At first glance, the most surprising thing about my new lab was the diversity. The countries of Greece, Italy, Spain, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Australia, Iraq, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, France, Ireland, Mexico, Sudan, India, and Iran were represented among the people that I worked with directly. Hearing the stories about these individuals -- from the Greek telling me about the difficulty of entering the state funded university system, to the Nigerian who served as a peacekeeper in Darfur, to the German who was the youngest paramedic in Munich at sixteen and earned his PhD in Bioengineering by twenty-three -- was one of the highlights of my trip. 

I lived in south London and worked in central London. With such a robust transportation system I had the option of taking the subway, double decker bus, or a train or transfer among them seamlessly. Within a ten-minute walk or short bus ride from my labs was Shakespeare's Globe Theater, the financial district (called Canary Warf), the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Westminster, the National Gallery, and the Tower of London. 

Given my interdisciplinary background -- with studies in engineering, biochemistry, and molecular and cellular biology -- it was important to find a project that incorporated all of these fields. I found this project at King's College London working under several investigators including Dr. Ian Thompson. I had the opportunity to work in five laboratories in both a university and hospital setting. My work involved the development of tissue scaffolds for hard tissue repair and replacement. Specifically, I used the bioactive glass, Bioglass(r), as filler for polymer-glass composites. From these composites I created an interconnected porous structure using supercritical carbon dioxide. Various formulations of the materials were exposed to human bone cells and cell viability and expression levels of various bone marker genes were evaluated. This project included my engineering studies of stress, materials, and mechanics with my life science studies of biochemistry and cellular function. I was able to learn new techniques in RNA and protein purification and cellular characterization as well as new material processing methods.

In addition to my research I also assisted a maxillofacial surgical team by creating three-dimensional models of patient anatomy from CT scan data using computer aided design (CAD) and three-dimensional printing. The surgeons could then use these models to both plan and perform their surgeries -- which I was able to watch and play an active role in.

My trip was not all work -- I was able to see the art and tradition London offers, as well. I made it to the Royal National Opera, Shakespeare's globe, and London's equivalent of Broadway (The West End) to see performances. I also saw a variety of artistic offerings and visited several of the surrounding Boroughs surrounding London.  Sarah Nelson, a fellow BRAVO! student working at Cambridge, met me for the day in the coastal city of Brighton. We explored the city and went to the beautiful (albeit rocky) beach.

I would absolutely recommend a summer abroad, even in the face of other perhaps more lucrative summer positions as the life experience and friendships earned will more than compensate for the monetary loss.

I would like to thank Carol Bender and Dr. Mark Riley as well as my mentors at King's Dr. Garritt Koller, Dr. Agi Grigoriadis, Dr. Lucy DiSilvio, and Dr. Ian Thompson.  In addition, I extend my gratitude to the NIH for support from grant MD001427 for my travels.

Mark Leick, UBRPer in Dr. Mark Riley's lab, Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering