… along with “cheers” and “no worries” became the common lingo I experienced during my great trip to Sydney, Australia to attend and present my research at the 2004 World Biomaterials Congress. This five-day conference had in attendance over fourteen hundred scientists, clinicians and manufacturers --all those of who work together in a worldwide community to produce and evaluate biomaterials from almost every scientific industry; it is this community, I am so proud to be an active part of.

To fulfill my active part, along with my lab team, we submitted three abstracts from our recent projects here in Tucson for submission back in August of 2003 to the conference. To our delight, all were accepted: A New Collagen Dura Substitute for Use as an Onlay or a Suturable Graft for a poster presentation, Lack of Immunogenicity of PEG-Based Hydrogel Used as a Tissue Sealant in Laparoscopic Porcine Partial Nephrectomy for a poster presentation as well, and In Vitro Biocompatibility Testing of Matrices for Tissue Engineering: Cell Viability vs. Proliferation as a podium presentation. I am an author on the first two and presented the first one. The poster sessions were, as expected, quite large and spread out over several areas of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center, where the conference was held. Wyatt Ho, another UBRPer on my lab team, presented our other poster. Our posters were in very high traffic areas, so we had a great turnout the entire time
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I presented the results from a project I had worked on from the initial planning stages, to the final publication (in the progress). This study, as titled, is the development and testing of a new collagen based brain dura substitute. My involvement consisted of developing and organizing the project, performing the surgeries, as part of a surgical team, where we implanted the substitutes over a defect we created in the dura, obtaining the data from observations and histological analysis, and finalizing the project through statistical analysis and qualitative conclusions. For the conference I was responsible for developing the poster for presentation. Having had such a major role in this project, I was well prepared for the grilling questions that I was faced with when presenting to such an educated audience. As well as presenting my project, I had the opportunity to learn so much from other posters and talks about highly relevant information to the current focuses of study in our lab.

In addition to the pleasure of partaking in a world scientific conference, I was in one of the greatest cities in the world, and I took advantage of it. Wyatt and I explored the city and made friends from all around the world. We were able to see the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, take a dinner cruise through Darling Harbor, and many other world renowned sites. Following the conclusion of the conference, we remained in Australia for five additional days to explore Cairns, Port Douglas, The Daintree Rain Forrest and river, and best of all the Great Barrier Reef via scuba. Matching the brilliance of these sites were the people. Nowhere else have I ever felt more welcomed by the inhabitants. I urge you all to travel to Australia meet the people and explore their beautiful country.

I would like to thank the UBRP, especially Carol Bender, Genevieve Kenney and Christine Duddleston for the financial and travel planning help and approval which made this fantastic trip possible. An enormous thanks to Dr. Judith Ulreich for allowing me to have a principal position on this project and supporting me in her lab, which also was crucial in making this, trip a reality. Thanks to the Ulreich lab for their help on this project and thanks to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for their financial help.

Michael French, UBRPer in Dr. Judith Ulreich’s lab, Surgery