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Innovations in plastic and reconstructive surgery, both in the
U.S. and abroad, continue to occur at a fast pace. Jan Vranckx,
a medical specialist from Leuven University Hospital in Belgium,
is well aware of this and brought his expertise to Boston for
a year to conduct research.
He worked in the Tissue Engineering and Gene-Transfer lab in
the Longwood Medical Area, where Harvard Medical School and several
affiliated hospitals are located.
Vranckx's research involved studying the behavior of cultivated
tissues to improve the growth of cells and tissues, especially
in difficult cases such as diabetic wounds, extensive burns, radiation
after tumor removal or trauma. He points out that, "In the
far future we might be able to grow complex tissues this way,
even organs."
The Boston region provided him with numerous opportunities for
growth and scholarship. For example, Vranckx was able to attend
a lecture in which the two teams leading the Human Genome Project
revealed their findings.
He notes, "It certainly is an unforgettable experience working
in an environment where several Nobel Prize winners in medicine,
authors of renowned medical books and articles and excellent teachers
work."
In addition, Vranckx believes that the 2001 CIES Visiting Scholar
Conference in Washington, D.C., was one of the highlights of his
Fulbright experience.
"We were all there as students and teachers, researchers
and professors, with Fulbright in the U.S., studying not only
about our fields of professional interest, but even more about
life and people, about solidarity and understanding, about exchanging
ideas and feelings," he states.
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