Week 6 (more research)- Carissa

This week I've spent quite a bit of time in Dr. Spector's research lab. Most of the projects in progress in the lab involve understanding blood flow through tissue and using it to improve tissue viability after trauma or ischemia. I was able to watch one of the technicians work on rat microsurgery. She teaches a class for doctors to learn how to reconnect blood vessels during surgery under a microscope. I also learned how tissue sections are prepared for histology and how the images are analyzed and interpreted. A lot of the techniques they use on mice and rats in the lab are exactly the same as the techniques I have witnessed in the operating room, and it's interesting to see how doctors base research off of their tried-and-true techniques in hopes of discovering something that revolutionizes their field of medicine and the way they treat patients. I think this is where students like me can actually contribute a fresh perspective on how to solve some of the problems doctors currently face in their daily practice. For my remaining time here I will continue to work on my research project in Dr. Spector's lab. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will have learned a little more about how ischemia reprofusion injury affects the immune system of patients who have experienced transplants, heart attacks, etc.