Week 1: Immersed in the City

Tibra Wheeler

Almost seven days into my immersion experience and New York City has already taught me so much. Who knew that even as a South Carolina girl, I would complain about the humidity? Who knew that New Yorkers enjoyed honking their horns so much? Who knew there could be so much construction in one city? And who could have possibly known a box of cereal could cost so much? Well now I know, and surprisingly I wouldn’t trade this last week for anything and can’t wait to see what the city has to teach me for the next six.

I am excited to be paired with Dr. Anil Ranawat and Dr. Suzanne Maher who are both at the Hospital for Special Surgery. I will be shadowing Dr. Anil Ranawat, who is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and joint preservation. He has agreed to let me come in the OR with him and attend clinic on days he isn’t doing surgeries. My research project will be with Dr. Suzanne Maher’s lab, which specializes in orthopedic biomechanics and biomaterials.

On Monday, I only had the introductory meeting to attend so I took the time to learn my way through the different HSS buildings. That afternoon, I went to Magnolia Bakery with some friends to get cupcakes. The cupcake of the month was strawberry so of course I had to get it and it was nothing short of amazing.

Tuesday was a much more exciting day for my immersion experience. In the morning, we got our Weill Cornell IDs and later I got my HSS ID. I must say I am happy with both my ID pictures because like every girl I was worried they would come out terrible. But once I clipped my IDs to my belt loop, I felt official; I could finally look like I belonged. Later that morning, I met with Dr. Ranawat to talk about plans for the summer. Our meeting started with him asking, “So what’s your story?” It was great to know that the clinician I’d be working with was interested in knowing my own interests and background to help me make the best out of my immersion experience. He was very approachable and seemed very willing to allow me to come into the OR and encouraged me to ask questions during clinic. That afternoon, I met with Dr. Kirsty Culley and Dr. Tony Chen from Dr. Maher’s lab. They briefed me on the projects going on in the lab that may be of interest to me and we set up a schedule.

After all the logistical things and meetings of the day, I had some time to explore the city with a friend. The end of this day was probably the best walked 11 miles of the year so far. We walked to central park and saw some street performers do their routine which included some cool stunts. I was able to get a hot dog from the infamous hotdog carts in the park. We went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). I’d have to say the most interesting piece I saw there was a piece that was made of four plain white canvases called “White Painting.” Seeing this piece made me wonder if I should try to pursue a career in art instead of a PhD in engineering, but I decided against it. After the MoMA, we went to see sections of the Berlin Wall and did some shopping and eating. Dessert for the evening was at Whoops, where I got a tasty red velvet macaroon.

I was able to get a tour of the Maher lab on Wednesday. Tony showed me the set up used for bovine knee dissections as well as the bioreactor used for loading. We also did some work with an immortalized chondrocyte cell line where we split the cells. Kirsty showed me some prep work for extracting rNA from the loaded cartilage tissue. That evening I took my first subway ride to get doughnuts from Dough. I was a little disappointed because the guy in front of me ordered the last cheesecake doughnut so I had to settle for cinnamon sugar (which was still great!). We roamed around the Chelsea market and made our way to the High Line to see the sunset.

Thursdays in the lab are meeting days so the morning was filled with meetings back to back starting with Sports meeting and ending with our program meeting. Although meetings aren’t the most fun to sit through, these are very informative and I’m looking forward to hearing more about the research going on. After all the meeting, I was finally able to get a little more hands on as we dissected bovine knees in lab to get cartilage pieces. We used these cartilage pieces to make punches to go in the explants that will be loaded. Kirsty allowed me to work in the hood and actually make a few of the punches myself; it definitely takes a unique skill set that I hope to perfect by the end of the summer. Ice cream was the choice of dessert for the night at Cool Mess where I treated myself to red velvet birthday cake ice cream.

This morning we had our first weekly meeting with Dr. Min and Dr. Prince. I’m looking forward to hearing more about their experiences as well as using them as resources to broaden my immersion experience. In lab, we checked on our cells and changed their media. I also helped Tony work on the 3D printing model we want to use to help make the explants more uniform and to make the process more efficient. Next week, I’m looking forward to working with the 3D printer as well as loading the cartilage punches we made this week.

But for now, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m ready for my first full NYC weekend!