Week 3: Eleana

 This week was an eventful one. We started the week shadowing in neuropathology. We got a lesson in different types of brain cancer and anatomy of the brain. On Wednesday our experimental plan was approved and I began by making some alginate gels for our experiment that starts on Tuesday. I then try to autoclaved materials as well. I ended up having to go back to Ithaca to get some materials in order to properly do the experiment for next week. On Monday, I performed a craniotomy on a mouse and a brain dissection for practice. Lastly, I got to work with some imaging software called HALO, to segment some immunofluorescence histology and am working on a new module to segment histology images.

Week 3 - Arina

 This week, we finished working on surgeries for the cohort of our experimental mice. I’m glad I had the chance to do this: at this point I feel significantly more confident as a mouse surgeon than I did at the beginning of June. I also attended another lab meeting and got more context for one of the ongoing projects in the Liston lab. In addition to lab work, this week I got to see a clinical procedure. On Wednesday, I saw a MRI-guided focused ultrasound ablation. It was done in an Alzheimer’s patient to help stabilize tremors. It was remarkable to see just how significantly the patient’s control of motor function improved after. The precision is stunning too. I know that the brain region targeted in this procedure is adjacent to other important regions (e.g. speech-related), so the clinician has to be extra careful about not accidentally damaging those areas. Next week, I am looking forward to getting started on 2P imaging in the Liston lab, and hopefully getting to see some more clinical work. 

Week 3-Meichi

This week, I had the opportunity to engage in discussions with members of Dr. Newman’s lab about the details of the ongoing immersion projects. It was incredibly insightful to hear different perspectives on the project and explore what aspects of it could be particularly interesting and worthy of further investigation. The exchange of ideas with the team sparked new thoughts about the potential avenues for research and also how our my future research could contribute to a deeper understanding of breast cancer treatment.

I also attended the ICSBCS Breast Surgery Didactic Lecture. Dr. Mark Robson’s presentation on the management of women with a monogenic breast cancer predisposition was particularly fascinating. He shared statistical data comparing the effectiveness of different management strategies, providing a picture of how clinical guidelines are developed and tailored for individuals at higher risk for developing breast cancer. This lecture emphasized the importance of preemptive care and early interventions, particularly for those with a genetic predisposition but who have not yet been diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Robson’s approach to developing risk management plans for these patients was eye-opening, highlighting strategies that aim to either prevent cancer or mitigate its effects if it does occur.

Moreover, I attended a breast cancer case discussion conference. It was enlightening to see how doctors collaborate to make clinical decisions regarding patient treatment. The decision engaged many factors ranging from evaluating diagnostic data to discussing treatment options. I found it fascinating to learn about the tools and methodologies that help medical professionals weigh the pros and cons of various treatment options. 

Week 3 Anuj

 This week was another interesting week featuring a few robotic organ removals (prostates and kidneys), several imaging (cystoscopies), and some patient consultation shadowing. Another key feature in robotic surgery that I noticed this week was the rapid temperature sensing and control used in the cauterizing forceps/scissors. The instant heating and cooling of the instrument with real-time audio feedback assist the surgeons in making precise cuts. Besides, I made more progress on the wide-view cystoscope project and completed some preliminary design aspects. I will be ordering the design parts next week and using Weill Cornell's 3D printed services to fabricate a few housing materials for the camera used for the cystoscope. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we will have a decent prototype if all things go well. 

Week 3- Zuzanna

This week I was able to see some surgeries which was very interesting as it was the first time I had observed any. I was able to observe breast cancer related surgeries, including a masectomy and lupectomy.  It was definitely shocking at first to see the surgeries and the removal of tissue, but after watching a few I was able to recognize what the steps were and what they were aiming to do. Each surgery was a little different, due to either the preferences of the patient or the methods of doctors involved. First, I saw a bilateral masectomy, and I was surprised how many people were involved, from nurses to PAs, to pathology and oncology and plastic surgery- it was quite tight in the room! Some patients prefer to have breast reconstruction done, but this patient also had her implants removed and with her specific history, preferred not to reconstruct. Another surgery I saw only removed a mass, but required removal of the nipple due to the proximity. The next one however removed only a mass, but without affecting the nipples. It was really interesting how many methods of removal there are, but even the methods of tumor localization. Some patients had a radioactive seed locating the mass, some had a staples, and some had wires sticking out of their chest locating that. I did not realize how many methods there are for localization but it depends partly on the patient and partly on the radiologists preferred method of marking a tumor. Watching the whole process really gave me an idea of the morphology of the disease and methods of resection. My research in Ithaca concerns making immunotherapeutic hydrogels to place next to tumors to improve immune infiltration, and seeing these surgeries gave me an idea of how realistic applying those may be given various situations.

I also continued to shadow in clinic this week and we had a few very interesting cases where I learned more about how chemotherapy and immunotherapy can be combined, or even given consecutively, but with certain risk factors that can make it difficult for a patient and doctor to decide next steps with the risks and benefits.

In the lab I continued to analyze some cancer organoid images and some next steps in the project.

Week 3: Kirtana

At Dr. Prince's lab this week, I did image segmentation of muscles from abdominal MRIs. This will now be used as training data to improve the AI model used for interpreting MRI scans. I also learnt how to conduct an abdominal MRI which was very cool. I started on a new project to determine poorly segmented images in order to further improve the training data.

With Dr. Choi, I discussed the details of the lung cancer project. We came up with a plan to implement the PLCO model on our data while also trying to form a new model which may be a better fit. I worked on a project proposal this week to solidify my aims and anticipated manuscript timeline.

Overall, it was a productive week with many learning experiences. I am hoping to focus more on the lung cancer project next week and start my data analysis.

Week 3: Anais

This week started off with another OR day.  This time, we got to see two different myomectomy surgeries, one robotic and one abdominal.  I even scrubbed in for the first surgery and was able to see it more closely.  It was very cool to see how the surgical robot was controlled and what went into preparing the incisions. Also interestingly enough, the myomectomies seemed more tricky than the hysterectomies we saw last Friday.  I was also glad to see the surgeries to day side by side and be able to compare them.  This week, I also shadowed Dr.Fenster in her private clinic.  Once again, it was very interesting to see the interactions between doctors, nurses and patients.  Because uterus related problems and fertility can be an emotional topic, I noticed how well they were able to calm down the patient and create a welcoming and safe space.  I also got to see a wide array of different treatment options and discussions.  Pei Wen and I also presented on our literature review updates and discussed ways to apply current methods to the research goals of Dr.Fenster’s and Dr.Wolf’s collaboration.