MRI in Melbourne and Exploring Australia
By Issel Anne L. Lim, PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Hello! I'm a graduate student in biomedical engineering, and I received GSA funding to give two oral presentations at the annual conference held by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). For the May 2012 meeting, we visited Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, where the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was our academic home for the week.
About the Conference
During the weekend before the conference, distinguished scientists from around the world typically give mini-lectures on basic aspects of MRI, from "Preclinical MR of Cancer" to "Imaging Strategies." The week of the conference features oral presentations, poster presentations, lunch symposia, study group discussions on particular topics, and lots of networking.
I submitted two abstracts to ISMRM in November, and was honored with two oral presentations: "Correlation of Brain Iron with Susceptibility: Comparison of Gradient Echo with WASSR Acquisition at 3 Tesla" and "Frequency Mapping in the Spinal Cord with WASSR at 3 Tesla." My first presentation was given in the Plenary Lecture Hall, and the screen was literally as tall as a house. The second presentation was in a more normal-sized lecture hall, but also required fielding a lot of questions. This conference felt quite productive, though, since many folks seemed very interested in our new method to measure susceptibility in the brain -- basically, how the tissues affect an applied magnetic field can help us quantify the chemical composition or orientation of the tissues.
More information about the conference can be found on the ISMRM conference website: http://www.ismrm.org/12/. The site also has photos from the opening and closing ceremonies, which featured Australian animals like kangaroos, koalas, and wombats.
Funny fact about the Melbourne Convention Center: the toilets had signs that said "Recycled Water: DO NOT DRINK"… I wonder if they've had problems with overly-thirsty tourists?
About Australia
Melbourne in May was beautiful -- lovely fall weather in a very walkable city. Quite a few folks from my lab went to Australia. We found didgeridoos at the Queen Victoria Market, along with several other tourist-y souvenirs like boomerangs and kangaroo leather hats. A few of us went to Phillip Island and got to see the penguin parade, where the little penguins toddled from the fishing in the sea to their burrows in the sunset. The food in Melbourne was delicious, albeit expensive. We ate amazing Asian pastries at Breadtop, amazing Asian desserts at Dessert Story, amazing Asian hot-pot…. Australia is also known for its steak and lamb, but once our lab found the Chinatown, we were hooked. We did get to eat at several Aussie fast food places, though, like Nando's with Spanish chicken, Oporto with roasted chicken, Hungry Jack's like Burger King, and Pie Face with a selection of meat and fruit pies. Quite a bit of the fast food also featured fish and chips.
After the conference, several of us also went to Sydney, where we got to see the Sydney Opera House, travel across the Harbour Bridge, take pictures with an Olympic statue, take a harbor ferry to Watson's Bay and Gap Bluff, climb to the Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains in Katoomba, play with the kids and water sculptures in Tumbalong Park, walk alongside emus and ogle the platypuses in Taronga Zoo, browse the tourist fare at Paddy's Markets, and eat kangaroo kebabs.
My fiancée and I also went to Cairns, where we took a boat trip from Port Douglas to go snorkeling in the Outer Great Barrier Reef -- a truly amazing myriad of brightly colored fish, starfish, and coral. We got up close and personal with a giant clam, and saw the sights on a marine biology tour through a glass-bottomed boat.
All in all, an amazing trip to "Oz," and a very unique experience in the "land down under."
Hello! I'm a graduate student in biomedical engineering, and I received GSA funding to give two oral presentations at the annual conference held by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). For the May 2012 meeting, we visited Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, where the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was our academic home for the week.
About the Conference
During the weekend before the conference, distinguished scientists from around the world typically give mini-lectures on basic aspects of MRI, from "Preclinical MR of Cancer" to "Imaging Strategies." The week of the conference features oral presentations, poster presentations, lunch symposia, study group discussions on particular topics, and lots of networking.
I submitted two abstracts to ISMRM in November, and was honored with two oral presentations: "Correlation of Brain Iron with Susceptibility: Comparison of Gradient Echo with WASSR Acquisition at 3 Tesla" and "Frequency Mapping in the Spinal Cord with WASSR at 3 Tesla." My first presentation was given in the Plenary Lecture Hall, and the screen was literally as tall as a house. The second presentation was in a more normal-sized lecture hall, but also required fielding a lot of questions. This conference felt quite productive, though, since many folks seemed very interested in our new method to measure susceptibility in the brain -- basically, how the tissues affect an applied magnetic field can help us quantify the chemical composition or orientation of the tissues.
More information about the conference can be found on the ISMRM conference website: http://www.ismrm.org/12/. The site also has photos from the opening and closing ceremonies, which featured Australian animals like kangaroos, koalas, and wombats.
Funny fact about the Melbourne Convention Center: the toilets had signs that said "Recycled Water: DO NOT DRINK"… I wonder if they've had problems with overly-thirsty tourists?
About Australia
Melbourne in May was beautiful -- lovely fall weather in a very walkable city. Quite a few folks from my lab went to Australia. We found didgeridoos at the Queen Victoria Market, along with several other tourist-y souvenirs like boomerangs and kangaroo leather hats. A few of us went to Phillip Island and got to see the penguin parade, where the little penguins toddled from the fishing in the sea to their burrows in the sunset. The food in Melbourne was delicious, albeit expensive. We ate amazing Asian pastries at Breadtop, amazing Asian desserts at Dessert Story, amazing Asian hot-pot…. Australia is also known for its steak and lamb, but once our lab found the Chinatown, we were hooked. We did get to eat at several Aussie fast food places, though, like Nando's with Spanish chicken, Oporto with roasted chicken, Hungry Jack's like Burger King, and Pie Face with a selection of meat and fruit pies. Quite a bit of the fast food also featured fish and chips.
After the conference, several of us also went to Sydney, where we got to see the Sydney Opera House, travel across the Harbour Bridge, take pictures with an Olympic statue, take a harbor ferry to Watson's Bay and Gap Bluff, climb to the Three Sisters at the Blue Mountains in Katoomba, play with the kids and water sculptures in Tumbalong Park, walk alongside emus and ogle the platypuses in Taronga Zoo, browse the tourist fare at Paddy's Markets, and eat kangaroo kebabs.
My fiancée and I also went to Cairns, where we took a boat trip from Port Douglas to go snorkeling in the Outer Great Barrier Reef -- a truly amazing myriad of brightly colored fish, starfish, and coral. We got up close and personal with a giant clam, and saw the sights on a marine biology tour through a glass-bottomed boat.
All in all, an amazing trip to "Oz," and a very unique experience in the "land down under."