A Day in the Life: David Sainsbury, Doctor

One of the Eager Bunch: A Young Doctor Talks About His Work with Blond McIndoe

	Doctor David Sainsbury

I joined the Queen Victoria Hospital in August 2006 as a Senior House Officer in Plastic Surgery. I came from the North-East where I had spent the last 11 years at medical school and completing my basic surgical training.

One of the reasons for coming to East Grinstead was the opportunity to participate in research at Blond McIndoe Centre. I had previously performed laboratory research and was keen to build on this.

At hospital induction, the eager bunch of new doctors were urged to participate in research. I was put in the direction of Peter Knox, Chief Executive of the Blond McIndoe Centre. After preliminary discussions “Are you sure you want to do this? Are you certain you want to do this?” and proving I had some semblance of scientific acumen we began our investigations using an innovative method of observing skin cell growth whilst encased in a blood clot. This formed the majority of the work over the past six months and we are in the process of preparing a paper for publication. Almost uniquely and with great scientific advantage, the Blond McIndoe Centre is able to use human skin donated by consenting patients who have undergone surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital. The real beauty of working at the Blond McIndoe Centre is that I am able to combine my clinical duties with the laboratory research fairly easily. I tend to spend a couple of evenings per week in the laboratory setting up experiments and analysing previous work. Naturally, such work needs careful planning and preparation; it is amazing how the ideas flow after a curry and a few beers.

I realise I hold a very privileged position which hopefully facilitates links between Queen Victoria Hospital and Blond McIndoe Centre. I hope I have a symbiotic relationship with the Blond McIndoe Centre; I provide an insight to the clinical application of the laboratory work, in return I gain laboratory skills and perform research in a worldrenowned unit.

My studies have now moved on to investigate how the physical environment (pH, O2 and nutrient levels) affects skin cell migration. This is undoubtedly a small piece of the jigsaw. However, if we can enhance skin cell migration in the laboratory this may facilitate novel surgical applications and dressings that expedite a patient’s wound healing.