Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2012

Mentor: Jeffrey Kenkel, MD and Kathryn Davis, PhD              
Department: Plastic Surgery                    
Room number: F4.310      
Mail Code: 8560                  
Phone number:  89159     
E-mail:  Kathryn.davis@utsouthwestern.edu                
Project title:  The role of liposuction method and adipose depot selection in fat graft survivability         

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): eIRB# 062011-113

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  #2011-0173

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects) This project involves patient and animal based research combined with basic research analyses.

Brief Description of Project:

This project focuses on the differences in graftable adipose depots and the impact of those differences, along with harvesting technique, on graft survivability.  This study entails analyses of lipoaspirate samples, which includes molecular biological and histological techniques.  Samples are grafted in nude rats and CT analyses will be use to monitor graft take as well as growth or resorption. At sacrifice, grafted tissue will be explanted and analyzed for gross pathology, weight, and molecular biological and histological analyses to determine graft survivability. 

On the day of surgery, lipoaspirate will be taken using 2 different lipoaspiration devices.  After harvest, lipoaspirate will be transferred back to the lab where it will be centrifugred at different speeds and analyzed for fat cell and stem cell survivability.  This will be performed using a cellometer that distinguishes live cells from dead ones through propidium iodide incorporation.

At the same time, the remaining centrifuged lipoaspirate will be grafted into nude rats to assess graft take and survivability.  A surgical fellow will perform grafting with assistance from students and technicians.  3 days post-surgery, animals will be CT scanned to analyze graft size.  At day 42 post-surgery, animals will be re-CT scanned and ½ of the cohort will be sacrificed.  At day At sac, explants will be weighed and harvested for gene expression and histological analyses.  Gene expression will be analyzed by qPCR for adipocyte and stem cell markers.  Histological analyses will include H&E staining for adipocyte morphology and Trichrome staining for fibrosis. 

Students participating in this project will be involved in all aspects of this protocol, including sample harvest, analyses, animal studies and post-tissue processing.  Students will also be expected to aid in data analyses and formulating results sections.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Dr Kenkel has significant experience mentoring students and residents, as well as past McPhaul summer students.  He worked with two McPhaul students last summer to complete a massive chart review, which is unprecedented in the field.  Dr Davis is new to the faculty in plastic surgery, taking over for Spencer Brown, however spent much of her post-doc in internal medicine mentoring graduate and pre-graduate students.