cluster 8: tissue engineering and...
TRANSCRIPT
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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
E arly
M o n d a y
m o r n i n g
we began
with safety training to make certain we
were properly trained to safely perform
our research in the lab. We began learning
how tissue engineering has helped pa-
tients, either as new models are devel-
oped to study tissues, or in the clinical
setting such as controlling or enhancing
wound healing. We’re also learning how
to keep a scientific lab notebook and were
given an introduction to our tissue engi-
neering labs. That was just the first day
and we have not stopped since! In the lab
we have all learned how to properly pi-
pette, use serological pipettes, make serial
dilutions, use a spectrophotometer, use
sterile technique, make media, and use
light transmitting microscopes to visualize
cells. Tuesday, we were given an overview
of how to best utilize the UCSD library,
which will be critical for our ethics and
research papers. We have had the oppor-
tunity to refine our Excel skills, hear about
current topics in tissue engineering, and
learn more about how cells differentiate
into epithelial, connective, nerve or mus-
cle cells and their fate as they may be used
for motion, adhesion, or secretion. At this
point we definitely have a clearer under-
standing of tissue engineering. In our sci-
entific communications section the discus-
sions have been focused on how people
learn, how to effectively communicate and
we had a brief introduction to our ethics
project. Overall we have had an amazing
start because the brilliant, hard-working,
young minds in Cluster 8 are great!
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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE The end of the first week was GR8! We wrapped up the week with a tour of
Sanford Consortium. Dr. Gaetani gave us an overview of the facility and then we were
able to tour many labs and informative mini lectures from leading faculty. “The mission of
the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is to advance stem cell research
through collaborative, multi-disciplinary interactions. Sanford Consortium researchers
are applying the powers of stem cells to promote diagnoses, treatments, and cures for
degenerative diseases and injuries.” (http://www.sanfordconsortium.org/) After the tour
we walked to the Glider Port and enjoyed our ocean view as we ate lunch. And then to
wrap up the week, we had COSMOS Olympics. Our skit, cheer, skills in relay races and
of course brain power (from all our homework) was outstanding. Even though
we did not win we did GR8.
We began our second week in the lab where we learned how to use a
microscope to view stained and unstained cells, how to use a hemocytometer
to count cells, and how to thaw cells. As the week progressed we learned how
to passage cells, to create collagen gels, and continued on our decellularization
and were able to examine histology slides to check on our progress. Chris and
Evan, our TA’s have taken the lead and instruct us through pre and post lab
instructions. They are excellent at making sure everything is explained so we
understand and they take the time to ensure the labs run smoothly. As a result
our decellularization process worked exceptionally well and we have success-
fully been growing cells in culture.
Our lectures and discussions by our distin-
guished faculty, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani have expanded
our knowledge about stem cells, biomaterials, biome-
chanics and commercialization in tissue engineering. As
we increase our comprehension about tissue engineering
we have many more questions and Dr. Sah and Dr.
Gaetani are always eager to help us. This week was excit-
ing as we spent time summarizing our lectures and dis-
cussing different project ideas so that next week we can
begin our much anticipated projects.
We went on our second field trip to the J. Craig
Venter Institute with Cluster 7. During our visit we were
able to learn about their LEED Platinum award winning
building and heard about the different projects that are
under investigation such as the ability to induce diatoms
to produce oil and the genome characterization of the
microorganisms from all of the major bodies of water
worldwide. Our entire group then went on a tour of the
facility, seeing the research labs and the LEED certified
building “that is built to save money and resources and
have a positive impact on the health of occupants, while
promoting renewable, clean energy” (http://www.usgbc.org/leed).
In the communications portion of the cluster we have had the op-
portunity to attend a Discovery Lecture from Dr. Cleland. She spoke to us
about her previous global research opportunities and her current research
that focuses on ecosystem responses to environmental change. Additionally,
we have been discussing the ethical issues in Tissue Engineering and learned
about the ‘COSMOS Ethics in Science Essay Contest’. Each of us has done
background research on our personally selected ethics topic, written a
rough draft of our paper, and we all submitted our final drafts on Thursday.
To end another Great week for Cluster 8 we will go on our third field trip
to Organogenesis.
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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE Week two ended with a field trip to Organogenesis, a tissue engineering and regenerative medicine company which manufactures Dermagraft to help heal diabetic foot ulcers. We were able to see all aspects of the company in action, from research and development to manufacturing. Overall it was an incredible
opportunity to observe first hand many techniques we have learned in the lab and to tour a company that man-ufactures a product devel-oped by tissue engineers. Week three began as our esteemed profes-sor, Dr. Sah, introduced us to proper experimental design. After numerous discussions and considera-
ble evaluation were able to select our own project topics and thus we were ready to begin the planning phase of our work. After two days of researching, planning, brainstorming, and support from Dr. Sah, Dr. Gaetani and our Teaching Assistants, Evan Teng and Chris Yin, everyone was prepared to begin the much anticipated projects. Briefly the groups will be examining fibrillogenesis and gel formation, regulation of chon-drocyte phenotype, regulation of bone growth, cardiac decellularized ECM and collagen hydrogels, liver decellularization, and the generation of microspheres. Accordingly, tissues are being processed, gels formed, cells cultured, and materials are being prepared and tested. After an intense week in the lab our projects are underway and we eagerly await the re-sults in a few days.
Dr. Amaro was our speaker for our Discovery Lecture this week. Her research utilizes computational methods to explore potential drug treatments for diseases such as influenza and cancer. She clearly demon-strated her research process using p53, a tumor suppressor gene and we
were fascinated by her molecular modeling which is accelerating drug discovery. In our communications course everyone has evaluated presen-tations, practiced presenting, reviewed abstracts and learned more about scientific writing. In Cluster Explorations, it was all about cluster pride,
and we were definitely pleased to have their peers hear about what is going on in Cluster 8. Everyone is learning to manage their time, fo-cus, and work together as a group of brilliant young scientific re-searchers. Cluster 8 continues to be ‘GR8’.
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CLUSTER 8: TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE At the end of last week everyone had received guidance from our esteemed Professors, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani and felt prepared to complete their back-ground research on their projects over the weekend after their trip to the beach and the carnival. Week 4 began with collaborative meetings to organize supplies, with the help of our highly appreciat-ed TA’s Evan and Chris, and finalizes procedures to ensure the suc-cess of the projects. It was astounding to us just how much planning and preparing was required and we had countless questions that our group leaders were always there to answer. With the expert guidance of Dr. Sah; Shivani, Stephanie and Pravin have been study-ing fibrillogenesis and gel formation, Lauren Jiayi and Ken are inves-tigating the regulation of chondrocytes by bound growth factors, and Jennifer, Grace and Franklin have examined the role of epiphys-eal growth plate matrixes in endochondral ossification. Under the leadership of Dr. Gaetani; Catherine, Annabel and Milan have evaluated sulfate glycosaminoglycan hydrogels for retention and delivery of growth factors, Michelle, Jerome and Ka-rissa have performed liver decellularization in the form of hydrogel, and Phillip, Roshini, and Amanda have worked on the generation of microspheres from cardiac decellularized ECM. Our last Discovery Lecture was from Dr. Shaochen Chen. He spoke to us about his nano manufacturing processes and nano mechanical systems for biomedical and life sciences. Cluster 8 was thrilled with his talk as he went into detail about his work in bio-medical engineering on a small length and time scale and Dr. Chen graciously answered all of our questions! Laboratory time was filled with a tremendous amount of hard work as projects had to be finished. All of the experiments had to get done, data collected, and analysis performed. Then with all of the data in hand, each group had an electronic poster to complete for their presentation, a power point presentation and a research paper. The end of this week will bring COSMOS to a close. The students have mastered their lab skills, polished their technical writing, and spent countless hours developing and implementing their leading edge projects. They will have the opportunity to show off their work to each other on Thursday, to Cluster 7 on Friday, and to family and friends on Saturday. An enormous thank you to our brilliant leaders, Dr. Sah and Dr. Gaetani, and our in-credible Teaching Assistant’s Evan Teng and Chris Yin. Cluster 8 has had a Gr8 summer at COSMOS!