Week 2 - Amy

 

Clinical Observation: This week Dr. Curran and I discussed multiple CAR-T studies. I learned more about the neurotoxicity of CAR-T cells and the many things researchers and clinicians have done to try to circumvent this toxicity (and treat patients once it happens). Dr. Curran has a lot of knowledge concerning different therapies and why some CAR-T cell therapies are effective while others fail clinical trials. We specifically discussed CAR-T clinical trials that have been done in collaboration with MSKCC and discussed in detail how therapeutic efficiency is determined in these trials. The amount of knowledge and experience Dr. Curran, and many other clinicians, have with CAR-T cells is remarkable. As a researcher, I have already learned how invaluable it is to discuss translational research with clinicians. There are so many details that clinicians have that aren’t available in a research article. For example, they know much about current therapies, but they also know a lot about therapies that have failed. In many cases, clinicians have a good idea of why they failed. This why is very important to better design effective therapies.

Research: I continued research with two graduate students in Dr. Scheinberg’s lab. We performed a CD3 binding assay with a CD3 aptamer to prove the aptamer binds to CD3 on Jurkat and human T-cells. For one of the SynNotch CAR T-cell’s the lab is developing, I cultured various cell types to assist in this study. We were able to transduce the cells, and everyone was really excited to see that many of the cells expressed the receptor and that the receptor binds to its target. I have really enjoyed being a part of a project where the current experimentation is proving the design goal. This week I have learned more about cloning and we will be performing Gibson cloning in the coming days, which is a new protocol for me. I have began searching the literature so that we can design a SynNotch CAR T-cell counterpart that binds to mouse proteins to test in a cancer model.

NYC Activities: This past weekend, we explored shops in Chinatown and I got really cute, yummy ice cream in the shape of a unicorn from Taiyaki. We also walked the entirety of the Brooklyn Bridge, saw The Starry Night at MoMA, and continued to try a new restaurant every day this week.

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