{"coupon":"","discount":"","doc_name":"Statement of purpose for Pathology residency ","doc_id":66122,"editorId":"144","email":"saramipoor@yahoo.com","message":"<p>Pathology connects biomedical research and clinical medicine. It is a bridge between research and diagnosis and has a tremendous impact on the patient&rsquo;s management.&nbsp; When I was an intern I cared for a brother and sister, 11 and 16 years old with end-stage liver failure of unknown etiology, most likely hereditary.&nbsp; The only possible intervention was a liver transplant. &nbsp;The family was willing to sell their home to pay for the transplant but there no suitable livers were available (living donors were not used at that time).&nbsp; Both died miserable deaths.&nbsp; Because there will never be a sufficient number of livers cadaver I began thinking: there must be another way to restore or replace a failing liver and help patients like these children and others.&nbsp; I graduated from Isfahan University of medical science, Iran and started my social services.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Meanwhile I contacted many researchers and physicians seeking information and ideas. &ldquo;Cell therapy and hepatocyte transplantation may be the future&rdquo; replied Dr. Steven Strom from the University of Pittsburgh.&nbsp; &ldquo;Hepatocyte transplantation is an alternative option but hepatocyte numbers are limited.&nbsp; We need to try to differentiate stem cells to hepatocytes,&rdquo; wrote Dr. Mark Zern from UC Davis. &ldquo;I will be in Tehran next month for a conference.&nbsp; We can discuss&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>We did; I was hooked.&nbsp; Within a year I packed my (small) bags and was off to Davis, California.&nbsp; Although this was a startling change from the sophistication of Tehran I had found my passion: <em>stem cell therapy of advanced liver disease<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>I spent two years researching differentiation of stem cells to hepatocyte in Dr. Mark Zern&rsquo;s lab at UC Davis.&nbsp; In this project we tried to simulate embryonic pathway of hepatocyte development in vitro. We began with induction of embryonic cells toward endoderm cells and later differentiating cells to hepatic lineage (published in <em>Stem Cells journal<\/em>). During this process the genome is intact. However cells go through tremendous epigenetic changes and gene expression.&nbsp; Liver epigenetics was almost an unknown area at that time.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;Later, I joined Dr. Kurdistani&rsquo;s lab at UCLA as a postdoctoral fellow where I focused on epigenetic regulation by intracellular pH (published in <em>Molecular Cell<\/em>).&nbsp; Dr. Kurdestani, during his postdoctoral research, discovered that hypo-acetylation and hypo-methylation in tumors is associated with drug resistance and poorer prognosis in patients. When we were trying to change histone acetylation in cancer cells by manipulating cell media components we found out that changing media pH is associated with hypo-acetylation. Our thesis question asked: &ldquo;What happens intracellularly when we decrease extracellular pH.&rdquo; To measure intracellular pH I developed a system using a fluorescent microscope and ratiometry. My data showed extracellular pH changes the intracellular pH; these changes are associated with lower histone acetylation.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;While at UCLA I also worked with Dr. Robert Peter Gale and Armand Keating (University of Toronto) with whom I critically analyzed results of hematopoietic stem cell transplants in patients with advanced liver disease and chronic heart failure (published in <em>Stem Cells<\/em>). Through this work I met their Stanford University colleague, Dr. Peter Greenberg, who invited me to do a clinical observership in the Myelodysplastic Diseases Center while studying for my medical boards.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>I realized that I am a clinician with advanced laboratory expertise who is interested in research.&nbsp; Thus, pathology is the best fit for me. I intend to take full advantage of a pathology residency to participate in patient management and diagnosis, while I have the opportunity to research human tissue as the most valuable source of information.&nbsp; I plan to specialize in liver pathology.&nbsp; Our research in UCLA has led to some valuable preliminary data on the liver. We have discovered a specific pattern of histone acetylation.&nbsp; I intend to follow my research to reveal the basic mechanism of regulating liver epigenetics and pathogenesis.<\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","price_select":"1","temp_doc_name":"upload_56c4b41e19ba32.49821075.docx","word_count":"628","subtotal":16.96,"total_amt":16.96,"firstName":"Iman","lastName":"Sarami","lastfour":"9617","exp":"1119","address":"4435 Jonquil Dr ","city":"San Jose ","zip":"95136","state":"CA","country":"United States","transactionReference":"7991610762"}