Week 7:
Mayo Clinic

July 8, 2013

This week went by quickly, considering we only had a three-day week. Most of this week was dedicated to completing the CAP gold standard. The CAP gold standard consists of 120 epochs compiled from different subjects. In order to pass, you must have over 80% concordance with the gold standard. The purpose of the gold standard is to ensure that our scorings are reliable. Now that I have passed, I can begin scoring records on my own. We have a lot of subjects we need to tackle by the end of the summer!

My favorite project this week was finalizing the questionnaire for our survey-based epilepsy study. We have two versions of the questionnaire: one for controls and one for epileptic patients. After making a final decision for which measures to include, I proofread and formatted the 39-page questionnaire. We also did a sample size calculation to estimate how many surveys we need to send out. Our sample size calculation showed that we need at least 300 patients. We are expecting a response rate of 20-30%, since the questionnaire is so long; therefore, we will be sending the questionnaire to 1500 epileptic patients. Now, we are waiting for the IRBs approval of our modifications. Hopefully, we will begin to mail out surveys next week.

I really enjoyed the neurology Grand Round this week. The speaker presented on identifying biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease through metabolomics. Metabolomics is the study of chemical processes involving metabolites. This method can compare disease state to control state and can be easily translated from animals to humans. Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) and Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), a blood sample can be analyzed. This technique detects which metabolites are present and which pathways are most active. Currently this technique can only detect 22% of metabolites, however, once the other 80% of metabolites are identified, this technique has a lot of potential. I love learning about the cutting-edge advancements in science and how they are being applied clinically.

To celebrate the 4th of July, I spent the weekend at my family cabin on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota. The weekend was filled with waterskiing, tubing, and many card games.  It was a great way to spend time with my family and relax.