The Biomechanical Testing Facility has again won the prestigious BS

Student Paper Competition at the 2009 American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) Bioengineering Division Conference. This is the second year in a row that the BTF engineers and clinical collaborators have won this award.

Lead Engineer of the BTF Spine Division, Mr. Justin Scheer, and clinical
collaborators, Dr. Chris Ames (UCSF Neurosurgery) and Trigg McClellan (OTI, UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery) were awarded 1st place in the competition and to his clinical collaborators, Chris Ames (PI) and Trigg McClellan, for their project entitled, “Optimal Fusion Configuration Following C2 Corpectomy”. BTF Project Manager, Mr. Chris Han, and his clinical collaborator, Dr. Connor O’Neill (UCSF Orthopaedic Surgery), for an honorable mention in this same competition for the paper entitled, “Microdialysis technique for quantifying drug concentration in human intervertebral discs”

Clinical faculty from the Orthopaedic Trauma Institute also participated in
a workshop during the conference entitled, “Clinical Perspectives in
Orthopaedic Biomechanics”. This workshop – one of eight during the
conference – was chaired by Drs. Jenni Buckley (BTF Research Director) and Trigg McClellan (BTF Clinical Director), and participants included OTI
faculty Amir Matityahu and Murat Pekmezci as well as collaborators Drs. Bill McGann (SF Orthopaedic Residency Program) and Chris Ames (UCSF
Neurosurgery).