My overall mission is to establish a satisfying career that would help to support me, my husband and our future family here in the U.S. and also allow me enough freedom to be able to frequently visit my parents and family in the Czech Republic, Europe. As a new immigrant and permanent resident here, I feel the necessity to get an education here and ensure I will be a valid member of society.
I realize how important role medical professionals have in lives of many people and I truly want to be the one who will help to make someones' life better. I have a deep understanding for people who live with a disability or a long life disease, because my husband was diagnosed with type I. diabetes, so I know the challenges it brings. Nurses will always be needed, and since they are usually the ones who spend the most of the time with their patients, they can have a huge impact on the quality of their lives. What I also like about the medical field is that it should give me a chance to have a stable career, and an opportunity for educational growth.

Essay: Modifying of exocrine cells into insulin-generating cells

I am very excited about the research that is currently in progress in my home country, the Czech Republic. The scientists in Institute for clinical and experimental medicine in Prague (IKEM), are working on the process of reprogramming the exocrine cells in pancreas to make them to produce insulin instead. The therapy would be targeted to patients with type I. diabetes.
As of now, the only treatment for type I. diabetes is either using insulin injections, transplantation of the whole pancreas or the isolated pancreatic isles. Obviously none of them are perfect. First of all there is not enough adequate organ donors, and undergoing transplantation means that the patients have to use immunosuppressive medications till the rest of their lives. The new approach could mean a dramatic change in treating type I.diabetes, and possibly other auto-immune diseases, in addition to contributing to other studies in molecular biology and biomedicine. The biggest advantage of using reprogrammed cells is the fact, that the doctors would be transplanting patient's own cells, which would consequently mean no risk of those cells being rejected by patients body, thus no need for the cocktail of immunosuppressives, which have a negative impact on patients health in a long run. Another benefit is the nature of pancreatic exocrine cells, which are able to independently find the closest capillary vessels and release the hormone in them. At the same time, they can produce the exact amount of insulin necessary at any given moment, so there would be no complications with low or high blood sugar levels. If the research would be successful, type I. diabetes could be cured in two week treatment. It is a revolutionary idea, but it would mean a full recovery for patients, like my husband, who had no hope. And the impact on families like ours would be incredible as well, because we wouldn't have to worry that our children could inherit the same disease anymore.
According to the scientist Tomas Koblas, who works on the research, they anticipate to start experimenting their new method on laboratory animals within the next several month. He also thinks that the first human patients could start testing it in a 5 year prospect.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation estimates that there are close to three million patients suffering with type I. diabetes in USA only, and each year 30 000 new patients are diagnosed. It is a life-long and life threatening disease with many side effects and consequences, such as blindness, nerve and kidney damage and cardiovascular diseases. The insulin injections are painful and restrictive, yet there is no other option. But the science is moving forward, and there is a new hope for better future. I believe that molecular biology has a huge potential, which will allow us to discover cures for many diseases, and to help people with different disabilities. Let's hope that the project of the Czech scientists will turn out to be one of the biggest steps forward.