Acknowledgements 181
182 Acknowledgements
I am glad to see this book completed after experiencing so many delays, detours, and obstacles. My experience as a PhD student in The Netherlands taught me many lessons not only academically but also personally. Academically, this was an excellent experience to learn how to study cell receptors, and better understand how they work, which is something I have been interested in for long time. Personally, I faced many problems in different facets of my life, which I suppose were necessary as part of the personal growth process. The best thing was to have people standing by me, and I am convinced that without their help, this project could not have been done. Leo: thanks for giving me the challenge to carry out this project at your lab. I think we both have learned a good lesson: it was worth keeping working to reach the goal. It has indeed been difficult! I just wished you could understand me better because I had so many other complications apart from publishing papers on time. Paul: thanks for your patience and support during four years of work at the lab. I do appreciate that you believed this book could be possible one day, and I am very grateful for your help arranging everything to make it happen. Thanks for keeping in touch after I left The Netherlands, as well as, all the time you spent making corrections on the manuscripts and showing me how to write in English. Many thanks to all my colleagues at Longziekten : Cornelieke, Laurien, Jan, Lei, Deon, Willem, Ankie, Caroline, Dianne, Hanneke, Sandra, Pascale, Bart, Belinda, Miranda, and Alex. Erik-Jan: thanks for all the tips to get the money to print this book. Kim: thanks for the help with experiments to finish the TF-1 paper. Evert: thanks for the cool time during the summer school in Spetses-2001. 183
Ramon: thanks for the nice chats we had during your short stay at Longziekten I wished you could have stayed there longer. Marjolijn Stephan at Personnel Office: thanks for all your help dealing with the paperwork and the police. Isabel and Rosa Maria, thanks for taking care of keeping the lab clean, and for all the Buenos Dias of my PhD. Lisa and Juan (from Experimental Cardiology): thanks for all your support and nice time at our late lunches...they were actually like a therapy to gain energy for the rest of the day. Thanks for always finding the time to listen and help. Living in Utrecht gave me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and make friends who were there to share memorable moments. I have realized that it was important to have this little world outside the lab it was really essential to survive in The Netherlands! Miranda, Dennis, Maria, Mirijam, Luc, Hessel, and Lisa: I was very pleased to have you all as housemates at Laan van Niew Guinea 112 thanks for those good times! Allison, Karina, Antti-Pekka, Pascal, Maisha, Paddy, Parisa, Stephen, and Markus: I was lucky to find you in Utrecht and spend spare time with you THANKS! Nelly, Eduardo, and Antonio: thanks for organizing the enjoyable Mexican parties. Roos and her parents, Karl and Atti: thanks for welcoming me into your home and giving me support and valuable advice, especially during my last year in The Netherlands. 184
Shizuko: thanks for listening, giving advice, and always being a good friend. I really enjoyed traveling with you, especially when you visited Colombia and met my family that was a great experience. Thanks also for giving me the opportunity to meet other Japanese people: Nanami, Chiharu, Masayo and her mother Thanks all of you for many charming moments! Marielle: it was fantastic seeing you again in Utrecht after meeting you in Leuven during my Masters. Thanks for all the great times together, the advice, and all your support. Thanks for your help with reagents and arrangements of experiments; indeed, without your help it would have been impossible to get done the chapter on β-catenin. Thanks for being one of my paranimffen. Marie: it was wonderful to go to see the French landscapes with you, and be part of your family for few days. Thanks for your support and nice friendship! Marita: thanks for the photosynthesis breaks we shared to catch up when we both were working in Utrecht. I was also happy to visit Valladolid and discover the actual places in the History lessons of my childhood. I have no words to thank for all your patience, ideas, and final cover design of this book: MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS! Viktor: thanks for becoming my very good friend. KÖSZÖNÖM for listening to me, for your kindness, and many unforgettable moments! Thanks also for sorting out things at the clinic and finding the time to be my paranimf 185
My grant finished before I had the number of articles required to get a PhD, and there were no possibilities to stay in the lab any longer. As a foreigner coming from outside of the European Union, I did not have the right to apply for unemployment benefit despite the contributions I had to make as a normal Dutch worker. I could only keep a working visa if I had a job, and being a technician was an alternative. However, all the attempts were unsuccessful because my education was too high or my Dutch was extremely bad. Considering all this, I felt lost during that last year of my PhD grant, and I cannot describe the anguished feeling of counting down the days of my visa to do as many experiments as possible, to find a job, and to leave the country. The night before I left The Netherlands, I was accepted to work at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford. I felt like being rescued from falling deeper in the hole of problems I was moving in it was indeed a sort of miracle at the very last minute. I have enjoyed working in Oxford, not only for the new things I have learned but also for all the support I have found, which have given me the motivation and courage to complete this thesis. Phil: thanks for giving me the opportunity to work with you and for your continuous support and advice. I am very grateful for all the comments and ideas that you gave me during the writing process of this book. Siamon: thanks for understanding all the difficulties to get this PhD, and thanks for facilitating everything to finish my thesis. I also thank all my colleagues who have been there to share a cake when my papers were published, and always cheered me up to get to the end: Richard, Jo, Annette, Eamon, Lawrence, Shubo, Sandeep, Ben, Ros, Emma, Martin, Simon, Laura, Dawn, Luisa, Thomas, Claudine, Rita, and Fernando. 186
Sigrid: thanks for the time and help with all the translations into Dutch I know it was not an easy task. HARTELIJK BEDANK! Thanks also for the friendly time during our training sessions at the gym they have been wonderful to control stress during the writing period of this thesis. Branwen: thanks for your friendship and help revising the English in the General Introduction of this book. Esra and Susan: thanks for the nice time and homey environment at 31 South Street. Thanks also for correcting English mistakes in this section. Mrs Wheeler: thanks for opening doors for me in Oxford, for the nice chats, friendly time, and love for Colombia. In Belgium, where I obtained my Masters, I left behind very special people who deserve to be remembered here for their help, especially during the most difficult time. Guido and Pascale: thanks for listening to me whenever I needed. Thanks for believing in my work and for your help when I had to find a job. Margarida and Johan: thanks for not forgetting me despite the time and the distance. Thanks for your visits and for a long-lasting friendship. 187
Colombia of course I have to thank all my people who were close by during my PhD time...and close doesn t mean being in the same place Colombia is in my soul and Colombians are scattered all over the world but family and friends are always in my heart! Luis Ignacio Andrade, the Colombian consul in Amsterdam: it was great to meet you and share dreams for a better country. Thanks for creating and keeping a network of Colombians studying and working in The Netherlands. It was there that I met very nice people: Luz Stella and Mark, Sully and Keisan: GRACIAS! Patricia and Leon: it was fun having Bogotá s traditions in Utrecht with Patricia and helping her to introduce Leon into the Colombian world. Thanks to you both for your friendliness and constant support during the most difficult moments you really know how hard it was to leave Utrecht. I am also very grateful to Leon s parents, Piet and Maria, who stored my stuff at their place during the transition Utrecht-Oxford. Joaquin, Amalia and Daira: thanks for always offering a warm family environment in Amsterdam. Esmeralda and Virna: my inseparable friends who have been with me since the Masters days thanks for many years of great friendship. Indeed, it was fantastic having you close by during the PhD years. Thanks also to those people who were around you because it was delightful to spend time with them as well: Fernando, Mohamed, Sigit, and Julio. 188
Albita and Milton, Patricia and Ruben: thanks for welcoming me into your homes in Tours (France) and Gent (Belgium) over those Christmas breaks when I could not travel to Colombia Jefe (Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo) and Fanny: thanks for synthesising the peptides that were used during this project and other projects of the lab. I enjoyed keeping in touch with you!. Patita, Pitu, Javier, Catalina: We are all far away, but I am happy to always count on you. Thanks for sending encouraging words to get this PhD done and thanks for being great friends! Consuelo: thanks for being that great friend for my mother you have given me the opportunity to reach this goal while you took good care of my mother. Guillermo, Elsa, Carmelita, Julieta, Dario, and Natalia: thanks for staying around my mother and sister, as well as, giving me the opportunity to escape the city and get fresh air in Sogamoso when I visit Colombia. Ximena: thanks for being with Mum and thanks for being the great sister you are! Thanks for visiting me over Christmas in Oxford together with Natalia that was awesome! I also appreciate your corrections on the summary in Spanish for this book. Mami: thanks for following me day by day, during the good and the bad moments. Thanks for teaching me to be strong, to work hard, and to get to the end of any task. Thanks for encouraging me to never give up. HOY Y SIEMPRE: GRACIAS POR TODO!!! 189
Finally, I thank God for all the learning opportunities I have found in life, for the strength to get up when I have fallen over, and for all these people who have contributed to the enrichment of my knowledge and my feelings. Marcela Utrecht, spring 2006 190