Gulden Camci-Unal
(University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)

Dr. Gulden Camci-Unal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her current research interests include the development of unconventional biomaterials such as eggshell microparticle-reinforced scaffolds, paper-based cell culture platforms, plant-derived scaffolds, and origami-inspired tissue engineered products. She also works on developing multicellular and compartmentalized tissue mimetics for regenerative engineering, hydrogel-based platforms for personalized medicine, bioactive scaffolds for template-guided biomineralization, oxygen-generating biomaterials for tissue repair, stem cell delivery approaches, and paper-based biosensors for low-cost and rapid detection of bacterial and viral diseases including Covid-19. Her research has been supported by the NIH, NSF, US Army, ONR, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), American Heart Association (AHA), and Phase 1 and Phase 2 SBIR and STTR grants. Dr. Camci-Unal’s research and teaching achievements include the Robert and Gail Ward Endowed Professorship (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), University of Massachusetts Lowell Teaching Excellence Award, Iowa State University Teaching Excellence Award, Runner-Up for the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) $200K Challenge (2019, 2020), Wakonse Fellowship, Chevron-Phillips Award, Procter&Gamble Fellowship, and finalist for BioFlux Innovation Award. Her research has resulted in 94+ papers, 88+ conference abstracts, and 10+ patent applications so far. She is an Associate Editor for Bioactive Materials, and an Editorial Board member of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), PLoS One, Gels, Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine, International Journal of Bioprinting, and Micromachines.

Syam Nukavarapu
(University of Connecticut, USA)

Syam Nukavarapu, Ph.D., is a Castleman Professor in Engineering Innovation at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut (UConn). He holds joint appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UConn, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, UConn Health. Dr. Nukavarapu leads the Tissue Engineering Science and Technology Laboratory (TEST Lab) at UConn, and his research interests include biomaterials, engineered grafts, and tissue engineering. Dr. Nukavarapu has authored over eighty original articles, book chapters, and invited opinion articles/reviews. He co-edited a textbook on tissue engineering, MRS symposium proceedings on bioinspired materials and structures, and a special issue on the topic of “Future of Biomaterials.” He serves on the editorial boards of major journals in the field, including Biomaterials, Bioactive Materials, and Tissue Engineering. Dr. Nukavarapu received a distinguished engineering educator award and has been an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Bikramjit Basu
(Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India)

Dr. Bikramjit Basu is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, since 2011 and earlier served on the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (2001-2011). He has been pursuing research at the confluence of Materials Science, Additive Manufacturing, Biological Science, and Medicine, to address many unanswered questions related to regenerative engineering and reconstructive surgeries. His research group has effectively applied the principles and tools of these disciplines to develop next-generation implants and bioengineering solutions to address unmet clinical needs for musculoskeletal, dental, and neurosurgical applications; thereby impacting human healthcare. His research group has developed technologies related to the manufacturing of bioceramics, acetabular liners, customized bone flaps for cranioplasty surgeries, dental implants and variants of hydrogels. These technologies are transferred to multinational corporates or start-ups, and many of the products, after regulatory clearances, are currently used for patient care in India.
A Chartered Engineer of the UK, he has the unique distinction of being the only ceramic scientist from India to get elected to all the major international societies and academies, including the World Academy of Ceramics (2024), the European Ceramic Society (2023), the American Ceramic Society (2019). In India, he is the only engineering scientist to get elected as a Fellow of all the National Academies of Engineering, Science and Medicine, including the Indian National Science Academy (2021), Indian Academy of Sciences (2020), American Ceramic Society (2019), National Academy of Medical Sciences (2017), Indian National Academy of Engineering (2015), and National Academy of Sciences, India (2013). Internationally, he is an elected fellow of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (2020), International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (2017) and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (2015). He is a recipient of India’s most prestigious Science and Technology award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (2013) from the Prime Minister of India; and globally competent awards, like Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (2022), and International Richard Brook Award from the European Ceramic Society (2022). He is currently serving on many advisory panels of the national institutes, European university and federal funding agencies as well as major multinational corporates. As the current President of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs India (1000+ members across India, US and Europe) and in his leadership roles as the Chair of Bioceramics Division and other principal committees of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), he has brought transformative changes to significantly enhance international visibility of the biomaterials programs in different countries, while inspiring several hundreds of young researchers in Bioceramics area across the world. Such activities together with his roles as the lead investigator in several multi-institutional network programs including multicentric clinical studies enabled creating a vibrant translational ecosystem, to bring together key stakeholders (industry professionals and clinicians) on the innovation platform in India.

Jungbin Yoon
(POSTECH, Korea, Republic of)

Dr Jungbin Yoon is a research professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at POSTECH. She received her bachelor's
degree from the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto in 2011. She completed her PhD at the School of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University in 2019. Her current research interests include developing an integrative multi-organ-on-a-chip by utilizing multi-biofabrication techniques, including 3D bioprinting technology and tissue-specific bioinks.

Ge Gao
(School of Medical Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, China)

Dr. Ge Gao received his Ph.D. at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at POSTECH in 2019 and joined Beijing Institute of Technology at the end of 2020 as an assistant professor in the School of Medical Technology. His research focuses on novel 3D bioprinting strategies, formulation of innovative bioinks, as well as building tissue/organ equivalents, in vitro disease modeling, and organ-on-a-chip for applications in regenerative medicine, analytics, and diagnostics. The achievements have been published in over 20 top journals, including Advanced Functional Materials, Biomaterials, Biofabrication, Applied Physics Reviews, Small Methods, and other high-impact journals.

Michiya Matsusaki
(Department of Applied Chemistry, Osaka University, Japan)

Michiya Matsusaki was born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1976. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2003 from Kagoshima University. He started his academic career as a Postdoctoral fellow at Osaka University in 2003. He was a visiting scientist at Lund University in 2004. In 2006, he joined the Department of Applied Chemistry in the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and to full Professor in 2019. He was a JST-PRESTO researcher (Concurrent position) from 2008 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. He was awarded 20 awards including the Young Scientist’s Prize by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. His research interest is biomaterials and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical applications.

Tan Lay Poh
(School of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore)

A/P Tan Lay Poh is from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research group works on developing engineering platforms to investigate cell-material interactions that eventually provide insights to develop 3D scaffolds and cell culture platforms for soft tissue engineering. The lab focuses significantly on platforms that modulate cellular and focal adhesions spatial control, including shape and cluster size; which consequently drives cellular behavior such as differentiation, migration, phenotypic maintenance etc. With these insights, various 3D scaffolds that mimic ECM physical properties were developed. For the past years, the laboratory has started using these insights from tissue engineering platforms and translated them for cultivated meat applications. These platforms, using mechanotransduction principles, are versatile and could mitigate the dependence on expensive differentiation media. She has published extensively in the top journals of biomaterials and tissue engineering and licensed her patents for translational work

Seung Yun Nam
(Pukyong National University, Korea, Republic of)

Seung Yun Nam is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea. His current research has focused on advancing biofabrication methodologies integrating 3D bioprinting, rheological analysis, and machine learning to overcome the current limitations.

2019‒Present: Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pukyong National University
2018‒2020: Department Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pukyong National University
2015‒2019: Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pukyong National University
2014‒2015: Postdoctoral Fellow, Ultrasound Imaging and Therapeutics Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin
2014: Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Biomedical Engineering Track), The University of Texas at Austin
2009: M.S.E. in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Biomedical Engineering Track), The University of Texas at Austin
2007: B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University

Susmita Ghosh
(Chonnam National University, Korea, Republic of)

Susmita Ghosh, a master's student in Chonnam National University.

Lorenzo Moroni
(Maastricht University, Netherlands)

Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Moroni studied Biomedical Engineering at Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, and Nanoscale Sciences at Chalmers Technical University, Sweden. He received his Ph.D. cum laude in 2006 at University of Twente on 3D scaffolds for osteochondral regeneration, for which he was awarded the European doctorate award in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB). In 2007, he worked at Johns Hopkins University as a post-doctoral fellow in the Elisseeff lab, focusing on hydrogels and stem cells. In 2008, he was appointed the R&D director of the Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank of Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, where he investigated the use of stem cells from alternative sources for cell banking, and the development of novel bioactive scaffolds for skeletal regeneration. From 2009 till 2014, he joined again University of Twente, where he got tenured in the Tissue Regeneration department.
Since 2014 he works at Maastricht University, where he is a founding member of the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine. In 2016, he became full professor in biofabrication for regenerative medicine. Since 2019, he is chair of the Complex Tissue Regeneration department. He was vice-director of MERLN from 2019 till 2022. Since 2022, he is director of MERLN.
His research group interests aim at developing biofabrication technologies to generate libraries of 3D scaffolds able to control cell fate, with applications spanning from skeletal to vascular, neural, and organ regeneration. From his research efforts, 3 products have already reached the market. In 2014, he received the prestigious Jean Leray award for outstanding young principal investigators from the ESB and the ERC starting grant. In 2016, he also received the prestigious Robert Brown Award for outstanding early career principal investigators from TERMIS. In 2017, he was elected as faculty of the Young Academy of Europe and in the top 100 Italian scientists within 40 worldwide by the European Institute of Italian Culture. He has been elected as member of the Science Academy of Europe since 2022.

Koichi Nakayama
(Saga University, Japan)

​Koichi Nakayama, MD, PhD, is Professor and Chairman at the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Japan. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. Dr. Nakayama is currently the president of the Cell Aggregation Meeting and also serves as a committee member for the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine. He received his MD from Kyushu University, Faculty of Medicine and his PhD from the Graduate School of the same institution. After specializing and working in orthopedic surgery at Fukuoka Red Cross hospital, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Medical Center, and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Kyushu University Hospital, Nakayama went on to lead a project on bio-rapid prototyping funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) at Kyushu University. This work led to the invention of a pioneering scaffold-free method for bio 3D printing, based on cell spheroids being deposited onto needle arrays at specific coordinates. In 2010 Nakayama co-founded Cyfuse Biomedical, where he currently is the scientific advisor. Together with Shibuya Kogyo, Cyfuse work on developing the bio 3D printer Regenova, as well as new biological products and solutions for drug testing and regenerative medicine. The company, together with Nakayama’s laboratory at Saga University and several Japanese and international partners are leading the way in scaffold-free bio 3D printed blood vessels, cartilage, liver, cardiac and neural tissues.

Sarah Heilshorn
(Stanford University, USA)

Sarah Heilshorn is Professor and Associate Chair in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at Stanford University and the Director of the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials. She holds courtesy faculty appointments in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and is a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. Her laboratory integrates concepts from materials science and protein engineering to design new, bioinspired materials. These materials are being explored for applications in regenerative medicine, organoid culture, and 3D bioprinting. Prof. Heilshorn is a fervent supporter of diversifying the engineering community and serves in multiple leadership roles to help achieve this goal. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She currently serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Science Advances, Editor of the journal Acta Biomaterialia, and serves on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF) and the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS).

Lorenzo Moroni
(Maastricht University, Netherlands)

Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Moroni studied Biomedical Engineering at Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy, and Nanoscale Sciences at Chalmers Technical University, Sweden. He received his Ph.D. cum laude in 2006 at University of Twente on 3D scaffolds for osteochondral regeneration, for which he was awarded the European doctorate award in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB). In 2007, he worked at Johns Hopkins University as a post-doctoral fellow in the Elisseeff lab, focusing on hydrogels and stem cells. In 2008, he was appointed the R&D director of the Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank of Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, where he investigated the use of stem cells from alternative sources for cell banking, and the development of novel bioactive scaffolds for skeletal regeneration. From 2009 till 2014, he joined again University of Twente, where he got tenured in the Tissue Regeneration department.
Since 2014 he works at Maastricht University, where he is a founding member of the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine. In 2016, he became full professor in biofabrication for regenerative medicine. Since 2019, he is chair of the Complex Tissue Regeneration department. He was vice-director of MERLN from 2019 till 2022. Since 2022, he is director of MERLN.
His research group interests aim at developing biofabrication technologies to generate libraries of 3D scaffolds able to control cell fate, with applications spanning from skeletal to vascular, neural, and organ regeneration. From his research efforts, 3 products have already reached the market. In 2014, he received the prestigious Jean Leray award for outstanding young principal investigators from the ESB and the ERC starting grant. In 2016, he also received the prestigious Robert Brown Award for outstanding early career principal investigators from TERMIS. In 2017, he was elected as faculty of the Young Academy of Europe and in the top 100 Italian scientists within 40 worldwide by the European Institute of Italian Culture. He has been elected as member of the Science Academy of Europe since 2022.

Martin Engel
(Inventia Life Science, Australia)

Dr Martin Engel is Principal Scientist and Senior Business Development Manager APAC at Inventia Life Science. Dr Engel joint Inventia with extensive experience in developing and using preclinical models, including stem-cell derived organoids and 3D tissue cultures, to guide the development of novel 3D cell cultures and organoid models on the Rastrum bioprinting platform. In his current and previous roles, Dr Engel has predominantly focused on improving the biological relevance of in vitro models through biomaterial development, and widening the insights that can be derived from them by partnering with technology providers, and biomedical scientists. Over the course of his work, Dr. Engel has published a range of method, protocol, and workflow papers alongside discussion articles and drug treatment development publications. He holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Wollongong, and interacts widely with the Australian and international biomedical community to continue aiding preclinical discoveries.

Dong Hyuk Lee
(Gachon University, CleCell Co., Ltd., Korea, Republic of)

CEO(R&D), Clecell
Professor, Gacheon University, Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine
CEO, Cybermed (Medical 3D S/W, 3D Printing)
CEO, MST(Electroical Nerve Simulator)
Ph.D. Seoul National University, Biomedical Engineering

Michiya Matsusaki
(Osaka University, Japan)

Michiya Matsusaki was born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1976. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2003 from Kagoshima University. He started his academic career as a Postdoctoral fellow at Osaka University in 2003. He was a visiting scientist at Lund University in 2004. In 2006, he joined the Department of Applied Chemistry in the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and to full Professor in 2019. He was a JST-PRESTO researcher (Concurrent position) from 2008 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. He was awarded 20 awards including the Young Scientist’s Prize by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. His research interest is biomaterials and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical applications.

Catherine Picart
(French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, France)

Catherine Picart is research director, head of the Biology and Biotechnology for Health Joint Research Unit (INSERM/CEA/UGA). She also leads the “Biomimetism and Regenerative Medicine (BRM)” research team (EMR BRM 5000, CNRS/CEA/UGA). She was senior member of the Institute Universitaire de France (IUF) (2016-2021). Her research is focused on tissue engineering, biomaterials, medical devices, drug delivery, molecular and cellular biophysics. She received the CNRS Silver medal in 2016 and the Emilia Valori Prize from the French Academy of Science in 2019. Over the past 10 years, she was the PI of 4 ERC grants.

Toshinori Fujie
(Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan)

TOSHINORI FUJIE is Associate Professor of the School of Life Science and Technology at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan. He received his PhD (Engineering) in 2009 from the Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University.

He spent postdoctoral periods at the Italian Institute of Technology (2010-12) and Tohoku University (2012-13). In 2013, he joined the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University as Assistant Professor. In 2016, he moved to the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS) and promoted to Associate Professor in 2018. He also served as a Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO) researcher in the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (2015-2019).

From November 2018, he moved to the current institute as a tenure-track Associate Professor (Lecturer) in the framework of Leading Initiative for Excellent Young Researchers (LEADER) by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan. In June 2021, he was promoted to Associate Professor. He is also a founder of f-Tech Co. Ltd., a spin-off company from TokyoTech.

His research interests are dedicated to the development of nano/micro technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics in the treatment of intractable diseases by utilizing polymeric materials, molecular assembly, tissue engineering, bioelectronics and bio-inspired/mimetic engineering. He published more than 100 papers in ISI journals including Nature Biomedical Engineering, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Biomaterials, etc. His honors include The Award for Young Investigator of Japanese Society for Biomaterials (2017) by Japanese Society for Biomaterials, and the Young Scientists' Prize for the Commendation for Science and Technology by MEXT, Japan (2018).

Merve Kübra Aktan
(Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)

Merve Kubra Aktan is a dedicated researcher in the field of biomaterials and tissue engineering. Currently serving as both Project Manager and a Post-doctoral Researcher at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven/Belgium, Merve is actively involved in the NOMAD project funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme (grant agreement no. 101091669). In this role, they oversee and contribute to cutting-edge research initiatives aimed at advancing the field of biomaterials.

Having completed their doctoral studies at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven as a PhD Researcher in the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Group, Merve possesses extensive knowledge and experience in the subject.

Merve's research primarily revolves around the surface modification of biomaterials. Her studies specialize in the development and application of antimicrobial compounds on biomaterial surfaces, with a particular focus on combatting implant-associated infections. Her work holds great promise in improving the safety and efficacy of medical implants, benefiting countless individuals in need of such devices.

Hyuk Sang Yoo
(Kangwon National University, Korea, Republic of)

He received a B.S. degree (1996), a M.S. degree (1998), and a Ph.D. degree (2002, Advisor: Professor Tae Gwan Park) at Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. After a post-doctoral fellow at Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Johns Hopkins University (2004, Advisor: Professor Kam W. Leong), he joined the Kangwon National University as an assistant professor (2005). He is now a tenured professor of Biomedical Materials Engineering. He was also a visiting scholar for the Johns Hopkins University (2005) and the Northwestern University (2010). His research is focused on nano-biomaterials for drug delivery and tissue engineering employing multifunctional nanofibers and nanoparticles.

Andreas Karau
(Evonik Operations GmbH, Germany)

Master in chemical process engineering and a PhD in biochemical process engineering from the Technical University of Aachen. Currently he is responsible for the Medical Device Solution business within the Health Care business of Evonik. Within this role he is responsible for the development and commercialisation of several new biomaterial platforms for medical device applications. Prior this role he had several leading roles and international assignments within Evonik in the field of biotechnologial process development and commercial implementaton, strategic innovation management and business roles in the pharma and medical devices field. In addition he is a lector for industrial biotechnology at the University of Dortmund.

Heidy Cruz
(T&R Biofab, Korea, Republic of)

Heidy Cruz is a materials scientist with a rich academic background and extensive international experience in materials engineering. She received my PhD from the University of Queensland in Australia and my Master’s and Bachelor’s from South Korea and the Philippines, respectively. Throughout her career, Heidy has been committed to bridging the gap between academic innovation and real-world impact. The applications for her research innovations have spanned a wide range of industries, from exploring sustainable solutions for the circular economy to developing smart composites for semiconductors. Her collaborative and cross-cultural approach to innovation reflects her diverse background, having lived in four countries over the last ten years. She wrote over 10 publications with esteemed peers from the University of Ghent, the University of Illinois, and Nanyang Technological University.
After completing her postdoctoral fellowship at the National University of Singapore and The University of Queensland, Heidy moved to South Korea to join the overseas business development team at T&R Biofab.

Jeehee Kim
(ROKIT Healthcare, Inc., Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Jeehee Kim from ROKIT Healthcare is the chief technology officer and president leading the Organ Regeneration Platform strategic business unit.
The Hyper-Personalized Skin Regeneration unit focuses on solving unmet challenges in skin and wound repair by converging the power of three technologies, including 3D bioprinting, autologous human biomaterials, and artificial intelligence. ROKIT Healthcare is the first of its kind to commercialize this bioprinting-based human tissue regeneration platform around the world.
Dr. Jeehee Kim has her Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology from the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich in Germany and had prior experience at the Yale University School of Medicine Stem Cell Center doing research in stem cell & iPS cells. Dr. Kim also has a Master of Science in Dental Science from the Seoul National University.

Andreas Blaeser
(Technical University of Darmstadt, Institute for Biomedical printing technology, Germany)

Andreas Blaeser is professor for "BioMedical Printing Technology" at TU Darmstadt and conducts research in the field of biofabrication, production and joining technology of biologized functional materials (click here for a compelling introduction video: https://tu-darmstadt.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=1183b5f9-93d8-4aa9-a6ca-ae2700a49e91&start=0). In this role, he leads and develops an interdisciplinary team of scientists and teaches interdisciplinary subjects on Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering, Biofabrication, and 3D-Bioprinting Technology as part of the master programs "Mechanical and Process Engineering”, and “Synthetic Biology” as well as in the Bachelor program “Bio-Materials Engineering”. The focus of his research and teaching is on bringing together living cells, hydrogels and engineering materials with special mechanical, chemical and electrical properties. His work provides the basis for the future production of bioartificial tissues, "sentient" robotics and renewable semi-finished products. These can be used, for example, as implants in regenerative medicine, as sensor-integrated in vitro models for drug and toxicity studies, as artificial skin of soft robotics elements, or as sustainable bioartificial consumer goods (e.g. cultured meat).

Lesley Chow
(Lehigh University, USA)

Dr. Lesley Chow is an Associate Professor jointly appointed in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and Bioengineering (BIOE) at Lehigh University. She joined Lehigh following her postdoctoral training at Imperial College London in Materials and BIOE and received her B.S. in MSE from the University of Florida and her Ph.D. in MSE from Northwestern University. She currently leads the Modular Biomaterials Laboratory, which focuses on developing molecular building blocks to construct implantable, multicomponent materials for functional tissue regeneration. She has received several awards for her scholarship, teaching, and service, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, American Chemical Society (ACS) Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator Award, Rossin Award for Interdisciplinary Research Excellence, Rossin Award for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, and the Early-Career Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award (ECURMA) by the Engineering Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).

Liliang Ouyang
(Tsinghua University, China)

Dr. Ouyang is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University (2017), postdoctoral training in Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London (2017-2020), and a visiting research training in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania (2015-2016). His research interests include the design, fabrication, and application of complex biomaterial and cellular systems, with a central focus on the development of 3D bioprinting and advanced biofabrication technologies for engineering in vitro living systems. He has published a series of peer-reviewed articles in well-recognized journals, including Science Advances, Advanced Materials, and Trends in Biotechnology, with a total Google Scholar citation of 3400+ and an H-index of 22. He is currently an Editorial Board member of Biofabrication, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Bioprinting, and Early Career Researcher committee member of ISBF. He has been recognized with a series of awards, including the ISBF New Investigator Award (2021).

Marcy Zenobi-Wong
(ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

): Dr. Marcy Zenobi-Wong is a full Professor of Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. She obtained her PhD from Stanford University and then did a post-doctoral fellowship in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, University of Michigan. In 2012, she moved to the Department of Health Sciences & Technology at ETH Zürich. The Zenobi-Wong research group is focused on the development of advanced biomaterials for tissue regeneration using biofabrication technologies including bioprinting, two-photon polymerization, casting and electrospinning. Her team recently introduced Filamented Light Biofabrication (FLIght). Dr. Zenobi-Wong is the author of over 120 peer-reviewed publications and co-inventor on four licensed patents. She has held leadership roles at the Swiss Society for Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, the International Society of Biofabrication (ISBF) and is past director of the Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich. She serves on the editorial board for Biofabricationand Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Yong He
(Zhejiang University, China)

Prof Yong He is currently a professor at Zhejiang University, School of Mechanical Engineering. In 2023, he was honored the outstanding young scholar of China by NSFC for his work in 3D bioprinting (Only seven persons per year in one area). Also he is the deputy director of State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, associate editor of “Bio-design & Manufacturing” and “International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing”, editorial board member of “Biofabrication”. His research is focused on the 3D bioprinting with H index of 57(Google Scholar). Now he has published more than 100 papers including Science Translational Medicine, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, Science Advances etc, cited over 9900 times and ten of them are featured as cover arts. He also published two books about 3D bioprinting and established a brand of EFL(Engineering for Life), the bioink and bioprinters provided by EFL have been used for over 2000 labs in China.

Manuela Gomes
(3B's Research Group, University of Minho, Portugal)

Manuela E. Gomes is Associate Professor and Vice-President of the I3Bs Research Institute of the University of Minho, Portugal. She was a founder member of the 3B’s Research Group and she was the first President of the I3Bs Research Institute, funded in 2018. Her research interests currently focus on tendon tissue engineering strategies, namely in the development of scaffold materials and bioinks based on biodegradable natural origin polymers, stem cells sourcing and differentiation (using biochemical and physical methods, particularly magnetic stimulus). Manuela Gomes has been involved in numerous European and national/regional projects as PI or team member; She currently coordinates a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC CoG) - MagTendon, among others. Manuela Gomes is editor of 3 books and co-editor of the Tissue Engineering Encyclopaedia (Elsevier, 2019) and author of 235 full papers, 51 book chapters, 8 patents and has delivered 60 lectures in international conferences. Manuela Gomes is Fellow of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (FTERM) and Chair-elect of the TERMIS-EU; She is the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS) Embassador in Portugal

Yonghui Ding
(Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA)

Dr. Yonghui Ding is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). His primary focus lies in the integration of materials science and additive manufacturing for tissue regeneration with the long-term goal of providing clinically relevant solutions to patients. His research efforts have resulted in more than 45 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Healthcare Materials, Acta Biomaterialia, Small, ACS Applied Materials & Interface. Dr. Ding’s work has gained > 3000 citations and an H-index of 26.

Y. Shrike Zhang
(Harvard Medical School, USA)

Dr. Zhang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Bioengineer in the Division of Engineering in Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is directing the Laboratory of Engineered Living Systems (www.shrikezhang.com), where the research is focused on innovating medical engineering technologies, including 3D bioprinting, organs-on-chips, microfluidics, and bioanalysis, to recreate functional tissues and their biomimetic models, for applications in regenerative medicine and personalized medicine. Dr. Zhang is an author of >300 peer-reviewed publications (>50 covers; citations ~30,000, h-index = 86). His scientific contributions have been recognized by >45 awards.

Yan Yan Shery Huang
(University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Prof. Yan Yan Shery Huang is Professor of Bioengineering, leading the Biointerface Group at Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM)-UK; Associate Editor of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and Bio-Design and Manufacturing. Shery completed her MEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Imperial College London, and PhD degree in Physics (Biological & Soft Systems) from University of Cambridge, UK.

Liliang Ouyang
(Tsinghua University, China)

Dr. Ouyang is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University (2017), postdoctoral training in Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London (2017-2020), and a visiting research training in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania (2015-2016). His research interests include the design, fabrication, and application of complex biomaterial and cellular systems, with a central focus on the development of 3D bioprinting and advanced biofabrication technologies for engineering in vitro living systems. He has published a series of peer-reviewed articles in well-recognized journals, including Science Advances, Advanced Materials, and Trends in Biotechnology, with a total Google Scholar citation of 3400+ and an H-index of 22. He is currently an Editorial Board member of Biofabrication, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Bioprinting, and Early Career Researcher committee member of ISBF. He has been recognized with a series of awards, including the ISBF New Investigator Award (2021).

Chiara Tonda Turo
(Politecnico di Torino, Italy)

Chiara Tonda-Turo (born 1982) received Master Degree (2006) in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino and PhD (2011) in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, where she worked on the development of bioartificial constructs for repairing peripheral nerve. From 2021, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Politecnico di Torino.
Chiara scientific background is related to the design, processing and characterisation of biomedical materials (natural and synthetic polymers and their blend), aiming to nano- and micro- scale design and manufacturing of biomimetic and innovative medical devices for tissue engineering, advanced therapies in regenerative medicine, controlled drugs/biomolecules release and development of in vitro-like tissue models.
Since the beginning of her academic carrier in 2009, she has authored 60 publications with overall 2341 citations from 2062 documents achieving H-index equal to 29 (Scopus database).

Michael Gelinsky
(Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)

Michael Gelinsky, FBSE, is professor and head of the Centre for Translational Bone, Joint and Soft Tissue Research at the Faculty of Medicine of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany (https://tu-dresden.de/med/tfo). He is currently the President of the German Society for Biomaterials (DGBM) and member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Biofabriction (ISBF).

Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina
(University of New South Wales, Australia)

Dr Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina is a Scientia Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow at the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney. Her research interests are at the interface of biology and engineering, focusing on the development of biomimetic biomaterials that direct cell interactions for enhanced vascularisation and treatment of cardiovascular disease. She completed her doctoral degree in Anthony Weiss' lab at the University of Sydney and postdoctoral training in David Kaplan’s group at Tufts University in Boston.
She joined UNSW in 2014 where her research has been supported by funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Heart Foundation, the National Health & Medical Research Council and NSW Health. Her work has been recognised through multiple awards, including most recently being named the NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year in the 2020 NSW Premier's Prizes for Science & Engineering and receiving the 2021 Ministerial Award for Rising Stars in Cardiovascular Research.
She participates in the medtech sector through a range of activities including her role as the Vice President of the Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering, as a board member of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance Biomedical Engineering Flagship, and through editorial board roles at multiple international journals.

Andrea O'Connor
(University of Melbourne, Australia)

Professor Andrea O’Connor, PhD, FIChemE is the Shanahan Chair in Frontier Medical Solutions and a Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the University of Melbourne and the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery. She is a co-Director of the Victorian Medtech Skills and Device Hub and leads the Tissue Engineering Group in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research focuses on design, synthesis and fabrication of biomaterials, porous materials and antimicrobial nanomaterials. She teaches biomedical engineering subjects including Tissue Engineering and Stem Cells. Prof. O’Connor collaborates with clinicians, scientists, hospitals, medical research institutes and medical device companies to address clinical problems.

Arghya Paul
(The University of Western Ontario, Canada)

Research Areas: Nanoparticles, Drug Delivery, Tissue Engineering, Hydrogels, Regenerative Medicine

Milica Radisic
(University of Toronto, Canada)

Dr. Milica Radisic is a Professor at the University of Toronto, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Organ-on-a-Chip Engineering and a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute. She is also Director of the NSERC CREATE Training Program in Organ-on-a-Chip Engineering & Entrepreneurship and a co-lead for the Center for Research and Applications in Fluidic Technologies. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada-Academy of Science, Canadian Academy of Engineering, the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine Society as well as Biomedical Engineering Society. She was a recipient of the MIT Technology Review Top 35 Under 35, Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, NSERC E.W.R Steacie Fellowship, YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, Killam Fellowship, Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, and Humboldt Research Award to name a few. Her research focuses on organ-on-a-chip engineering and development of new biomaterials that promote healing and attenuate scarring. She developed new methods to mature iPSC derived cardiac tissues using electrical stimulation. She is an Executive Editor for ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, Senior Consulting Editor for the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, a reviewing editor for eLife and a member of the editorial board of another 8 journals. She served on the Board of Directors for Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Canadian Biomaterials Society and McMaster University Alumni Association. She organized Keystone, EMBO and ECI conferences and numerous sessions at TERMIS and BMES meetings. She served as a Scientific Officer for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and member of review panels for CIHR, NIH and Israel Ministry of Education. She is the Chair of Investment Committee for Serbia Innovation Fund. She is a co-founder of two companies TARA Biosystems (acquired by Valo Health), that uses human engineered heart tissues in drug development and safety testing, and Quthero that advances regenerative hydrogels. Her work has been presented in over 260 publications, garnering over 20,000 citations with an h-index of 71. Her publications appeared in Cell, Nature Materials, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols, Nature Communications, PNAS etc.

Todd Hoare
(McMaster University, Canada)

Todd Hoare is the Canada Research Chair in Engineered Smart Materials and a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University as well as the Director of the NSERC CREATE Training Program for Controlled Release Leaders (ContRoL). Dr. Hoare’s work on “smart” environmentally-responsive hydrogels, in situ-gelling/printable hydrogel materials, and nanoscale drug delivery vehicles has been profiled by Popular Science, Maclean’s, and BBC for its potential in solving clinical challenges through innovative materials design. He is a Fellow of the International Union of Societies in Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUS-BSE), was awarded an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship (2018), has been cited as part of the 2018 Class of Influential Researchers by Industrial Engineering & Chemistry Research, and has received the 2016 Early Career Investigator Award from the Canadian Biomaterials Society and the 2009 John Charles Polanyi Prize in Chemistry in recognition of his research. He is also the co-recipient of the 2023 NSERC Brockhouse Prize for Interdisciplinary Research, Canada’s highest honor for collaborative research in the natural sciences and engineering, for his development of innovative drug delivery vehicles in collaboration with clinicians. Dr. Hoare is a past-president of the Canadian Biomaterials Society (2016-2017) and the Canadian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (2013-2015), and is currently the Chair of the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada. He also serves as one of the Executive Editors of Chemical Engineering Journal (where he leads the biomaterials section) and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Biomacromolecules.

Sang Jin Lee
(The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Prof. Sangjin Lee obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Dental Laboratory Science from Catholic University of Pusan, Korea in 2012; a Master of Science degree in Maxillofacial Biomedical Engineering and a PhD degree in Dental Materials from Kyung Hee University, Korea in 2014 and 2017 respectively. Before joining the Applied Oral Sciences and Community Dental Care of our Faculty, Prof. Lee was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently, He is generating new dental biomaterials to fit in dentistry for clinical application. Currently, Dr Lee is generating new dental biomaterials to fit in dentistry for clinical application.

Sruthi C S
(Indian Institute of Science, India)

A Ph.D. student specializing in 3D Bioprinting for Tissue Engineering. I am developing bioink formulations using biopolymers for soft tissue regeneration.

Mark Skylar-Scott
(Stanford University, USA)

Mark Skylar-Scott is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford, a member of the Basic Science and Engineering Initiative at the Children’s Heart Center and a Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Mark Skylar-Scott received his B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 2007. For his doctoral thesis under the guidance of Prof. M. Fatih Yanik at MIT, he developed multiphoton photopatterning techniques to print full length proteins on 2D surfaces and in 3D scaffolds to probe and direct neural and vascular growth. For his postdoctoral research at Harvard and the Wyss Institute with Prof. Jennifer Lewis, he performed 3D bioprinting of thick and vascularized tissues, and created new high-throughput multimaterial multinozzle 3D printing systems. In 2022, he received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award towards his goals to develop new 3D printing hardware, wetware, and software to accelerate cardiovascular tissue engineering towards thick, vascularized, and functionally therapeutic organs.

Yan Yan Shery Huang
(University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Prof. Yan Yan Shery Huang is Professor of Bioengineering, leading the Biointerface Group at Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM)-UK; Associate Editor of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and Bio-Design and Manufacturing. Shery completed her MEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Imperial College London, and PhD degree in Physics (Biological & Soft Systems) from University of Cambridge, UK.

Daniel Shiwarski
(University of Pittsburgh, USA)

Dr. Shiwarski received a B.S. in Cell Biology and Biochemistry from Bucknell University and a Ph.D. in Biology and Neuroscience from Carnegie Mellon University. During his doctoral research, he investigated how opioid receptor membrane trafficking events influence pain inhibition and opioid addiction using advanced live cell fluorescence imaging and analysis techniques to track exocytic and endocytic events. In 2017 he began a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Adam Feinberg’s Lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University where he has: 1) studied how biomechanical forces are essential for cellular and tissue physiology by developing a fluorescence-based nanomechanical biosensor to map real-time changes in cell and tissue strain, 2) was a key contributor on the development of the 3D bioprinting technology FRESH 2.0, which provided the ability to print unmodified collagen into functional components of the human heart, and 3) designed and published a series of open-source hardware and software platforms for 3D bioprinting, bi-axial mechanical testing, and in-process monitoring for additive manufacturing. Dr. Shiwarski has a broad background in cell biology, quantitative imaging, and tissue engineering with specific expertise in live cell fluorescence imaging, cellular biosensors, computational image analysis, 3D bioprinting, and cellular biomechanics. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh in Bioengineering and Medicine where he focuses on engineering FRESH printed ECM-based microfluidic scaffolds as a platform technology for vascular tissue engineering that will set the foundation for studying how vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation, ECM composition, mechanical properties, and fluid flow contribute to hypertensive vascular disease.

Takayoshi Nakano
(Osaka University, Japan)

Takayoshi Nakano has been a professor at Osaka University since 2008 and a distinguished professor since 2017. He received his Ph.D. degree from Osaka University in 1996. He has been the director at Anisotropic Design & Additive Manufacturing Research Center, Osaka University since 2020, the president of Japanese Institute of Additive Manufacturing since 2022 and a member of the Science Council of Japan since 2023. In addition, he is a fellow of International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science & Engineering. He was the president of Japanese Society for Bone Morphometry in 2017 and the Japan Institute of Metals and Materials in 2021 and 2022. He aims to establish a new academic field, “Materials Science based on Anisotropy”.

Aleksandr Ovsianikov
(TU Wien [Technische Universitaet Wien], Austria)

Prof. Aleksandr Ovsianikov is a head of the research group 3D Printing and Biofabrication at the TU Wien (Vienna, Austria). He is a member of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration (http://www.tissue-regeneration.at), Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), European Society of Biomaterials (ESB) and International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF).
Dr. Ovsianikov has background in laser physics and material processing with femtosecond lasers. His research is dealing with the use of additive manufacturing technologies and bioprinting for tissue engineering and regeneration. A particular focus of his current research is the development of multiphoton lithography technologies for engineering of biomimetic 3D cell culture matrices, realization of novel tissue engineering scaffolds and microfluidic applications. Dr. Ovsianikov was awarded a prestigious Starting Grant in 2012 and a Consolidator Grant in 2017 from the European Research Council (ERC) for projects aimed at these topics (http://amt.tuwien.ac.at/Ovsianikov).
Since 2004 Dr. Ovsianikov delivered multiple invited and keynote lectures, and has contributed to over 100 publications. Together with Prof. Mironov and Prof. Yoo he is an editor of a living book project “3D Printing and Biofabrication” published by Springer in cooperation with TERMIS.
Dr. Ovsianikov is also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) a TU Wien spin-off UpNano GbmH (https://www.upnano.at), aimed a commercialization of high-resolution 3D printing and Bioprinting, which received multiple awards, including the Austrian Startup of the year 2019.

Tim Woodfield
(University of Otago, New Zealand)

Prof. Tim B. F. Woodfield, Ph.D. is Professor of Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery & Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He leads the Christchurch Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering (CReaTE) Group and is Director of the University of Otago Centre for Bioengineering & Nanomedicine. His research platform involves development of novel bioinks and bioresins, biofabrication, spheroid bioassembly and additive manufacturing of medical devices applied to regenerative medicine of cartilage and bone, advanced 3D in vitro tissue culture models, and high throughput screening.
He has published over 150 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and published conference proceedings and has received a number of awards and fellowships including a prestigious Rutherford Discovery Fellowship from the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apärangi and the University of Otago Research Gold Medal. He received the 2020 Research Excellence Award from the Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering (ASBTE), and was awarded Fellow, Biomaterials Science & Engineering (FBSE) in 2020 by the International Union of Societies in Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE).
He has attracted over NZ$28 million in competitive research funding as a Principal or Associate Investigator through grants from the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment, Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apärangi, New Zealand Health Research Council, AO Foundation, as well as the European Commission (EU-FP7).
He is the current President of the International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF) and former President of the Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering (ASBTE). He sits on the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society Asia Pacific (TERMIS-AP) Council and on the Executive Editorial Board for Biofabrication. He is also an Editorial Board Member for Advanced Healthcare Materials and APL Bioengineering and Associate Editor for Frontiers in Bioengineering & Biotechnology.

Scott Hollister
(Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, USA)

Dr. Scott Hollister is the Patsy and Alan Dorris Chair in Pediatric Technology and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He directs the Center for 3D Medical Fabrication as well as the Tissue Engineering and Mechanics Laboratory at Georgia Tech. Dr. Hollister’s research focuses on the computational design, 3D printing fabrication and characterization of biomaterial devices and scaffolds for tissue reconstruction. He was co-inventor of an airway splint in both resorbable and permanent versions that to date has been implanted and saved the lives of 25 children with Tracheobronchomalacia. This work has been featured in a number of mainstream media outlets including The Today Show, NPR, CNN, the New Yorker, the Doctors Show, CBS Morning News and USA Today. He was awarded the 2013 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Innovation award for the airway splint together with Dr. Glenn Green.

Monica Laronda
(Northwestern University, USA)

Monica M. Laronda is the Director of Research for the Fertility & Hormone Preservation & Restoration Program at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She is the Gesualdo Family Research Scholar at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University. She has been awarded several National Institutes of Health grants to study foundational biology and to engineer regenerative techniques for both ovaries and testes.

Weikang Xu
(Institute of biological and Medical Engineering, Guangdong Acamedy of Sciences, China)

As the leader of the intelligent implant interventional materials team of the unit, he is mainly engaged in the research of new bone/dental implant materials, drug-controlled release microspheres, and blood purification materials, and presided over 9 projects including National Natural Science Foundation, postdoctoral Foundation, major projects of Guangdong Province and key research and development plan of Guangzhou City. He won the title of Outstanding Young Scientist of Guangdong Academy of Sciences. Published 11 SCI papers with one book/newsletter; The first/second inventor has obtained 27 authorized invention patents and applied for 4 PCT inventions; Participated in the development of 2 new products and the formulation of 1 technical standard. He is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Precision Medicine Application Society, an expert in the evaluation of Guangdong Province and Guangzhou City, and an external master's supervisor at the South China University of Technology.

Seiji Yamaguchi
(Chubu University, Japan)

My research field is surface modification confering bone bonding and antibacterial activity on titanium and its alloy.

Riccardo Levato
(University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands)

Riccardo Levato is Associate Professor of Translational Bioengineering and Biomaterials at the Department of Clinical Sciences (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University), and at the Department of Orthopaedics of the University Medical Center Utrecht. He is also Principal Investigator at the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht. His work focuses on the development of novel biofabrication technologies for the generation of advanced in vitro tissue models and regenerative engineered tissues. His group developed high-performance light-based bioprinting techniques, including the first demonstration of volumetric bioprinting.
Prior to moving to Utrecht, he worked in several research groups across Europe: 3Bs, University of Minho (Portugal); BioMatLab, Technical University of Milan (Italy), Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC, Spain), and he holds a cum laude PhD in Biomedical Engineering from IBEC and from the Technical University of Catalonia. In 2020 he was awarded a Starting grant from the European Research Council on the development of a novel volumetric bioprinting technology for organoid research and to engineer functional bone marrow analogues in vitro. Since 2021, he is coordinator of a European consortium (ENLIGHT, Future and Emerging Technologies scheme, European Innovation Council pilot), aiming at developing biofabricated pancreas to study treatments for diabetes.

He published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles international journals, and he was conferred several awards including the 2016 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award, the 2021 Jean Leray award from the European Society for Biomaterials, the 2022 Robert Brown award from the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, and the 2023 Mid-career Investigator Award from the International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF). Riccardo is also serving on the Board of Directors of ISBF.

Marcy Zenobi-Wong
(ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

): Dr. Marcy Zenobi-Wong is a full Professor of Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication at ETH Zürich, Switzerland. She obtained her PhD from Stanford University and then did a post-doctoral fellowship in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, University of Michigan. In 2012, she moved to the Department of Health Sciences & Technology at ETH Zürich. The Zenobi-Wong research group is focused on the development of advanced biomaterials for tissue regeneration using biofabrication technologies including bioprinting, two-photon polymerization, casting and electrospinning. Her team recently introduced Filamented Light Biofabrication (FLIght). Dr. Zenobi-Wong is the author of over 120 peer-reviewed publications and co-inventor on four licensed patents. She has held leadership roles at the Swiss Society for Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, the International Society of Biofabrication (ISBF) and is past director of the Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich. She serves on the editorial board for Biofabricationand Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Riccardo Levato
(University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands)

Riccardo Levato is Associate Professor of Translational Bioengineering and Biomaterials at the Department of Clinical Sciences (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University), and at the Department of Orthopaedics of the University Medical Center Utrecht. He is also Principal Investigator at the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht. His work focuses on the development of novel biofabrication technologies for the generation of advanced in vitro tissue models and regenerative engineered tissues. His group developed high-performance light-based bioprinting techniques, including the first demonstration of volumetric bioprinting.
Prior to moving to Utrecht, he worked in several research groups across Europe: 3Bs, University of Minho (Portugal); BioMatLab, Technical University of Milan (Italy), Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC, Spain), and he holds a cum laude PhD in Biomedical Engineering from IBEC and from the Technical University of Catalonia. In 2020 he was awarded a Starting grant from the European Research Council on the development of a novel volumetric bioprinting technology for organoid research and to engineer functional bone marrow analogues in vitro. Since 2021, he is coordinator of a European consortium (ENLIGHT, Future and Emerging Technologies scheme, European Innovation Council pilot), aiming at developing biofabricated pancreas to study treatments for diabetes.

He published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles international journals, and he was conferred several awards including the 2016 Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine Young Investigator Award, the 2021 Jean Leray award from the European Society for Biomaterials, the 2022 Robert Brown award from the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, and the 2023 Mid-career Investigator Award from the International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF). Riccardo is also serving on the Board of Directors of ISBF.

Parth Chansoria
(ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

Parth is a Senior Scientist (Ambizione and Spark grantee) at the Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication (TEB) group at ETH Zurich. He was previously a Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow in the TEB group at ETH until July 2023. 

His research at ETHZ involves the use of Structured Light for biofabrication of tissue and grafts for regenerative purposes. Broadly, his research can be characterized into three major domains:  

Filamented light biofabrication of highly aligned tissues
Volumetric bioprinting of complex multimaterial shapes
New isotonic collagen-​based photoresins for biofabrication
In his previous research, he developed biomimetic patches for the treatment of dynamic organ pathologies during his first postdoc at UNC Chapel Hill, USA, and an ultrasound-​assisted cell patterning process for anisotropic tissue biofabrication during his PhD at NC State, USA.

He has amassed a total of 6 patents and invention disclosures, and his research has been published in reputed peer-​reviewed journals.

Qi Gu
(Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, China)

Dr Gu is currently appointed as a Full Professor, Director of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Engineering Lab for Intelligent Organ Manufacturing and group leader of Bioinspired Engineering, at Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration (ISCR) | Institute of Zoology (IOZ), CAS. He has received interdisciplinary training in materials chemistry and stem cells. Dr. Gu's initial doctoral research (2009-2013) focused on stem cells at Northeast Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, he completed a second PhD (2013-2017) in Chemistry at University of Wollongong (UOW) under the supervision of Prof Gordon Wallace and Prof Jemery Crook. Following this, he was appointed as an Associate Professor at IOZ, CAS , where he established his lab, Bioinspired Engineering. At the end of 2019, he was promoted to the position of Full Professor. Dr Gu’s laboratory aims to develop novel biomaterials and advanced technologies including 3D/4D bioprinting to regulate cell fate spatiotemporally, fabricate 3D organs functionally, and create therapeutic methods based on the mechanism of developmental biology. The ultimate goal is to deepen the understanding of what is life.

Qi Gu
(Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, China)

Dr Gu is currently appointed as a Full Professor, Director of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Engineering Lab for Intelligent Organ Manufacturing and group leader of Bioinspired Engineering, at Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration (ISCR) | Institute of Zoology (IOZ), CAS. He has received interdisciplinary training in materials chemistry and stem cells. Dr. Gu's initial doctoral research (2009-2013) focused on stem cells at Northeast Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Subsequently, he completed a second PhD (2013-2017) in Chemistry at University of Wollongong (UOW) under the supervision of Prof Gordon Wallace and Prof Jemery Crook. Following this, he was appointed as an Associate Professor at IOZ, CAS , where he established his lab, Bioinspired Engineering. At the end of 2019, he was promoted to the position of Full Professor. Dr Gu’s laboratory aims to develop novel biomaterials and advanced technologies including 3D/4D bioprinting to regulate cell fate spatiotemporally, fabricate 3D organs functionally, and create therapeutic methods based on the mechanism of developmental biology. The ultimate goal is to deepen the understanding of what is life.

Arnold Lining Ju
(University of Sydney, Australia)

Dr Arnold Ju received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, USA. In 2014, he joined the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, Monash University, Melbourne as a junior postdoc; and relocated in 2015 to Sydney, to join the Heart Research Institute. In early 2020, Dr Ju joined the University of Sydney (USYD)’s new BME school as a senior lecturer and started up the Mechanobiology and Biomechanics Laboratory (MBL).

Dr Ju currently holds an Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship, working at the interface between mechanical engineering and mechanobiology. His team has pioneered multiple biomechanical nanotools, including blood clot-on-chip microfluidic devices (Nature Materials 2019), single-cell biomembrane force probes (Nature Communications 2018), and 4-D haemodynamic modelling (Nature 2021). Recently, he was awarded the prestigious mid-career Snow Fellowship.

His vision is to build novel platforms that integrate advanced biomanufacturing, high-throughput biomechanical manipulation, and artificial intelligence for biobank data processing. His track record spans developing, characterising, and evaluating innovations of 3D organoids and organ-on-chips, mechanobiology, imaging probes and biosensors, bio-nanotechnology, and image-based deep learning. These large facilities should provide significant benefits to interdisciplinary research in biofabrication, biomechanics and point-of-care microtechnologies.

Manuela Gomes
(3B's Research Group, University of Minho, Portugal)

Manuela E. Gomes is Associate Professor and Vice-President of the I3Bs Research Institute of the University of Minho, Portugal. She was a founder member of the 3B’s Research Group and she was the first President of the I3Bs Research Institute, funded in 2018. Her research interests currently focus on tendon tissue engineering strategies, namely in the development of scaffold materials and bioinks based on biodegradable natural origin polymers, stem cells sourcing and differentiation (using biochemical and physical methods, particularly magnetic stimulus). Manuela Gomes has been involved in numerous European and national/regional projects as PI or team member; She currently coordinates a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC CoG) - MagTendon, among others. Manuela Gomes is editor of 3 books and co-editor of the Tissue Engineering Encyclopaedia (Elsevier, 2019) and author of 235 full papers, 51 book chapters, 8 patents and has delivered 60 lectures in international conferences. Manuela Gomes is Fellow of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (FTERM) and Chair-elect of the TERMIS-EU; She is the European Orthopaedic Research Society (EORS) Embassador in Portugal

Andrew Daly
(National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland)

Dr Daly is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Galway. His research focuses on bioprinting tissue and organ models with advanced physiological structure and function. In particular, this work focuses on developing bioprinting technologies inspired by organogenesis.

Dr Daly was awarded a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin in 2018, where he developed bioprinted implants for joint resurfacing. For this work, he was awarded the Engineer’s Ireland Biomedical Engineering Research Medal in 2018. Following this, he moved to the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania for his postdoctoral training. In 2020, he was awarded an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop bioprinted cardiac disease models for screening of miRNA therapeutics. In January 2021, he started his research group at the University of Galway and in 2022 he was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant.

Dr Daly’s research is highly cited and has been published in the top journals in the field, including Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Materials, Cell, Biomaterials, Advanced Science, Acta Biomaterialia, Advanced Healthcare Materials, and Biofabrication. To date, he has has received over €1.8 million in research funding.

Jason Burdick
(University of Colorado Boulder, USA)

Jason Burdick is the Bowman Endowed Professor in the BioFrontiers Institute and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology he began his own group at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. After 16 years at Penn, Jason moved his group to the University of Colorado Boulder. The Burdick Biomaterials and Biofabrication Laboratory focuses on the design of new biomaterials that can be processed through fabrication methodologies to meet the needs of medicine, ranging from drug delivery and translational therapeutics to tissue models. Jason currently has over 310 peer-reviewed publications and 240 invited presentations, he is on the editorial boards of numerous journals including Biofabrication, Advanced Healthcare Materials, and International Journal of Bioprinting, and he has been recognized through awards such as a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, the Clemson Award for Basic Science through the Society for Biomaterials, and the Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal Award. Further, he has been elected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Finally, he has founded several companies to translate technology developed in his laboratory towards clinical application.

Rui M. A. Domingues
(3B's Research Group, University of Minho, Portugal)

Rui M. A. Domingues is a Senior Researcher and Invited Assistant Professor at I3Bs – Research Institute for Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Portugal. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aveiro (Portugal), and has studied and worked at different institutions in Europe and US, namely Institute of Chemical Technology (Czech Republic), ENCE (Spain) and University of Texas at Austin (US). His research has focused on the development of functional biomaterials and biofabrication concepts for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications (TERM). His main research interest is on exploring different types of nanoparticles, in particular cellulose nanocrystals, magnetic and molecularly imprinted nanoparticles to produce nanostructured biomaterials with biomimetic features to control cell fate in TERM strategies. During his career he has widely applied these concepts on the development of bioengineered systems, particularly targeting tendon tissue regeneration and in vitro modeling.

Andrew Daly
(National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland)

Dr Daly is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Galway. His research focuses on bioprinting tissue and organ models with advanced physiological structure and function. In particular, this work focuses on developing bioprinting technologies inspired by organogenesis.

Dr Daly was awarded a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Trinity College Dublin in 2018, where he developed bioprinted implants for joint resurfacing. For this work, he was awarded the Engineer’s Ireland Biomedical Engineering Research Medal in 2018. Following this, he moved to the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania for his postdoctoral training. In 2020, he was awarded an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop bioprinted cardiac disease models for screening of miRNA therapeutics. In January 2021, he started his research group at the University of Galway and in 2022 he was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant.

Dr Daly’s research is highly cited and has been published in the top journals in the field, including Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Materials, Cell, Biomaterials, Advanced Science, Acta Biomaterialia, Advanced Healthcare Materials, and Biofabrication. To date, he has has received over €1.8 million in research funding.

Maria Chatzinikolaidou
(Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser 100, N. Plastira str. Vassilika Vouton GR-70013 Heraklion, Greece VAT 090101655., Greece)

Dr. Maria Chatzinikolaidou, FBSE, FTERM, is an Associate Professor of Biomaterials in Bioengineering and Head of the Laboratory for Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering at the Department of Materials Science and Technology at the University of Crete (https://www.materials.uoc.gr/el/general/personnel/mchatzin.html), and affiliated faculty member at Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). Her research interests focus on the development of biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering applications including bone, dental, cardiovascular, and the validation of their in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility, functionality and biomechanical characteristics.
Dr. Chatzinikolaidou is actively involved in several competitive national and international projects, is author of >90 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, 4 book chapters, >180 peer-reviewed conference abstracts, and inventor of 4 patents on osteoinductive implants. She was elected member of the Executive Board of the Hellenic Society for Biomaterials and served as vice president in the terms 2015-2018 and 2022-now. She served as chair of the 28th Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB 2017) held in Athens, and program chair of the TERMIS-EU 2019 conference held in Rhodes in Greece. She is a Fellow in Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE, elected 2020) of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUS-BSE) and International Fellow of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (FTERM, elected 2023). Since 2022 she is member of the Nomination Committee of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) EU chapter. She is an editorial board member in Tissue Engineering, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Regenerative Biomaterials, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Journal of Materials Science Materials in Medicine etc. She teaches lectures on Biomaterials, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, and Tissue Engineering in undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Crete and other Universities in Grece, and is currently supervisor of four PhD candidates and three Master’s students.

Aleksandr Ovsianikov
(Technische Universität Wien, Austria)

Prof. Aleksandr Ovsianikov is a head of the research group 3D Printing and Biofabrication at the TU Wien (Vienna, Austria). He is a member of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration (http://www.tissue-regeneration.at), Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), European Society of Biomaterials (ESB) and International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF).
Dr. Ovsianikov has background in laser physics and material processing with femtosecond lasers. His research is dealing with the use of additive manufacturing technologies and bioprinting for tissue engineering and regeneration. A particular focus of his current research is the development of multiphoton lithography technologies for engineering of biomimetic 3D cell culture matrices, realization of novel tissue engineering scaffolds and microfluidic applications. Dr. Ovsianikov was awarded a prestigious Starting Grant in 2012 and a Consolidator Grant in 2017 from the European Research Council (ERC) for projects aimed at these topics (http://amt.tuwien.ac.at/Ovsianikov).
Since 2004 Dr. Ovsianikov delivered multiple invited and keynote lectures, and has contributed to over 100 publications. Together with Prof. Mironov and Prof. Yoo he is an editor of a living book project “3D Printing and Biofabrication” published by Springer in cooperation with TERMIS.
Dr. Ovsianikov is also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) a TU Wien spin-off UpNano GbmH (https://www.upnano.at), aimed a commercialization of high-resolution 3D printing and Bioprinting, which received multiple awards, including the Austrian Startup of the year 2019.

Koichi Nakayama
(Saga University, Japan)

​Koichi Nakayama, MD, PhD, is Professor and Chairman at the Department of Regenerative Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Japan. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. Dr. Nakayama is currently the president of the Cell Aggregation Meeting and also serves as a committee member for the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine. He received his MD from Kyushu University, Faculty of Medicine and his PhD from the Graduate School of the same institution. After specializing and working in orthopedic surgery at Fukuoka Red Cross hospital, National Hospital Organization Kyushu Medical Center, and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Kyushu University Hospital, Nakayama went on to lead a project on bio-rapid prototyping funded by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) at Kyushu University. This work led to the invention of a pioneering scaffold-free method for bio 3D printing, based on cell spheroids being deposited onto needle arrays at specific coordinates. In 2010 Nakayama co-founded Cyfuse Biomedical, where he currently is the scientific advisor. Together with Shibuya Kogyo, Cyfuse work on developing the bio 3D printer Regenova, as well as new biological products and solutions for drug testing and regenerative medicine. The company, together with Nakayama’s laboratory at Saga University and several Japanese and international partners are leading the way in scaffold-free bio 3D printed blood vessels, cartilage, liver, cardiac and neural tissues.

Sang Jin Lee
(Wake Forest School of Medicine, USA)

Dr. Sang Jin Lee currently holds a tenured position as a Professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2003. He went on to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratories for Tissue Engineering and Cellular Therapeutics at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston and the WFIRM, where he currently serves as a faculty member. In addition, he holds a cross-appointment to the Virginia Tech-WFU Biomedical Engineering and Science.

Dr. Lee has authored over 165 scientific publications and reviews, edited two textbooks, and written 37 chapters in several books. His research focus lies in biomaterials science, specifically in the field of biodegradable polymers and tunable hydrogels, with a deep understanding of key research areas for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He and his team have successfully developed various biomaterial systems, including drug/protein delivery systems, nano/micro-scaled topographical features, and hybrid materials that have significantly improved cellular interactions by providing appropriate environmental cues.

His current research primarily focuses on developing a cutting-edge 3D bioprinting strategy capable of manufacturing complex, multi-cellular living tissue constructs. To establish a clinically relevant bioprinting workflow, his team has developed multiple biomaterial formulations as bioinks, which provide the tissue-specific biological microenvironment required for the successful delivery of cells to discrete locations within the 3D tissue architectures. These concerted efforts proved pivotal in securing the NASA Vascular Tissue Challenge win for the WFIRM team. By employing the 3D bioprinting strategy developed in his lab, the teams engineered thick, vascularized tissue constructs with tissue functions, ultimately securing 1st and 2nd prizes in the competition. Excitingly, the next step involves sending the engineered tissue samples into space to test potential mitigation strategies needed for long-term deep-space missions.

Since 2004, Dr. Lee has had the privilege of mentoring a total of 176 trainees from diverse career levels, including 20 graduate students, 33 postdoctoral fellows, 8 research trainees, 36 visiting scholars, 8 laboratory technicians, 13 undergraduate students, 30 summer internship undergraduate students, 3 high school internship students, and 27 international graduate students. As a mentor, he remains committed to continually improving his mentoring skills, leveraging various approaches to train and guide aspiring scientists, enabling them to pursue successful careers in science.

Aleksandr Ovsianikov
(Technische Universität Wien, Austria)

Prof. Aleksandr Ovsianikov is a head of the research group 3D Printing and Biofabrication at the TU Wien (Vienna, Austria). He is a member of the Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration (http://www.tissue-regeneration.at), Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), European Society of Biomaterials (ESB) and International Society for Biofabrication (ISBF).
Dr. Ovsianikov has background in laser physics and material processing with femtosecond lasers. His research is dealing with the use of additive manufacturing technologies and bioprinting for tissue engineering and regeneration. A particular focus of his current research is the development of multiphoton lithography technologies for engineering of biomimetic 3D cell culture matrices, realization of novel tissue engineering scaffolds and microfluidic applications. Dr. Ovsianikov was awarded a prestigious Starting Grant in 2012 and a Consolidator Grant in 2017 from the European Research Council (ERC) for projects aimed at these topics (http://amt.tuwien.ac.at/Ovsianikov).
Since 2004 Dr. Ovsianikov delivered multiple invited and keynote lectures, and has contributed to over 100 publications. Together with Prof. Mironov and Prof. Yoo he is an editor of a living book project “3D Printing and Biofabrication” published by Springer in cooperation with TERMIS.
Dr. Ovsianikov is also a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) a TU Wien spin-off UpNano GbmH (https://www.upnano.at), aimed a commercialization of high-resolution 3D printing and Bioprinting, which received multiple awards, including the Austrian Startup of the year 2019.

Zhengwei You
(Donghua University, China)

Dr. Zhengwei You is a full professor at the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Fibers & Polymer Materials and the Chair of the Department of Composite Materials at Donghua University. He received his degrees of B.S. (2000) from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Ph.D. (2007) from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 2007 to 2012, he conducted his postdoctoral research on biomaterials at Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining Donghua University in 2013, he was an innovation manager in Bayer MaterialScience. His current research involves smart polymers, elastomers, 3D printing, biomaterials, and elastic electronics. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Communication, Advanced Materials and applied for more than 40 patents with 35 granted, and contributed two book chapters. He has delivered more than 50 invited lectures in international and national conferences. He currently serves as the director of Research Base of Textile Materials for Flexible Electronics and Biomedical Applications, China Textile Engineering Society, associate editor of the journal Smart Materials in Medicine, editorial board member of the journal Bioactive Materials, youth editorial committee member of the journals Materials China and Advanced Fiber Materials. He is the vice chairman of Biomaterials Advanced Manufacturing Branch of Chinese Society of Biomaterials, and a committee member of International Society of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - Asian-Pacific Chapter and six national academic societies including 3D printing technology branch of China Medicinal Biotech Association, Medical Biomaterials and Technology Professional Committee of China Medical Education Association, Biomanufacturing Engineering Branch of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society. He won 2022 Shanghai Top ten Youth Science and Technology Outstanding Contribution Award.

Liheng Cai
(University of Virginia, USA)

Liheng Cai is an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia (UVa), where he currently holds joint appointments to the Department of Materials Science and the Department of Chemical Engineering, and a courtesy appointment to the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of North Carolina, where he researched with Prof. Michael Rubinstein on theoretical polymer physics and with Prof. Richard C. Boucher on experimental biophysics. During his postdoctoral training with Prof. David Weitz at Harvard, he switched to experiments. Since 2018, he has been leading Soft Biomatter Laboratory at UVa, where his group focuses on understanding and controlling the interactions between adaptive soft (bio)materials and living systems with the mission to solve challenges in sustainability and health. He received North Carolina Impact Award, Harvard Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, and was recognized as a Soft Matter Emerging Investigator

Jae-Won Shin
(University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)

Jae-Won Shin is Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine. Dr. Shin received his B.S. from the University of Sydney and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He did his postdoctoral training in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Dr. Shin’s research team is employing interdisciplinary approaches to precisely build instructive niches and remodel host microenvironments for treatment of tissue injury, degeneration and fibrosis. This effort has led to multiple new fields, including digital design of engineered niches to direct single cell functions, single cell encapsulation therapy, and extracellular vesicle-matrix interactions. He is a recipient of a National Institutes of Health K99/R00 award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE) Rising Star Award and Advanced Biomanufacturing (ABioM) Junior Investigator Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).

David Weitz
(Harvard University, USA)

Weitz received his PhD in physics from Harvard University and then joined Exxon Research and Engineering Company, where he worked for nearly 18 years. He then became a professor of physics at the University of Pennsylvania and moved to Harvard at the end of the last millennium as professor of physics and applied physics. He leads a group studying soft matter science with a focus on materials science, biophysics, microfluidics and flow in porous media. Several startup companies have come from his lab to commercialize research concepts.

Mark Skylar-Scott
(Stanford University, USA)

Mark Skylar-Scott is an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford, a member of the Basic Science and Engineering Initiative at the Children’s Heart Center and a Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Mark Skylar-Scott received his B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 2007. For his doctoral thesis under the guidance of Prof. M. Fatih Yanik at MIT, he developed multiphoton photopatterning techniques to print full length proteins on 2D surfaces and in 3D scaffolds to probe and direct neural and vascular growth. For his postdoctoral research at Harvard and the Wyss Institute with Prof. Jennifer Lewis, he performed 3D bioprinting of thick and vascularized tissues, and created new high-throughput multimaterial multinozzle 3D printing systems. In 2022, he received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award towards his goals to develop new 3D printing hardware, wetware, and software to accelerate cardiovascular tissue engineering towards thick, vascularized, and functionally therapeutic organs.

Liheng Cai
(University of Virginia, USA)

Liheng Cai is an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia (UVa), where he currently holds joint appointments to the Department of Materials Science and the Department of Chemical Engineering, and a courtesy appointment to the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of North Carolina, where he researched with Prof. Michael Rubinstein on theoretical polymer physics and with Prof. Richard C. Boucher on experimental biophysics. During his postdoctoral training with Prof. David Weitz at Harvard, he switched to experiments. Since 2018, he has been leading Soft Biomatter Laboratory at UVa, where his group focuses on understanding and controlling the interactions between adaptive soft (bio)materials and living systems with the mission to solve challenges in sustainability and health. He received North Carolina Impact Award, Harvard Postdoctoral Award for Professional Development, ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, and was recognized as a Soft Matter Emerging Investigator

Uijung Yong
(Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Uijung Yong is a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Future IT Innovation Laboratory (i-Lab) at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Republic of Korea. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. degree in Convergence IT Engineering, both obtained from POSTECH. In 2023, he joined the i-Lab, where his current research is focused on developing tissue-sensor platforms for reliable preclinical testing. If you wish to contact Dr. Yong, you can reach him via email at syzxc@postech.ac.kr.

Mario Milazzo
(Università di Pisa, Italy)

Mario Milazzo is an Assistant Professor at University of Pisa where he graduated in 2010 in Mechanical Engineering. He received a PhD in BioRobotics in 2016 at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. His research interests cover a large number of fields including multiscale modeling, mechanics, biomaterials, mechatronics, and industrial robotics. He has been the recipient of the 3-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). In parallel to the academic activity, he has been involved, both as a Project Manager and Team Leader, in several projects with national and international companies (e.g., Ge, Brembo, Magneti Marelli, Piaggio).

Geetha Manivasagam
(Vellore Institute of Technology, India)

As a physicist, material scientist, and biomedical engineer, Dr. Geetha Manivasagam's academic labels extend beyond the conventional STEM fields. As the Founding Director of the Center for Biomaterials, Cellular & Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT) at Vellore Institute of Technology, she has been at the forefront of research innovation, leading a dynamic group of researchers from across the country. Her team of esteemed faculty members from diverse fields, including mechanical, physics, chemistry, biotechnology, and nanomaterials, conduct groundbreaking research in tissue engineering, medical implants, and cellular and molecular theranostic techniques. Geetha's vision and leadership were instrumental in the establishment of state-of-the-art infrastructure, including cutting-edge tissue engineering, cellular & molecular theranostics, and bioprinting labs, that have facilitated significant contributions to the field. With 10 faculty members and 50 research scholars, the center is a hub of international collaboration and translational research, hosting several national and international scientists and students.
Geetha orchestrates research in the development of biomaterials with intrinsic smart properties, catering to diverse medical applications such as implantology, cancer therapy, drug delivery, theranostics, and more. Her center serves as a breeding ground for cutting-edge technologies, including additive manufacturing for scaffold and implant construction, microfluidics for pain-free drug delivery, small molecule-mediated cancer therapy, nanotechnology-based biosensors, and other innovative advancements. Throughout her tenure at VIT, she has established state-of-the-art biomaterials labs, spearheaded numerous biomaterial projects, and mentored several students & faculties while introducing pioneering courses bridging material science with biomedicine. With over 11,000 citations and an h-index of 37, her publications serve as valuable references for researchers worldwide, contributing to a thriving scientific community focused on knowledge sharing.
As a committed scientific leader, Dr. Geetha organizes & participates in conferences, lectures, workshops, and numerous other knowledge development programs. As a result, she has received multiple awards, including the International Women Scientist Award and the Fulbright Award for professional excellence. She has been ranked as the No. 1 scientist in Materials Science by MHRD from 2009-2019 and listed in the Top 2% of scientists in the country in Materials Science as per the analysis performed by Stanford University. She is also a reviewer for numerous international journals in the field of Biomaterials and Surface Engineering. Additionally, she has served as chair/co-chair and keynote speaker for several conferences and delivered invited lectures at various international and national events. She has a bachelor's in physics and honed her skills under prominent scientists and academicians in India before pursuing her Ph.D. from Anna University and postdoc training from Clemson University, USA.

Maria-Pau Ginebra
(Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain)

Maria-Pau Ginebra is Full Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona, where she leads the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group. She is also a research associate at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). Her research focuses on the development of new biomaterials for tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery, with special emphasis on bone regeneration. She has made pioneering contributions to the development of new biofabrication strategies, bio-inspired substrates and 3D printing of implants for regenerative medicine. She has led numerous competitive projects, including an ERC Advanced Grant, as well as translational projects to the clinic and industry. In 2013 she founded the spin-off company Mimetis Biomaterials. She has authored more than 250 scientific articles. She has received numerous awards, including the Racquel LeGeros Award from the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine and the Klaas de Groot Award from the European Society for Biomaterials, as well as the ICREA Academia award from the Generalitat de Catalunya. She is a Fellow Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBSE).

Seunghun Lee
(Korea Institute of Materials Science, Korea, Republic of)

Seunghun Lee received the B.S. and M.S. in nuclear engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. And he received the Ph.D. degree in physics from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, in 2019. Since 2008, he has been with Korea Institute of Materials Science, Changwon, Republic of Korea, where he is currently a principal researcher. His current research is atmospheric pressure plasma applications such as plasma patch for skin therapy, disinfection HVAC system.

Dong Sung Kim
(POSTECH, Korea, Republic of)

Dong Sung Kim is a Mueunjae Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and is a member of Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology. He is also appointed as adjunct professor at both the Department of Chemical Engineering and the School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering at POSTECH. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct professor at the Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology, affiliated with Yonsei University. His primary research interests lie in the realm of micro- and nano-manufacturing processes, encompassing advanced electrospinning techniques and the multi-scale precision forming and shaping of polymers and hydrogels. More recently, he has delved into the fundamental principles and potential applications in the biomedical engineering and energy harvesting fields, exploring innovations like nanofiber membrane-based organ-on-a-chip systems, cutting-edge organoid/spheroid culture platforms, contact electrification, and micro/nano-pattern replicable energy harvesters.

Ranjith Kumar Kankala
(Huaqiao University, China)

Ranjith K. Kankala is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Institute of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering at Huaqiao University, PR China. After receiving his Ph.D. degree in 2016 in the field of nanomedicine, he immediately joined as faculty at Huaqiao University. He is currently acting as a Theme Editor, an editorial board member, as well as on the Reviewer panel boards of top journals on ACS, Cell Press, Elsevier, Bentham Science, and Frontiers Journals in his area of expertise. He has been invited to be on the Reviewer panel for Project evaluation for French National Research Agency (ANR). He recently got listed into Top-2% Eminent scientists by Elsevier/Scopus Repository. He has authored over 150 SCI-indexed publications and a book chapter. Ranjith K. Kankala's research expertise is related to preparing advanced multifunctional nanocomposites and engineered inorganic nano-/micro- hybrid systems with optimized properties for various innovative biomedical applications, including but not limited to cancer therapy, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, as well as dental ailments.

Paul Dalton
(University of Oregon, USA)

Associate Professor Paul Dalton leads a research group at the Knight Campus of the University of Oregon. He has spent his academic career specializing in developing new manufacturing technologies for biomedical applications. An early adopter of melt electrospinning and pioneer of melt electrowriting, his research targets advanced biomaterials that can perform new functions. The team at the Knight Campus transforms known biomedical polymers into microscale designs that allows new functionality and properties. Originally from Perth, Australia, he was part of a bioengineering team in the 1990s that successfully took an artificial cornea from concept to the clinic. His academic career has an international perspective, having lived/worked in Canada, United Kingdom, China, Germany and now the US. He has over 25 years’ experience across several disciplines including biomaterials, nanotechnology tissue engineering, neuroimmunology biofabrication, and additive manufacturing.

Dietmar Hutmacher
(Max Planck Queensland Center, Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Distinguished Professor Dietmar W Hutmacher is a biomedical engineer, an educator, an inventor, and a creator of new intellectual property opportunities. DProfessor Hutmacher founded and co-directs the first Max Planck Centre in Oceania; Max Planck Centre Queensland, Australia (MPCQ): The Materials Science of Extracellular Matrices He mentors an interdisciplinary team of researchers including engineers, cell biologists, polymer chemists, clinicians, and veterinary surgeons. He is an internationally recognized research leader in the fields of biomaterials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine with expertise in commercialization. He has translated a bone and breast tissue engineering concept from the laboratory through to clinical application involving in vitro experiments, preclinical studies and ultimately clinical trials. His recent research efforts have resulted in traditional scientific/academic outputs as well as pivotal commercialisation outcomes. His pre-eminent international standing and impact on the field are illustrated by his publication record which is manifested that he has been awarded the highly cited researcher status for four consecutive years.

Naomi Paxton
(University of Oregon, USA)

Dr Naomi Paxton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in Brisbane, Australia. With biofabrication research training experience in work leading labs at QUT, University of Würzburg in Germany, Imperial College London UK, and most recently at the Knight Campus (University of Oregon), USA, Naomi is a leading early career researcher in biofabrication research and melt electrowriting (MEW) scaffold design.

Dong Sung Kim
(POSTECH, Korea, Republic of)

Dong Sung Kim is a Mueunjae Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), and is a member of Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology. He is also appointed as adjunct professor at both the Department of Chemical Engineering and the School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering at POSTECH. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct professor at the Yonsei Institute of Convergence Technology, affiliated with Yonsei University. His primary research interests lie in the realm of micro- and nano-manufacturing processes, encompassing advanced electrospinning techniques and the multi-scale precision forming and shaping of polymers and hydrogels. More recently, he has delved into the fundamental principles and potential applications in the biomedical engineering and energy harvesting fields, exploring innovations like nanofiber membrane-based organ-on-a-chip systems, cutting-edge organoid/spheroid culture platforms, contact electrification, and micro/nano-pattern replicable energy harvesters.

Jennifer H. Shin
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Jennifer H. Shin is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She earned her Bachelor of Science (1998), Master of Science (2000), and Doctor of Philosophy (2004) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research focuses on the emerging interdisciplinary field of mechanobiology, and she uses quantitative experimental and analytical tools to investigate the links between pathophysiological responses and physical stresses at the cellular level. Dr. Shin has demonstrated her commitment to academic excellence through her involvement in several academic societies across the fields of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering in Korea. She has served as a board member for seven of these societies and has also been an organizing committee member for several international conferences.

Junji Fukuda
(Yokohama National University (YNU), Japan)

Prof. Junji Fukuda is a full professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Japan. He obtained his Ph.D in 2003 at Chemical Engineering Department, Kyushu University, Japan. His research area has been in the synthesis, processing, and evaluation of new biomaterials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Research interests of his lab is to engineer vascularized tissues with appropriate microarchitectures. His lab is also working on a research project to generate hair organoids in vitro for hair regenerative medicine. Prof. Junji Fukuda organizes the Bio-microsystem lab at Yokohama National University, Japan. The Bio-microsystem lab comprises now 3 post docs, 18 graduate students and 6 undergraduate students. The lab is well equipped for cell/tissue culture, microfabrication, photolithography, electrochemistry, polymer chemistry, and molecular biology. The proprietary equipment includes a confocal microscope (Carl Zeiss), fluorescent microscope (Olympus), a time lapse microscope (Olympus), bioclean benches (Sanyo), a real time PCR system (Applied Biosystems), SEM (Hitachi), QCM (Initiam), a spattering machine, and potentio/galvanostats. Detail information is described in the following lab webpage:　http://www.fukulab.ynu.ac.jp/english/index.html

Selected Publications (Total 120 publications)
T. Kageyama, A. Shimizu, R. Anakama, R. Nakajima, K. Suzuki, Y. Okubo, J. Fukuda, Reprogramming of three-dimensional microenvironments for in vitro hair follicle induction, Science Advances, 8(42):eadd4603 (2022)
S. Kanno, Y. Okubo, T. Kageyama, L. Yan, S. Kitajima, and J. Fukuda, Establishment of a developmental toxicity assay based on human iPSC reporter to detect fibroblast growth factor signal disruption, iScience, 25, 2, 103770 (2022)
M. Masumoto, I. Fukuda, S. Furihata, T. Arai, T. Kageyama, K. Ohmori, S. Shirakawa, J. Fukuda, Deep neural network for the determination of transformed foci in Bhas 42 cell transformation assay, Scientific Reports, 11, 23344 (2021)

Jennifer H. Shin
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Jennifer H. Shin is a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She earned her Bachelor of Science (1998), Master of Science (2000), and Doctor of Philosophy (2004) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research focuses on the emerging interdisciplinary field of mechanobiology, and she uses quantitative experimental and analytical tools to investigate the links between pathophysiological responses and physical stresses at the cellular level. Dr. Shin has demonstrated her commitment to academic excellence through her involvement in several academic societies across the fields of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering in Korea. She has served as a board member for seven of these societies and has also been an organizing committee member for several international conferences.

Jae-Won Shin
(University of Illinois at Chicago, USA)

Jae-Won Shin is Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine. Dr. Shin received his B.S. from the University of Sydney and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He did his postdoctoral training in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Dr. Shin’s research team is employing interdisciplinary approaches to precisely build instructive niches and remodel host microenvironments for treatment of tissue injury, degeneration and fibrosis. This effort has led to multiple new fields, including digital design of engineered niches to direct single cell functions, single cell encapsulation therapy, and extracellular vesicle-matrix interactions. He is a recipient of a National Institutes of Health K99/R00 award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE) Rising Star Award and Advanced Biomanufacturing (ABioM) Junior Investigator Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).