Week 5 - Amy

 Clinical Observation: While rotating with Dr. Curran, I observed him perform a bone marrow biopsy on a woman. She also happened to need a skin biopsy at the same time, so I was able to observe the dermatologist perform her biopsy as well. It was really interesting to see how many people were involved to ensure the safety and accuracy of all procedures being performed. I also witnessed a bone marrow transplant consultation Dr. Curran had with a family. The teenage boy was currently undergoing chemotherapy and was wondering if he would be eligible for a bone marrow transplant. Dr. Curran explained the whole process, including how potential donors were determined and the risks associated with the procedure. The family, and I, was very surprised by the timeline, as they were hoping to admit him into the hospital by mid September where he would live for several months.

Research: This week I helped the two graduate students I have been working with to test the synNotch CAR-T cells we produced earlier in the term. The synNotch binds to p-selectin, so we exposed our transduced Jurkat cells to p-selectin for 24 hours. Once the synNotch binds to p-selectin, the CAR should be expressed. The expressed CAR is tagged so that we can observe its expression on cells using flow cytometry. After running flow cytometry, we were excited by our results as they showed the CAR being expressed when cells were exposed to p-selectin. We tested various concentrations to test the sensitivity of the system. We are hoping to repeat this experiment using cells that express p-selectin and co-culturing cells.

NYC Activities: It was pretty rainy this past week, so unfortunately we didn’t end up exploring some outdoor venues as we had planned. However, I made sure to visit various parks in between rain showers and continued eating great food (just getting it delivered this week).

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