, though. My family has an obsession with baseball, so we stopped in Cleveland for a Guardians game and saw the Cubs play the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Personally, I could care less about which team won, but I will say the Blue Jays jerseys were very cute and I was tempted to buy one.

Making Time for Personal Goals

Every day has been very busy for me, and I am so incredibly grateful to have the freedom to explore the city or go on vacation in my free time. However, I also took this summer to do a lot of self reflection, and I’ve been making an effort to work on myself and improve my health. I’ve been consistently weight lifting since May, taking care of my hair and skin, eating healthier when possible, and staying active by playing pickle ball and tennis with my brother and our friends. I’ve also been trying to improve my cooking and baking skills, and I finally set aside some time to clean and redecorate my room. I’m nervous for my progress to get disrupted when I move back to Houston, but I’m glad I was able to accomplish these tasks I’ve been putting off for so long.

Thank you for reading my update! I can’t believe we are almost to the start of the semester?! Mariachi Luna Llena is about to return and I am SO SO SO excited you can’t even imagine. Stay tuned for the final summer blog next week!

Con cariño,

Hannah