Week 1: Ben

For my immersion term, I will be under the mentorship of Dr. Laura Alonso, who is a research endocrinologist whose lab aims to understand the mechanisms behind β-cell (the insulin secreting cells of the body) expansion as a treatment for type II diabetes. On my first day, I met Dr. Alonso and the lab and got situated in getting familiar with the projects through reading their past publications. I got the opportunity to see their frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT) system, which is system in which catheters are inserted into the left femoral artery and vein of mice. This provides more sensitive and real time measurement of blood glucose and plasma insulin compared to the traditional system of static intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT). Furthermore, FSIVGTT can give measurements of more difficult to capture outcomes of insulin resistance (Si), quantify first-phase insulin secretion (AIRg) and glucose effectiveness (Sg), and disposition index (DI). On my second day, I attended the first lab meeting, where I got to know what projects were happening currently in lab. On the third day, I got to observe islet (the exocrine cell clusters which contain β-cells) extraction from mice, in which mice are euthanized and their pancreases are injected with collagenase to break down the organ so that the intact islets can be isolated from the surrounding tissue for further characterization and tests. This specific procedure is something I want to learn for my thesis work back in my lab, so this is something I am aiming to master during my time here in WCM. Days 4 and 5 were slow, so I continued to read on the Alonso's lab past work. I also worked with Dr. Alonso to get me connected with bariatric surgeons, as bariatric bypass surgery is a surgical intervention that I read about from a class I took last semester, and it would be a really cool full-circle moment to witness it in-person. I also have plans to accompany Dr. Alonso in her out-patient clinic work, where she will directly interact with diabetic patients and consult them with diabetes management.