 It was just another normal night, but actually it wasn't. My best friend, she was lying in bed next to me crying. Zaza, my back, it hurts so bad, she said. We were frantic, we didn't know what to do. So then we thought, let's bring her to the hospital. After hours and hours of waiting, the doctor came and brought us the bad news. Your friend has slipped this, he said. And unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it, except give her pain medication. I was in my second year of engineering at that time, and I couldn't help but feel completely helpless. It wasn't until the final year of my bachelor's degree when a lecturer came and approached me and asked, would you like to do a PhD in biomechanics of the spine? So then I thought, well, maybe this is how I can help. So you must be thinking, how does engineering relate to the spine, you ask? Well, the thing about materials is that everything around us is made of a specific structure, especially parts of our body. And sometimes going to the fundamental basics gives us a better understanding at the bigger picture. So let's talk about the spine. Now the spine consists of a very compliant disc, sandwiched in between rigid bones. Imagine the difference between these two materials. So the junction connecting them plays an important role in the strength of the spine as a whole. So the idea was to take a tiny piece from the disc and pull it apart and analyze the regions of failure at various levels. Interestingly enough, at nanoscales, we were able to see fibers of the disc extend and intertwine into the fibers of the bone, sort of like roots of a tree. In fact, the structures were actually pretty similar to steel reinforced concrete. Now in steel reinforced concrete, the steel elements are simply brought into a close intermingling association. It is then the concrete matrix which provides that all important integrated medium. In the case of the spine, parallels the role of mineralization. So actually the strength of this junction is derived from the combination of these two materials. So the significance of this study is that it shines a new light on a region once considered as separate entities, hence giving us a better understanding of the relation between structural integration and how it fails. And potentially we hope to bridge the gap between spine surgeons and engineers all around the world. Thank you.