{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Fluid Endeavour: Kirk Haan's Medical Balancing Act","description":" Kirk Haan graduated from high school, thinking he\u2019d study pharmacy at the University of Saskatchewan, and walk out five years later. After one summer at a pharmacy, Haan realized he was after a more \u2018hands-on\u2019 career in medicine. \u201cI\u2019ve kind of worked with my hands my whole life, just between rummaging around on a farm and always kind of building things,\u201d he said.  \u201cNow it\u2019s using them to help people in a direct way.\u201d Then, Haan found his passion \u2014 inside the laboratory. In 2018, Haan landed a summer position in Dr. Thomas Fisher\u2019s lab, studying osmoregulation \u2014 the mechanisms that govern our bodies\u2019 salt and fluid intake and output. He never looked back.  By the time he entered medical school, Haan had completed two summer research projects, his honours degree, and his master\u2019s thesis in osmoregulation, all under Dr. Fisher\u2019s supervision. \u201cHe was a really good role model,\u201d Haan said, noting he returned to Fisher\u2019s lab for up to 30 hours a week during his first and second year of medical school.  Haan is set to resume his work at medical school next summer, after he\u2019s completed his PhD.  Until then, he and Fisher are unravelling mechanisms involved with Synaptotagmin-11, and later Endophilin-A1, proteins associated with keeping the body\u2019s fluid-salt balance in check. Changes in those complexes are often seen in patients with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson\u2019s, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and Alzheimer\u2019s disease. Dehydration and fluid imbalances also become more common as patients age. Haan calls this \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d when patients arrive at Emergency Departments, worried about pharmaceutical interactions. \u201cThe more drugs you take, the more likely you are to have a drug interaction that causes a perturbation in this system,\u201d said Haan. He believes Synaptotagmin-11 and Endophilin-A1 may play \u201ca massive role\u201d in the long-term regulation of our body fluids. Haan also credits his wife \u2014 who just entered medical school with her own PhD \u2014 and an \u201cincredible community\u201d of friends in Saskatoon for their support during his decades-long journey through two academic worlds. Although they will likely have to leave Saskatchewan to pursue his residency as an ear, nose and throat surgeon, Haan said the plan is to return. \u201cWith some of the things that I've learned and my passion for blending this basic science with clinical medicine, maybe somewhere down the line we find something that's really cool that can really help people,\u201d he said. ","author_name":"Researchers Under the Scope","author_url":"https:\/\/medicine.usask.ca\/research\/index.php#ConnectWithUs","html":"