Talking Real Science with Yelena Akelina https://youtu.be/IzF2OzrOEmc This episode of Share Science features Yelena Akelina , DVM, MS, a Research Scientist and a Co-Director/Instructor in Clinical Microsurgery at the Microsurgery Research and Training lab at Columbia University . Through a multitude of workshops and microsurgical training programs, Yelena has made a significant impact on the microsurgery community. Her passion for her students, the animals she works with, and her commitment to education shines through in this podcast, which has been transcribed below. This interview has been edited slightly for clarity and conciseness.

Where did you grow up and how did your youth influence your path and passion towards science?

My story starts from Moscow, Russia where I grew up. Ive always loved animals since I was very little. My parents always complained because Id bring every little kitten and dog I could find on the street, nurse them back to health, but then couldnt keep them all, so I let them go. That love for animals and living creatures is what put me on my path to be a biologist. I applied for the Moscow State University in the late eighties, but because of the political situation in Russia I couldnt make it to the university, but I was accepted to the Veterinary Academy of Moscow to become a veterinarian. This still applies my love of animals to science, and thats how I became a vet somehow by accident. But many things in my life were by accident.

Where else did you study throughout your education and how did you end up in your current field studying microsurgery?

"Well I can tell you it was by accident. Sometimes you have an opportunity in your life which you have to grab onto and just go for it."

In Russia, I also completed a Master of Science, which opened my eyes to research and to the possibility of being a scientist. When we came to the United States, I wanted to become a veterinarian again and started applying for the foreign veterinary program to become a licensed veterinarian. Unfortunately, my education credits were not enough, so I needed to get more and went to the veterinary technologist program at Mercy College in New York and started taking credits. The microsurgery lab in the department of Orthopedics at Columbia University accepted interns at that time. So, I came here as an intern for three credits and during my internship, the director at the lab left and I was left hanging. Being a doctor and being exposed to the science and loving to teach made me eligible to get a position in the lab, again by pure accident. Plus, my personality was open to learning something new and apparently, I was good at teaching which I had never done before. So I was asked to stay as a senior technician in 1996 and grew from there to be a research scientist and director of the lab for the last 26 years. Hard work, self-teaching, and observing my students and learning with them on their mistakes and my own that made me quite a good instructor.

Has there been a particular person that has influenced your career, and how have they done so?

Well, there are a lot of people Ive met on my way to become a microsurgeon. When I started working here, I was sent to a lot of microsurgical centers in the US. In 1998, I became very friendly with Dr. Brian Cooley, who was an instructor and microsurgeon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An amazing instructor and a very, very talented scientist and researcher and microsurgeon, we became good friends and he taught me a lot of tips and tricks of microsurgery. When I saw him working and admired him, I was thinking, oh my God, I really want to be like you with your hands and your open mind. He also introduced me to the Society of Microsurgery Specialists of the US and the World Society of Microsurgery. I went quickly from a small lab in NYC to a world of microsurgery, first inside the US and then a global level microsurgery education. Dr. Harold Dick, who was the chairman at that time, and the founder of this microsurgery lab offered me a job in 1996 as a tech and in a few years I became an officer and co-director of the lab. He believed in me and I worked hard to make him proud. There was another special person who turned my professional life around and became my mentor, advocate, friend, and a big supporter: Dr. Melvin Rosenwasser, who is my boss and my co-Director of the lab and an amazing microsurgeon. I was very fortunate to have those people in my life! Working with those doctors opened the door to a high professional level and taught me many important lessons that I would have never learned otherwise. There is a line of people I admire and many, many more to mention, but those are the main ones.

Something that a couple of our listeners have wondered is, if youre just starting out with rodent microsurgery and rodent surgery in general, what are some of the most important tools to have at your station?

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