Avidin Nanocarriers for Sustained Intra-Discal Delivery of Drugs for Treatment of Disc Degeneration

The Shout-It-Out Award (Conference Travel Award)

Blog Post by Erica Wagner COE ’20

Attending and presenting at the Orthopaedic Research Society 2019 Annual Conference was an incredible opportunity to meet and learn from researchers in orthopedics.

During my poster session, I spoke to eight people ranging from graduate and medical students to well-established researchers. Many people found my work intriguing and asked several questions regarding my experimental setup so that they could apply the same techniques in their lab and were curious to know what the next steps for my research were.

I also attended the other poster sessions and as many spine/intervertebral disc (IVD) talks and workshops as possible. A few interesting posters included a study on the in vivo fluid convection of different regions of the IVD with different degeneration grades from Duke University and an investigation on the effects of a hydrogel loaded with mesenchymal stem cells injected into the IVD of mice from Oakland University. A few talks that really stood out involved 3D printing avascular tissues such as cartilage and IVD tissue for the replacement of diseased tissue. I was struck by how novel the combination of 3D printing was with the incorporation of cells and structural proteins needed to promote tissue survival.

Overall, presenting at this conference has further confirmed my trajectory of pursuing a PhD in Bioengineering and pursuing a research career. Being able to meet with both PhD students and faculty conducting incredible research to treat musculoskeletal disorders was an inspiring experience, and I am excited to continue my current research and to begin new projects.