research ethics

One of my other research related classes is a class called Medical Ethics in which we discuss ethics related to medical practice and well as research ethics. In monday's class, we were presented with a Danish case study set in the 1980s where a study is being conducted to see if breast preservation surgery was as effected as total breast removal. The doctor met an 18 year old female with a small tumor that he knew based on past surgeries would benefit from breast preservation surgery and thought the patient would be happier with keeping her breasts. However, when randomized, the patients was picked for a control. My teacher asked us, should he simply ignore this randomization or should he follow the study regulations? My initial gut instinct was to be sympathetic to the patient and my desire for her to have a normal life since she was so young. After a few minutes, my research instincts kicked in and I remembered all of my lab training and the importance of remaining non-biased toward research results. In this case study, if this doctor always allowed 18 year old patients to preserve their breasts, he would never be able to publish significant results because there would be no controls to compare this age group to. Essentially this new procedure could never be approved because there was no data to back it up. While others in my class seemed to think a doctor's oath was more important in this case (to make sure the patient comes first), with my background I was able to see the big picture more clearly. My lab is presently attempting to publish and it is a lot of work, we needed more controls than we originally had and we have taken every step possible to remain non-biased (i.e. double blind studies multiple people conducting the same data analysis, and keeping track of mice taken out of the study and backing up the reasons for doing so). I realize I may be biased myself in this class because I have experience research studies, but never treated a sick patient; but I expect to thoroughly enjoy this class and I look forward to sharing my experience with others.

Sunday's scavenger hunt

On sunday my Danish Residence Community (DRC) that I live in with 50 kids had a group scavenger hunt. Thirteen teams competed using a GPS tablet that asked trivia questions about Copenhagen when we reached check points. While my team only came in second place I had a lot of fun and got to know the local area better. Below is a picture of the famous pictured canal in Copenhagen that I was lucky enough to visit. Even though it was overcast, it was a beautiful site and I plan to spend more time exploring the area.

Thursday- first day of classes

On thursday I had my first Medical Biotechnology and Drug Development course. It turns out I was the first to present study questions from the reading which focused on different stages of drug development. I believe the presentation went well and I was able to draw upon my technical and biological experience at Cornell to help with the presentation. My experience in my biomedical engineering lab has taught me about how difficult it can be to get projects and grants approved. When developing drugs for human beings it is even harder since restrictions must be extremely tight. When researching the stages of drug development I was fascinated to see how the research I do at school fits in with possible future drug development and how important it is for preclinical research to be exact in order to not waste a drug company's time or money. Over the weekend I have several readings to do and I look forward to future topics in this course.

First Days and orientation

I finally arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark to study abroad for four whole months! While the weather isn't ideal-overcast and rainy mostly-the city itself is beautiful and full of the happiest people on earth. For the next four months I will be studying at the Danish institute for study abroad (DIS) with approximately 1,000 other students, mostly from the United States. Luckily, through my studies I have plenty of contact with the Danish community. Each of my classes have field studies where I travel around the cities, testing my Danish at coffee shops or visiting the Hamlet Castle. The most exciting class i am taking is my core class: Medical Biotechnology and Drug Development.
Today I had an introduction into this core curriculum and I am definitely excited for what it has to offer. In this class I am lucky enough to take part in two study tours, one short and one long. The first is two weeks to western Denmark where we will visit several biotech companies followed by a two day intensive discussion and analysis of what we learned. Later in the semester, we will be traveling to London for an entire week visiting biotech companies and interviewing scientists. Although these are the only details I currently know, I already know that I will thoroughly enjoy it.
Lastly, I also learned that our three major topics this semester will be Drug Discovery and development, Peptides and nucleotides as biopharmaceuticals, and Immune-defense related biopharmaceuticals. While I have learned parts of each of these topics previously, I am very excited to finally put everything together to gain a better understanding of the biotechnology world.