The meeting, sponsored by the Canadian Society for Chemistry, was held in Saskatoon, Canada from May 28 - June 1, 2005.

Ai-Lin's poster, entitled "Nanostructured Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Tissue Engineering: An In Vitro Selection of Materials and Basic Mechanistic Studies" focussed on the research she's been doing with Professor Tom Webster at Purdue and Professors S. Kershaw and H. Fenniri at the National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton, Canada.

Research on material surface roughness and chemistries are two important considerations when developing materials with good longevity, lowered adverse immune reactions and improved interaction at the tissue-biomateial interface. Nanostructured materials have been shown to promote bone cell adhesion and perform better than conventional materials. Cellular adhesion is the earliest evidence of a cytocompatible material surface. Material performance is subsequently evaluated by long-term functions of the attached cells, such as matrix and mineral deposition in the case of bone. To understand the mechanisms for why nanostructured materials can promote bone cell adhesion, in vitro cell studies were performed on various materials with controlled parameters: 1) pore and nanoparticle size and distribution, and 2) chemical functionalities. Because cellular adhesion is dependent on protein adsorption on material surfaces, protein interaction profiles were also examined. The long term goal is to identify specific proteins that preferentially adsorb on the optimized material surfaces and to elucidate their conformation and binding pathway(s) which appear to promote bone cell adhesion. This information is important in broadening our understanding of why nanostructured materials can be efficacious in treating current difficult orthopaedic problems.