Good luck to me.

Recently, I applied for the Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars program (I'd be a Fellow). It's a great opportunity for me to travel abroad and conduct biomedical engineering related research at an international institution. I don't know what my chances are of getting it, but I think I have a decent enough shot at it. I worked hard on my essays and talked with my host professor a lot too. She was very receptive towards my own ideas and seemed like she wanted me in her lab. Each applicant has to identify a host institution and write a research proposal for their application. I chose the Skeletal Tissue Engineering group at the Institute for Biomechanics at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (ETHZ). They do a lot of interesting work with mostly bone tissue engineering and a bit with cartilage. Their research centers around scaffold design, 3D printing of structures with defined architecture, and utilization of advanced bioreactors (perfusion/compression or combination).

My proposal was titled, "Mechanobiological feedback-loops in bone tissue engineering". It was interesting to write about it and learn a different sort of approach to engineering bone than we do in our lab. It involves some of the same techniques, but this lab goes more into the mechanobiology of stem cells, osteoblasts, and bone formation. This is the type of research that I'd like to eventually work on since load-bearing tissues such as bone are able to sense and react to various types of mechanical stimuli whether from one's own physiology, natural movement, or external forces. Even if I don't get it, I'd like to try and apply again next year. It was also a good experience going through the process, writing essays, and thinking about possible avenues of research I could pursue. Anyways the project, in a nutshell, is implementing a fluid flow sensor system for a perfusion bioreactor that senses changes in culture conditions and alters flow rate accordingly. The idea is that since scaffolds are initially a porous structure, the mesenchymal stem cells that are seeded on them will eventually start to secrete extracellular matrix and mineralize the scaffold by filling in the pores. When these pore sizes shrink, this invariably alters the shear stress experienced by the cells. In order to understand how these cells are able to react to a mechanical stimuli, it is best to understand "optimal" shear stress and maintain constancy. Were an osteoblast to be subjected to a harmful shear stress regimen, cell death or tissue necrosis could occur. I will also be using micro-computed tomography (micro CT) to image the constructs temporally to visualize mineralization over time. It should be an interesting project that I can hopefully tie into my eventual dissertation research.

So that's all done with for now, just submitted it on Wednesday. I should hear back in a few months. If I don't talk about this again, it probably means I didn't get it and I'm too sad to bring up again. Also have a molecular imaging training grant interview on Tuesday that I really want to get. I may not be a traditional player in the imaging field as I think there are a lot of great imaging students and the department here is very strong. But I think I have a lot to offer and I can make a very good case for the use of imaging modalities in my research that is possibly underrated. Basically I have two chances to take big steps in my grad school life and I hope I don't strike out on both of them.

Another quarter.

I've been keeping busy, but I should've found time to update. Winter break would have been a good time to do that, I suppose. When you're writing essays and emails all the time, it's a little tough to relax by writing a blog entry. That's my excuse. There's always something more urgent priority-wise. I do need the practice though, so even if I don't have much content to write about, I'll try to write SOMETHING. I'll stop short of saying that's a New Year's Resolution because I don't make resolutions (and I know I'll probably break it), but hopefully I'll find more time this quarter to enhance my internet presence.

I recently joined the Leach Lab here at UC Davis. I've been doing a "rotation" there for the past few months and I really like it so I just figured I'd stick around. There are several reasons why I chose it, so maybe I'll talk a little about why I did. 

Research is the first thing that comes to mind but I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as the main factor in choosing a lab. I found that I love bone tissue engineering and load bearing tissues like cartilage. It's important work, like most areas of research in the sciences. There's a fantastic lab at UC Davis, the Athanasiou Lab, that does work in biomechanics of cartilage tissue engineering. I thought that's where I would find a place before I got to Davis, but I figured out that it wasn't really right for me. I did like the research and I think I could have potentially found a great project for myself. A few other factors swayed me towards a different direction. I'd like to eventually pursue mechanobiology, like how stem cells or differentiated cells sense and react to mechanical signals. I want eventually work on a project that can tie this into bone tissue engineering using novel biomaterials and biomolecule delivery approaches. So by joining the Leach Lab, I think I can go a variety of different directions in a field that is really exciting.

I also feel like I'll be given a lot of freedom to conduct research that I want, without being assigned something to work on or be given strict boundaries. Of course, that's only true to some extent; it has to be reasonable and of interest/benefit to the lab. But I know that if I'm interested in an aspect of bone tissue engineering (or other tissues), then I will be given every opportunity to work on it, even if it's uncharted territory for the lab. After all, isn't that the point of research? To discover? The plus side of that is that it could open up the doors for potential collaborations with other labs, either on campus or elsewhere. It would be great if I could work with some people in the Orthopedic Surgery research unit at the med center.

It's important that I like the people in the lab too, since I'll be seeing them all the time, and I've been fortunate in that respect. I enjoy being around everyone, and I'm very much looking forward to our time together further on down the road. It usually takes me a little while to warm up to people but I like the environment that I'm in right now. Not way too many people in the lab, but just enough. And everyone is an excellent resource so I'm always learning a lot, even if I ask stupid questions sometimes. I like Dr. Leach as well, he's what I was looking for in an advisor. I wanted someone who fully embraced the mentorship aspect of being a professor and wanted what was best for me in addition to his own lab. While he's a nice guy, I know he is willing to challenge me in order to make me a better scientist, and that's a good thing.

Those are just a few quick thoughts. Everyone's different in terms of what they look for in a lab, so it's best to judge on an individual basis. There's more stuff going on, so hopefully it won't take another 3-4 months before the next update.