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Institution
Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
Host
Institution(s)
Shriner's Hospital of Tampa; Skeletal Biology
Mentor: Thomas J. Koob; PhD
Clinical: Shriner's Hospital of Tampa
Designing biologically based tendons for orthopaedic surgery. The overall objective of this project is to design and produce biocompatible, biologically based, engineered fibrous tissues to function as tendon replacements for use in pediatric orthopedic surgery. We have succeeded in producing biologically based fibers from soluble bovine tendon collagen, based on a novel cross-linking strategy, with inherent material properties analogous to those of normal tendon. This biomaterial is modeled after the skate egg capsule in which polymerization transforms in twelve hours the chemically and mechanically labile assembled collagenous precursors into a leather-like material with tensile properties comparable to tendons. We have been using dissected calf hooves to test the tensile strength of an original collateral ligament. The next step will be to replace the original ligament with our biomaterial in an established orthopaedic procedure then compare the biomechanical properties of both approaches.
A future task will be to assess the strength of our new fibers in vivo when used as a replacement for the original ligament .
Since I have already been a few times to the U.S., I knew what to expect in terms of culture and the general appearance of American cities. What I did't expect was the very nice atmosphere in this hospital, both in the clinic as well as in research. I started this program with a two-month clinical rotation and I learned more than I ever did in a clinical rotation back home even though this is a very small hospital.
In research I was asked from the beginning what I was interested in and almost started to work on the project I had thought about before. Both were very nice surprises. And, above all, I met so many nice people around the hospital. Most of the time I spent with some residents from New York who are on a rotation at Shriner's Hospital. Besides that, I picked up rowing again which I hadn't done in about a year because of lack of time and got to workout at the University of South Florida gym.
So far I actually have not run into any difficulties (knock on wood). So I really have to consider buying my car in the beginning as a major difficulty which was after all real fun. Another drawback was that an outlet of my favorite fast food chain which was on my way to and from work closed just a couple of weeks back. And then there is the truly annoying task to find a parking spot in a radius of 50 meters of the entrance of the hospital.
I think the occasion I almost dropped dead laughing was when one of the residents was considering buying some lingerie for his fiancée and really wasn't sure about the size. So he ended up asking the saleswoman to put on the thong he was thinking about to buy on a mannequin he thought had the same size as his better half. It was so funny to see the face of the saleswoman because apparently she had never done something alike.
Start worrying about your visa NOW!!! The thing that really surprised me was how expensive it is to live here. Even though I am in the south, which is usually a lot cheaper, food still costs about twice as much as back home. (Best regards to Feinkost Albrecht at this point!) Consider the stipend just as a contribution to make your living, never try to depend on it. Since Tampa is so spread out I had to consider buying a car since cycling is far too dangerous, and public transport is basically non-existent. You'll have the same problem whenever you get to a smaller city.