CRECIMIENTO DE LAS CRÍAS DEL LEÓN MARINO DEL SUR

Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get. Before 2012, I could not imagine such a long journey in a country so far away from my family and friends. The Netherlands to me was only a small country famous for its windmills, tulip, bicycles and cheese. But now the Netherlands has become my second hometown and the witness of my growth during the PhD. Looking back to the PhD experience of the past six years, so many scenes come to my mind, and so many meaningful moments made this journey the most fruitful ones in my life. The help, guidance, trust, support and love from the people I have stayed with, certainly made this journey so unique, colorful, and exciting. Although it is not possible to mention everyone by name, I would like to especially acknowledge the following people.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. dr. Jonh A. Jansen. Dear John, thank you for giving me the opportunity to do research and pursue a PhD in your research group, which is one of the top tissue engineering groups in the world. Before I came to the Netherlands, I learned your renowned research achievements in dentistry and biomaterials from PubMed. After I started my PhD study here, I have learned so much from you, not only from your broad knowledge and solid expertise in biomaterial field, but also from your way of critical thinking and highly efficient working attitude. It is also your broad knowledge and extraordinary achievements that set a respectable example for me and motivate me to continue academic after my PhD study.

I am deeply grateful to my co-supervisor, Dr. Fang Yang. Dear Fang, I am so lucky to have you as my supervisor during my PhD. You are not only a supervisor who have solid background and expertise in the biomaterials field, but also a friend who are always willing to help. Before I came to Nijmegen, Na and Wanxun told me you were very friendly and helpful. During these years, I really have attracted by your meticulous attitude toward research, your optimistic attitude towards life, your understanding of western and eastern culture, and your generous help in every detail of my life. I can still remember how disappointed was I when I faced failure in research on the first year of my PhD. Thank your for encouraging me patiently and helping me go through it. Also special thanks to Ronald, for the warm accompany during my PhD and being the best host during Chinese New Year. Thank both of you so much for all you did for me in the past years!

I would like to further express my gratitude to my other co-supervisor, Dr. X. Frank Walboomers. Dear Frank, thank you for the valuable supervision, constant

encouragement, and constructive comments. I can never finish my PhD so smoothly without your supervision and help. Your solid knowledge in tissue engineering and broad experiences in animal study provided helpful guidance for my experiments. Also, your excellent academic writing skill surprised me after you revised my first manuscript. Those files are still kept in my computer, which constantly reminded me how I should be careful with the scientific descriptions and enjoy the beauty of academic English. Your style of working showed a good example for me, not only being precise and collaborative on work, but also being confident, open-mind ed and adventurous in life. I am so grateful to have your supervision all along this PhD journey. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Chinese supervisors Prof. Yining Wang and Prof. Tao Jiang. Dear Prof. Wang and Prof. Jiang, thank you for your continuous support and supervision during my PhD and working in China. I was so lucky to join your research group and work with you in the same department after obtaining my first PhD degree in China. Your patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge have inspired me and encouraged me to be a confident dentist-scientist! It has been a great pleasure for me to work with you, both professionally and personally.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to Prof. Pamela C. Yelick, Dr. Weibo Zhang, Dr. Adelina S. Plachokova and Dr. Daniël Oortgiesen. Dear Prof. Yelick, thank you for letting me join your research group in Boston. It was a great experience to work in your lab and thank you for all those valuable and efficient advices for my studies and article. Dear Weibo, I would never finish my study in Boston so smoothly without your help. Thank you for all of your supports, encouragements and patience. Dear Adelina, thank you for the pleasant cooperation and your inspiring comments on the manuscript. I learned a lot from your expertise in animal study design, surgery and also scientific writing. Dear Daniël, thank you for your guidance on the preparation of animal model, and the assistance in the animal surgery. I enjoyed working with you greatly.

I would like to express my appreciation to my colleagues Prof. Sander Leeuwenburg Dr. Jeroen van den Beucken, Dr. Joop Wolke and Dr. Sanne Both. Dear Sander, your hard-working attitude, politeness and modesty in social contact have certainly set up a good example for me. I learned from you to be generous and modest as a person, precise and efficient in work, passionate and adventurous for life. Dear Jeroen, I was always impressed by your high working efficiency and unique prospect for scientific questions. Thanks a lot for your help in the cell-homing study. Dear Joop, thank you for your vivid description of Dutch directness. I really admire your critical attitude to research and the warm heart. Dear Sanne, I will never forget how patiently you taught us how to culture cells and to do all the assays, which makes my PhD life much easier.

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My work would not be completed so efficiently without the help from all the technicians. I would like to express my gratitude to Natasja, Vincent, Monique, Martijn and Rene for your patience and being always there helping us. Special thanks to Natasja, thank you so much on your assistance with histology and animal experiment, and also your patient and good advice. I will always remember the beautiful stainings we worked out together. I would also like to express my appreciations to Kim, Henriëtte and Monique, thank you for all your professional support in the past years.

I would like to acknowledge all the people from the Central Animal Laboratory (CDL), who helped me to arrange and perform animal studies. In particular, I would like to thank Bianca, Daphne, Debby and Linda for their excellent technique assistance. I would like to acknowledge all my PhD colleagues, Wei, Na, Wanxun, Arnold, Xiangzhen, Jie, Yue, Manuela, Eva, Astghik, Ljupcho, Ruggero, Bart, Jan-Willem, Yang, Jiankang, Alexey, Kambiz, Mani, Simone, Antonio, Alessandro, Pedro, Claire, Eline, Winston, Carla, Hamdan, Irene, Paula, Kemal, Cristina, Dimitris, Matilde, Reza, Take, Jinling, Jing, Huannan, Weihua, Hongbing, Jidong, Jinlong, Bing, Xian, Jinmeng, Jiamian, Ke, Roel, Qian, Wenying, Li, Sónia, Nathan, Doris, Robin, Dingpei, Daniela, Yanmei. Thank you for creating the friendly international atmosphere in the past years. Thank you for helping me with all kinds of problems in the lab and sharing funny jokes in the coffee room. Dear Na, thank you for your help and support in the past years. Before I came to the Netherlands, you introduced this PhD project to me, and gave me so many suggestions. In the first year of my PhD, you were my advisor on a number of experimental techniques including making the periodontal defect model, which I used for my whole PhD time. Besides research, thank you and also Zengping for hosting so many nice activities and delicious dinners. Dear Wanxun, I was so lucky to be with you in the same research group both in China and in the Netherlands. To me, you are not only my colleague and office mate, but also a sister. I bothered you many times with stupid questions, but you were never fed up with me. You helped me a lot in my research, and also in my life during my stay in Nijmegen. Also special thanks to your husband, Arnold, for organizing so many unforgettable events and dinners together. Dear Jiankang, one of my best friends in Nijmegen. Your self-disciplined lifestyle and “Chicken Soup for the Soul” really inspired me. Also thank you for the pleasant company during our trips to Istanbul, Athens, Mykonos and Kleve. Dear Alexey, the funniest, really helpful and chubby guy in our department, I was so lucky to have you around. Your humours and stories made me never feel bored staying in the office. I will never forget the animal experiments we did together, the laugh you brought to us, and your sincere helping heart! Thanks also go to Thordis for spare-ribs, movie night and other nice activities together. Dear Jing, we started our PhD in Nijmegen at the same time, and we took care of each other at the first year. You showed me great character

of persistence, honesty and courage. Also thank you for the pleasant company during our trips to Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Florence and Munich. Dear Pedro, thank you for the pleasant cooperation, and I am really pleased that our effort led to two successful joint publications. Dear Xiangzhen, it was so nice to have your companion on our trip to Switzerland. And the sorrow of lost and joy of found made this trip more meaningful. Dear Yang, thank you for providing me accommodation at my second year of PhD, and several nice dinners together. Thank you all for your company along the journey! My PhD journey would not be so beautiful without the company, help and support from friends outside the department. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Bu, Xuan, Shanshan, Weiwei, Niels, Aysel, Ditte, Paola, Ana, Steven, Johnny, Esther, Yi, Lie, Wei, Zhiran, Shuiquan, Shuo, Junru, Justin, Qi, Junxiao, Haiteng, Xu and Xuyan. Special thanks to Bu, for providing me a sweet home in the last year of my PhD. Your optimistic, cheerful and diligent personality really inspired me. I will always cherish the fantastic trips we have made!

To my beloved family, thank you for your endless love, support and spiritual guidance! Your unconditional and endless love, trust and support is the most precious fortune I could have in my life.

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