Weekly Blog #2

Vocabulary to Know: 

Eastern Conference Final- The NBA playoffs go as follows. There are two conferences: the Eastern and theWestern Conference. At the end of the regular season, the top eight teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs. The top-seeded team matches with the 8th seeded team in the conference, the 2nd with the 7th, the 3rd with the 6th, etc. Whoever wins the best of seven games in these first-round match-ups, qualifies for the conference semifinals. Then two teams make it to the conference finals. Finally, one team from each Conference makes it to the Finals where the winner out of 7 games is declared the Champion. 

Walking bucket- This is an expression for a basketball player that can get the team points essentially whenever they want to because they are THAT good. This is often crucial in the final moments of the game, or in the final game in a series because the teams are so competitive that winning or losing can be a matter of one shot. 

Clutch- This is the final few moments in a game where one shot or one foul can make or break a team. Being clutch means that you show up and deliver points, or good defense, or leadership when the team needs you to the most.

Story of a Funny Moment:

One of the most fun I have at the lab is talking to Matt Muller. He is a super sweet guy and as it turns out, he also watches basketball! While we were getting some work done (I was tracking leukocyte speeds while he was preparing a solution for Tuesday's lab testing) we started talking about the NBA. The playoffs have recently started and most teams had played their first game in the first round over the weekend. Matt and I talked about the blazers and whether they are getting past the Denver Nuggets this first round. We also argued over who in the Eastern Conference is the best team. We arrived at the conclusion that it will be the Sixers vs. the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, we agreed to disagree that Joel Embiid, the leading scorer on the Sixers, can carry the team in the clutch. In other words, is Joel Embiid a "walking bucket"?

What have I learned? 

I have learned the most when talking to the other researchers in the lab. I have mentioned that I really enjoyed talking to Matt. On Monday, I also met The Anh, an MD Ph.D. student at OHSU that is working at Dr. Lindner's lab. Dr. Lindner is also his Ph.D. mentor. We were talking about life. He explained that while it is only a two-year program to get your master's in engineering, it takes about 5-6 years to get your Ph.D. You can get a higher level job when you graduate with your Ph.D. than with your master's in engineering. However, with time, you climb up the ranks of a lab starting off lower with your master's in engineering. Effectively, in the long run, you can have similar job opportunities, however, in the short term, right after graduating, your Ph.D. will get you more, higher-level options. Another important point that I did not know is that you do not have to pay for your Ph.D., AND they give you a stipend (which is not much ... but still). On the other hand, getting a master's does add to your student debt. 

Ph.D. programs are also far more competitive to get into but I think that a Ph.D. is my best option and I should shoot for that. 

I also see many researchers in the lab pursuing a medical degree and a Ph.D. so there is no reason why I should have to choose between one or the other. The Anh is working on both at the same time through an NIH program that funds both his medical school and Ph.D. He is one of 5 students at OHSU that have this funding. 

Reflection on Progress Towards goals from Week 1:

1. I want to learn about the process of getting funding for research, finding lab space, putting together a team, etc. all of the logistics.

I have learned so much about what funding is like to get your Ph.D. for example and the cost of med school vs. a master's. However, I have not looked into the rest of these components such as putting together a team. I will make sure to ask more questions about that this coming week.

2. I want to learn the ins and outs of the experiment that Dr. Lindner and his team are carrying out. 

I certainly think that I have been asking lots, and the right questions to get to understand this experiment. I now understand why they make an incision in the neck of the mice: it is to insert an IV needle. However, I do not yet know what they are injecting through that needle whether it is anesthesia or some other component. I have been working in this office for two weeks now and finally on Friday I had the opportunity to see Dr. Lindner, The Anh, and Koya perform a surgery which yields the videos that I have been analyzing, using all of the equipment that I have been surrounded with these past two weeks. The machine by the window pumps out a buffer that is poured onto the cremaster muscle that is halfway pulled out of the body of the mouse, stretched, and pinned down. The buffer keeps the muscle warm I believe and replicates the conditions of the inside of the body. 

I also learned about why platelets show up in the blood vessels post-ischemia. Platelets have the job of coagulating blood when there is an injury. For example, if you cut yourself and sever a blood vessel, the platelets will bind to VWF which binds to the matrix which is the wall of the blood vessel. 

VWF is made by the endothelium of the blood vessel and adamts13 comes and cleaves the VWF off so that it floats in the bloodstream. However, ischemia damages adamts13 and do not allow it to cleave VWF off of the endothelium. Then, platelets come and connect to VWF which is connected to the endothelium so you see clogging all over blood vessels where platelets are effectively stuck to the endothelium.

Third, I learned how fluorescence works! As it turns out, when you hit these kinds of molecules with a certain wavelength of light, the electron structure will change. Then when it changes back to its most stable state, it will release the energy in the form of fluorescent light. 

3. I would lastly like to learn about what steps Dr. Lindner and his team take to treat the mice humanely and whether similar experiments could be run either without taking the animals' lives.

I think they are doing everything as humanely as possible. The first mouse I saw them operate on died from a heart attack. Each mouse has about 1 mL of blood in their system and 0.2 mL of the NLPR3 was added: too much too quickly. The second mouse was having a seizure for a few minutes which I guess happens. They then gave the mouse anesthesia. It's hard to watch. I heard once that mice are the closest things to disposable which I was thinking about and I can't exactly argue with it but I keep wondering whether there is a better way. 

Here are the pictures I took of some of the equipment. I also attempted to take a picture of what you see through the microscope but it came out blurry: 

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNNRJbeuu7nfdfQiHIf_6Z7EbhkYoqP6EdzeDED5nQMb4quSVV5wcMAXMAtboB8jQ?key=bE1zRFYwZEJGTEh6UXhGLXhsVExFUW5nS29RZFl3