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Institution
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
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Institution(s)
Research: Tufts University (Cardiovascular Research/St.Elisabeth Hospital
in Brighton)
Mentor: Dr. Jeffrey Isner
Clinical: Baystate Medical Center in Springfield
The department I was in is doing research on gentherapy to induce new vessel growth in ischemic limb disease and coronary artery disease. I was involved in two projects: We constricted a coronary artery in a pig's heart and injected DNA coding for Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) or Hypoxia Induced Factor (HIF) in the ischemized area of the heart muscle to induve growth of new vessels. Also, in patients that receive injections of VEGF-DNA into the heart muscle through small thoracotomy we were looking for Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPC) from the bone marrow and that may contribute to new vessel growth.
It is very good for you to be in a different country for a longer time, and going to the U.S. was a great opportunity to do so. I definitely don't regret coming here!
Being away from my friends and family in Germany for a long time.
To visit a good friend in Dallas in December, his parents sent me a ticket via Federal Express. I missed the mailman and found a slip under my door. When from my window I saw the mail car drive by, I chased after it for about five blocks only with socks on my feet and a T-shirt with big holes, because my flight was leaving one hour later and I needed the ticket. I must have looked totally crazy.
Contact some old BMEP-students that have been to the university you are going to to ask them the questions you have. Be friendly to the people around you in the lab, even if you encounter difficulties in the beginning. Friendliness can get you a long way.