Recipients of the Dr. Ramon Cugat and Dr. Montse Garcia Balletbo Research Scholarship

Matteo-Tei-Dec-2014It was my honor to receive the Dr. Ramon Cugat and Dr. Montse Garcia Balletbo Research scholarship from ASIAM Institute and have the opportunity to return to finish my projects at the Musculoskeletal Research Center (MSRC) at the University of Pittsburgh. I was glad to continue the project related to Magnesium (Mg)-based interference screws for ACL reconstruction. The ultimate goal of our project is to develop Mg-based interference screws as an effective alternative to the current commercially available screws. Moreover, I started a new project working on an in vivo Mg-based ring device to aid in the healing of an injured ACL. The early results of this study are very promising representing the future of tissue engineering of the musculoskeletal system and of orthopedic surgery in general. I had the opportunity to share my experience with Dr. Kwang Kim, Ms. Kathryn Farraro and Ms. Jonquil Flowers. I performed in vivo surgeries and it was an opportunity to improve my surgical skills as well as study about the importance of animal studies for the clinical practice. It has been also a very special opportunity to again meet very special friends with whom I had spent a wonderful year. My dream is to become one of the numerous successful orthopaedics surgeons who were trained by Dr. Woo. I would like to thank Dr. Cugat and Dr. Garcia Balletbo for their generous support. Moreover, I would like to thank the ASIAM Institute Board of Directors, Professor Giuliano Cerulli and Dr. Woo for giving me this wonderful research opportunity.