The objectives of the conference are to develop an integrated view of the structure and surface properties of implants from the standpoint of the cellular-level responses of biological tissues to non-biologic materials and to survey current clinical rehabilitation needs in regard to performance of implanted biomaterials. The conference aims to bring together scientists from three major areas: materials science, cell biology, and clinical rehabilitation medicine. The conference will be jointly sponsored by the Institute for Mechanics and Materials (Professor Richard Skalak, Director) and the Institute for Biomedical Engineering (Dr. Shu Chien, Director). Both of these Institutes are located at the University of California at San Diego in La Jolla, California, which will also be the venue of the conference. The Institute for Mechanics and Materials represents a national constituency in materials scientists who are not generally in touch with biological research or rehabilitation needs. Members of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering include expertise in cell biology but are not, in general, materials scientists.
The aim of the conference is to bring these diverse groups together and to seek practicing clinicians' advice of current rehabilitation medicine needs in regard to biomaterials. The scientific focus of the conference will be on cellular responses to implanted materials. This is the bridge-head area connecting the three main disciplines involved. It is anticipated that new joint research projects in biomaterials research for clinical rehabilitation purposes will result from this conference.
