Best of Both Worlds; Medicine and Research

When I was a child, I'd tell everyone I'm going to be a paediatrician when I'm older.

"Do you love children?"

"No, I love money."

It's strange how things worked out in the end. So much has changed and I'd daresay, I'll be content with just enough to live as long as I've got a career that I love.

I'm surrounded by paediatric surgeons everyday at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Today, I performed my very first microsurgery!! I've been observing on the side the whole time. TODAY, I officially sheathed a catheter into the femoral artery in the hindlimb of a rat under a microscope and it was...

BEAUTIFUL.

Using two pairs of forceps, one in each hand, tugging and pushing aside extra tissue. Lifting the pale blue arteriole and being careful not to puncture the blood shot vein right beside. The whole process was such a delicate procedure. I was not successful in my first try in putting the needle along the artery. It was so thin, my hand was trembling so much from being afraid of putting too much force and piercing right through the whole artery.

I went at it again, this time successfully putting the needle along the artery but my hand slipped and i accidentally pulled the needle back out - having to start over. It was important not to make too many tears in the artery, so I had to put the needle back through the same hole I made earlier.

Slowly but surely, I did it. On my first attempt of microsurgery.

A purple catheter with a transparent tubing is sheathed along the femoral artery in the left hindlimb of a Sprague-Dawley rat.

The purple plastic attached to the end of the hindlimb is the catheter. At the tip of the catheter is a fine transparent tubing that is "sheathed" into the pale blue artery. If you look closely, you can see a transparent needle-like piece of plastic within the artery a bit awkwardly sticking upwards. The purpose of this catheter is to allow perfusion of solutions through this main artery which would eventually pass the solution throughout the entire hindlimb - which is useful for decellularisation purposes.

I am blogging about this because I am so proud of this tiny achievement, I want to be able to look back one day and be like 

"AWWWW yeah!!! My first microsurgery!"

I was so embarrassed after my successful microsurgery because everyone else there has done way more complicated procedures but everyone congratulated me. And suddenly, the two paediatric surgeons in the room told me that it looks like I have to do a medical course and specialise in surgery because i've got good hands.

Here I was thinking I'd never be any good at surgery because I've got the world's shakiest pair of hands...

The microsurgeon in the lab is so proud of my work he says he wants to teach me to sheath the jugular vein (in the neck region usually used for blood testing in mice) next and I am so so soooo excited!

Today has been a great day! :)

Help me make this a reality.

At this very moment, I know exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life and every step I have taken towards achieving my life goals has only fuelled me, and reassured my choice.

I have not always been this sure - I only found my strength, my drive and my passion in September of last year. Before this, I used to float around thinking "Yeah, I kinda liked learning about that so maybe i could live with it." Not anymore.

Since Friday, the 31st of October (coincidentally Halloween), I have not felt more enthused in my life. There is nothing I want more than to continue with stem cells and tissue engineering for the rest of my life. And I am willing to give up so much, and cross oceans to be able to do this for eternity.

I want to be a part of the team or even lead a team to transplant a perfectly recellularized organ to save a child suffering from congenital malformations. I want to help the children I see everyday at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, and give them the chance to attain full potential like the rest of us who have been so lucky.

I wish there was a simple way to express the fiery feeling in me. If you could see me talk about what I have been taught, the skills that I have gained that could change the world, and my visions, you'd see the bright flame in my soul dancing through my eyes. Those who have seen me talk about my passion would know exactly what I mean.

I want to be involved in translational research and clinical trials. I dream to see the evidence of my work improving lives. Fortunately, I am in the exact position where I am perfectly capable of fulfilling my dreams.

I am currently doing a year of research at the Paediatric Surgery Unit of the UCL Institute of Child Health. So far, I have been taught how to decellularize a mouse liver and a human treachea. I have also learnt to isolate single muscle fibres from mice which can be further broken down to obtain muscle stem cells for recellularization of a diaphragm. I am so blessed to be shown so much in such a short duration of time and I feel so humbled by this experience. Everyone I have met in scientific research has been so kind to me and has taught me so much.

For example, when I am sitting in the office waiting for a 3 hour perfusion, a PhD student approaches me and asks me if I would like to learn something while I am waiting. They have been so patient with my questions and have explained every single step along the way. All these kindness has just inspired me to want to spread my knowledge further and pass on the kindness.

The first paper that I read that got me excited on the idea of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering is the possibility of generating off-the-shelf heart valves. From that article on, I knew that it would be an absolute dream for me to eliminate immune rejections from organ transplants. To be able to create off-the-shelf organs that is accessible to anyone from any background could save so many lives. This includes congenital malformations, organ failures, organ damage due to accidents and cancer. This could change the world.

There is nothing more that I want than to be involved in making this dream a reality.

I am presently applying for PhD studentships to continue with my career in scientific research. I have had one interview thus far and despite my successful interview, the interviewer told me that I would make a great candidate but he decided to choose someone else with a first author name in a publication. Despite my relevant laboratory skills and passion, the competition is indeed tough and the lack of such a publication has deterred my chances. I want people to know that even though I may lack a certain set of skills or have not shown my knowledge sufficiently, I am willing to learn as long as you're willing to teach, and I will not disappoint.