Nicholas Peppas
(Department of Biomedical Engineering and Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Professor Nicholas A. Peppas is a chemical engineer, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist whose research contributions, innovations, inventions have led to 20 chemical/medical/pharmaceutical products.
Peppas is an elected member of the US-National Academy of Engineering, US- National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academy of Inventors, Academia Europaea, Canadian Engineering Academy, Indian National Engineering Academy, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Korean Academy of Science Technology, National Academy of France, Royal Academy of Spain, Academy of Athens, Greece, Academy of Romanian Scientists, and Academy of Texas. He has served as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Geneva, Paris-Sud, Santiago de Compostela. Madrid, Lisbon, Parma, Pavia, Napoli, Hecettepe/Ankara, Athens, Berlin, Hebrew University/Jerusalem, Hoshi University/Tokyo, Nanyang University/Singapore, Sichuan University, Peking Medical College. Peppas is a distinguished professor in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics, Surgery and Pharmacy, and a member of the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His group has set the fundamentals of flow and transport phenomena in numerous medical problems, based on the principles of Engineering Science. He has numerous books, 1,800 publications and is cited in more than 193,000 references (H=202). Honored by 170 Awards including NAE Founders Award, NAM Adam Yarmolinsky, Pharmaceutical Global Leader Award, and the Biomaterials Global Impact Awards. Peppas holds a D.Eng. from NTU Athens, a ScD. from MIT and is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and professorships from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Israel and China. Editor of Regenerative Biomaterials (Oxford) and President on the International Sigma Xi organization. He actively works to diversify program interests, take an active role towards increasing the number of young members, and actively promote the election and participation of a diverse and inclusive group of scientists.

Paula T. Hammond
(Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Professor Paula T. Hammond is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She was Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering from 2015 to 2023, and is Vice Provost for Faculty as of January 2024.
The core of her work is the use of electrostatics and other complementary interactions to generate functional materials with highly controlled architecture. Her research in nanomedicine encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She also investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery. The newest developments from her lab offer a promising approach to the delivery of proteins and messenger RNA (mRNA) using electrostatic assembly as a means of modifying surfaces, nanoparticles and lipid complexes for targeted systemic delivery, opening potential for vaccines and immunotherapies.


Professor Paula Hammond was elected into the National Academy of Science in 2019, the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, and the 2013 Class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the National Academy of Inventors. She received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Margaret H. Rousseau Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Woman Chemical Engineer in 2019 and gave the Materials Research Society (MRS) David Turnbull Lectureship, 2019. Professor Hammond has published over 330 papers, and over 20 patent applications. She is the co-founder and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of LayerBio, Inc., a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Moderna Therapeutics and a member of the Board of Alector Therapeutics and the Board of Senda Biosciences, a Flagship company. In 2021, Professor Hammond was selected to become a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
In terms of educational background, Prof. Hammond is from Detroit, Michigan, and received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, then worked for two years in industry, moved to Atlanta to get an M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech, before returning to MIT for her PhD. She held the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, and on completing her PhD, was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard University Chemistry Department before returning to MIT as a faculty member.

Samir Mitragotri
(Harvard University, USA)

Samir Mitragotri is the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research is focused on drug delivery. His research has also led to new technologies for transdermal, oral, and targeted drug delivery systems. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering, US National Academy of Medicine and US National Academy of Inventors. He is an author on over 400 publications and an inventor on over 225 patents/patent applications. He is also an elected fellow of AAAS, CRS, BMES, AIMBE, and AAPS. He received BS in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Antonios Mikos
(Rice University, USA)

Antonios G. Mikos is the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on the synthesis, processing, and evaluation of new biomaterials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, as carriers for controlled drug delivery, as non-viral vectors for gene therapy, and as platforms for disease modeling. His work has led to the development of novel orthopaedic, dental, cardiovascular, neurologic, and ophthalmologic biomaterials. He is the author of over 700 publications and the inventor of 32 patents. Mikos is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Academia Europaea, and the Academy of Athens. He has been recognized by various awards including the Jensen Tissue Engineering Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Global, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas, the Founders Award of the Society For Biomaterials, the Founders Award of the Controlled Release Society, the Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal, the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecturer Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research of the Orthopaedic Research Society. He is a Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tissue Engineering.

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert
(University of Washington, USA)

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, Ph.D. is the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the University of Washington School of Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering. She earned a S.B. in chemical engineering and biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a M.S. and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. She joined the faculty at Washington University in Biomedical Engineering in 2000 as an Assistant Professor, where she advanced to the position of the Joseph and Florence Farrow Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Vice Dean for Research in the School of Engineering. She served as Department Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin from 2016- 2022.
Her research program focuses on developing biomaterials for drug delivery and cell transplantation for the treatment of peripheral nerve and spinal cord injury. She was Co-Director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine, as well as a member of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at Washington University. Her honors include Senior Scientist Award -TERMIS AM (2023), Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2017), Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Basic Research (2017), Outstanding Faculty Mentor from the WU Graduate Student Senate (2015), WU Distinguished Faculty Award (2013), and WU Dean’s Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring (2008). She was elected Fellow of the International College of Fellows in Biomaterials Science and Engineering in 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2015, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) in 2013, and the and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2011.

William Wagner
(University of Pittsburgh, USA)

Professor William R. Wagner is a Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Chemical Engineering, and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of one of the leading biomaterials journals, Acta Biomaterialia. He holds a B.S. (Johns Hopkins Univ.) and Ph.D. (Univ. of Texas) in chemical engineering. Professor Wagner currently serves as president of the Society for Biomaterials (US) and is a past-president of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO) and past chairman of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Americas region. He is a fellow and former vice president of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and has also been elected a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, TERMIS, the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE) and the American Heart Association. He has been selected to the “Scientific American 50”, the magazine’s annual list recognizing leaders in science and technology from the research, business and policy fields. His research has generated numerous patents (50 issued to date) and patent filings that have resulted in licensing activity, the formation of three companies, one of which initiated two clinical trials. Transfer of his group’s intellectual property has been recognized with University of Pittsburgh Innovator Awards in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2018. Some of his awards include the Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Applied Research, the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award from the University of Pittsburgh, and the Senior Investigator Award from TERMIS-Americas. In 2017 he was inducted as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and in 2018 he was named Inventor of the Year by the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association. In 2019 Dr. Wagner was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor, the highest recognition available to University of Pittsburgh faculty. In 2020 the 4th edition of the best-selling biomaterials textbook, “Biomaterials Science” was published with Dr. Wagner taking over the lead editor role and in partnership with a new generation editorial team. He was also named by Pittsburgh Business Times to its “Power 100” list (“people who have defined and are redefining the region, and who are leading and shaping their industries”). Dr. Wagner recently received the Founder’s Award from the Society for Biomaterials (2021) and the Global Biomaterials Leadership Award from the Chinese Association for Biomaterials (2023). Dr. Wagner also was recently awarded the Marlin Mickle Outstanding Innovator Award through the University of Pittsburgh’s Innovation Institute for extraordinary commitment to innovation commercialization. Dr. Wagner’s research interests are in cardiovascular engineering with projects that address medical device biocompatibility and design, biomaterial development, and tissue engineering.

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).

Ana Paula Pego
(European Society for Biomaterials, Portugal)

Ana Paula Pêgo got her Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Biomaterials from the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in 2002. In 2003 she moved to INEB – Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, where she became a Principal Investigator in 2012. In 2015, INEB joined the i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (Universidade do Porto), where Ana Paula Pêgo leads the nanoBiomaterials for Targeted Therapies (nBTT) Group.

By using nanomedicine strategies the nBTT Group, aims at providing in situ and in a targeted manner the required signals to promote nervous tissue regeneration. The research on new biomaterials for application in neurosciences includes the development of new polymers for the design of alternative vectors to viruses for efficient nucleic acid delivery, the preparation of nerve grafts for spinal cord injury treatment and the design of brain tissue engineered platforms. Societal and ethical issues that concern Regenerative Medicine and NanoMedicine are also topics in which Ana Paula Pêgo is involved.

She has been appointed the Scientific Director of the Bioimaging Centre for Biomaterials and Regenerative Therapies of INEB and she is an Invited Associate Professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto.

Currently Ana Paula Pêgo is a member of the Board of Directors of i3S, being the Head of Strategy & Creation of Value Unit, serves as an Associate Editor of Biomaterials (Elsevier journal) and is part of the Board of Reviewing Editors of Science (AAAS).

Ana Paula Pêgo served two terms in the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) Council, being the ESB Council Secretary from 2017-2021 and the ESB President from 2021-2023, being now the ESB past President.

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.

Pamela Habibovic
(Maastricht University, Netherlands)

Pamela Habibovic is Professor of Inorganic Biomaterials at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Since February 2022, she holds the position of Rector of Maastricht University. Habibovic was a founding partner of MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, established in 2014, and Chair of MERLN’s Department for Instructive Biomaterials Engineering. Between 2019 and 2022, she was the Scientific Director of MERLN.

Initially trained as a chemical engineer, in 2005, Habibovic obtained a PhD degree from the University of Twente, the Netherlands on the topic of materials for biomedical applications. Following postdoctoral research at Children’s Hospital Boston and McGill University, in 2008, she started her research group at the University of Twente. In 2014, she moved to Maastricht University. The main focus of her research is on synthetic bone graft substitutes, bioinorganics, nanomaterials for theranostics in regenerative medicine and high-throughput approaches in biomaterials research. For her research she received prestigious Veni, Vidi, Aspasia and Gravitation grants of the Dutch Research Council NWO, among other external research funds. She served as the President of the European Society for Biomaterials between 2017 and 2021 and as an Associate Editor of the RSC journal Biomaterials Science between 2019 and 2022. In 2017, she received the Jean Leray Award of the European Society for Biomaterials and in 2021 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She has published over 100 peer-review articles on the topic of biomaterials and regenerative medicine.

Luis García-Fernández
(Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Red (CIBER-BBN), Spain)

Dr. Luis García-Fernández (Ph.D.-chemistry), now is a Senior Researcher in the Biomaterials Group of the Polymer Science and Technology Institute (Spanish National Research Council). He got his B.Sc. in Chemical engineering and Science Doctor’s degree (Ph.D) at University Complutense of Madrid. He got the European Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Doctoral Award from the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB) in 2011 and the Best Paper 2012 Award from the Journal Materials Science: Materials in Medicine in 2012. Dr. Luis García-Fernández spent several years at Max-Planck institute for polymer research in Mainz (Germany) were he developed different research lines: Catechol derivatives for antibacterial coatings, torrent frog-inspired adhesives and Study of cell behavior by QCM-D
Currently Dr. Luis García-Fernández' researches focus on the development of novel scaffolds for osteochondral regeneration and new nanoparticles for cancer treatment.

Hasan Uludag
(University of Alberta, Canada)

Dr. Hasan Uludağ has been with the University of Alberta since 1997, currently based at the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering. He holds joint appoints at the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Uludağ is directing interdisciplinary research programs on experimental therapeutics, specifically focusing of designing functional biomaterials to realize the potential of nucleic acid therapies. His research activity is now conducted in the context of novel anti-cancer therapies. Dr. Uludağ is actively involved in various biomaterials societies around the World and is an elected Fellow of the International Union of Society of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUS-BSE). Besides acting as the lead editor for Frontiers in Biomaterials, he is serving on the editorial board of 7 international journals. Dr. Uludağ published >220 peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Uludağ obtained dual B.Sc. degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Biology from Brown University (Providence, RI) in 1989, specializing in biomedical engineering with a strong emphasis in biological sciences. He then completed his Ph.D. degree in 1993 at the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto, where he developed a strong expertise in polymeric biomaterials. He spent four years in an industrial setting (Genetics Institute Inc.; Boston, MA), where he contributed to development of a tissue engineered bone-inducing BMP device for clinical use. He initiated 2 spin-off companies from the U. of Alberta based on the technologies emanating from his labs.

Emilio Alarcon
(University of Ottawa, Canada)

Dr. Emilio I. Alarcón is Associate Professor, University of Ottawa and Scientist, University of Ottawa Heart Institute. Dr. Alarcón's work seeks to understand how nanoscale interactions can be used to create peptide-based materials with augmented biological properties for tissue and organ repair. He has published +100 peer-reviewed papers, most of which in high quality journals with broad audiences (ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, Nature Communications, Science). The scope and transformative potential of his research has been awarded with significant grant funding (totaling >$5M) from the largest federal agencies in Canada and several awards.

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.

Nicholas Peppas
(University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Professor Nicholas A. Peppas is a chemical engineer, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist whose research contributions, innovations, inventions have led to 20 chemical/medical/pharmaceutical products.
Peppas is an elected member of the US-National Academy of Engineering, US- National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academy of Inventors, Academia Europaea, Canadian Engineering Academy, Indian National Engineering Academy, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Korean Academy of Science Technology, National Academy of France, Royal Academy of Spain, Academy of Athens, Greece, Academy of Romanian Scientists, and Academy of Texas. He has served as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Geneva, Paris-Sud, Santiago de Compostela. Madrid, Lisbon, Parma, Pavia, Napoli, Hecettepe/Ankara, Athens, Berlin, Hebrew University/Jerusalem, Hoshi University/Tokyo, Nanyang University/Singapore, Sichuan University, Peking Medical College. Peppas is a distinguished professor in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics, Surgery and Pharmacy, and a member of the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His group has set the fundamentals of flow and transport phenomena in numerous medical problems, based on the principles of Engineering Science. He has numerous books, 1,800 publications and is cited in more than 193,000 references (H=202). Honored by 170 Awards including NAE Founders Award, NAM Adam Yarmolinsky, Pharmaceutical Global Leader Award, and the Biomaterials Global Impact Awards. Peppas holds a D.Eng. from NTU Athens, a ScD. from MIT and is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and professorships from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Israel and China. Editor of Regenerative Biomaterials (Oxford) and President on the International Sigma Xi organization. He actively works to diversify program interests, take an active role towards increasing the number of young members, and actively promote the election and participation of a diverse and inclusive group of scientists.

Antonios Mikos
(Rice University, USA)

Antonios G. Mikos is the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on the synthesis, processing, and evaluation of new biomaterials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, as carriers for controlled drug delivery, as non-viral vectors for gene therapy, and as platforms for disease modeling. His work has led to the development of novel orthopaedic, dental, cardiovascular, neurologic, and ophthalmologic biomaterials. He is the author of over 700 publications and the inventor of 32 patents. Mikos is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Academia Europaea, and the Academy of Athens. He has been recognized by various awards including the Jensen Tissue Engineering Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Global, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas, the Founders Award of the Society For Biomaterials, the Founders Award of the Controlled Release Society, the Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal, the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecturer Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research of the Orthopaedic Research Society. He is a Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tissue Engineering.

Arthur J. Coury
(Northeastern University, USA)

Arthur (Art) J. Coury
Member, National Academy of Engineering
American Chemical Society Fellow
University Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering
Northeastern University
artjcoury@aol.com
a.coury@northeastern.edu
617-834-9179

Dr. Art Coury holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Delaware (1962), a Ph.D. in organic chemistry (1965) and an M.B.A. (1980) from the University of Minnesota. His industrial career included positions as: Senior Research Chemist at General Mills, Inc. (1965-‐1976), Director, Polymer Technology and Research Fellow at Medtronic, Inc. (1976‐1993), Vice President, Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Focal, Inc. (1993‐2000), and Vice President, Biomaterials Research at Genzyme Corporation (2000‐2008). He currently is a consultant and academic professor. His career focus has been polymeric biomaterials for medical products such as implantable electronic devices, hydrogel‐based devices, and drug delivery systems. He holds over fifty-seven distinct patents and has published and presented widely in his field. His prior or current academic service has included adjunct or affiliate appointments at the University of Minnesota, the Harvard‐MIT Graduate Program in Health Sciences and Technology, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, the University of Trento, Italy, Sichuan University, China, Hebei University, China, and Northeastern University. His professional service has included: Chair, Minnesota Section, American Chemical Society (1989‐1990); President, Society for Biomaterials, USA (1999‐2000); President, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2003‐2004) and membership on several universities, professional societies, and corporate advisory boards. His recent recognitions have included the delivery of distinguished lectureships, receipt of the 2007 Innovation and Technology Development Award of the Society for Biomaterials, being named as one of “100 Notable People in the Medical Device Industry” by MD&DI magazine (2008), induction into the National Academy of Engineering, USA (2009), recognition on the University of Delaware alumni “Wall of Fame” (2010), “The Man, the Myth, the Materials”, a symposium in honor of Art Coury’s 70th birthday (2010), induction as an American Chemical Society Fellow (2011), recipient of the Society for Biomaterials Founders’ Award (2012) and its C. William Hall Award (2013) of the AIMBE Pierre Galletti Award, the University of Minnesota Outstanding Alumni Award (2013), appointment as Honorary Professor, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China (2013) and Hebei University, Tianjin, China (2019), University Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University (2014), and recognition with the Directors’ Award of the Harvard/MIT Joint Program in Health Sciences and Technology (2016). A joint U.S/Japan Society for Biomaterials Symposium was held to honor 2 American and 2 Japanese Biomaterials Leaders in Hawaii (January 2022), with Art being an Honoree. In April, 2023, Art received the Society for Biomaterials Service Award and the American Chemical Society Division of Rubber Chemistry Bioelastomer Award.

Serena Best
(University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Serena Best is a Professor of Materials Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge. She co-directs the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (along with Professor Ruth Cameron). She has published around 400 journal papers, books, book chapters and patents in the fields of biomaterials and skeletal repair. Her main research interests focus on the development of functionalised collagen scaffolds for tissue regeneration and bioactive ceramics for bone repair. She was President of the UK Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) from Jan 2019 – Dec 2020 and Chair of the Executive Board (Jan 2021- Dec 2022). She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). She is also a Fellow of Federation of Institutions for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE). She was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2017 for services to Biomaterials Engineering.

Dong-Hwee Kim
(Korea University, Korea, Republic of)

Dong-Hwee Kim is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Energy Engineering and KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology at Korea University. Before joining Korea University as a tenuretrack faculty member, he was a postdoctoral research fellow of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Institute for NanoBioTechnology and Physical Sciences-Oncology Center at Johns Hopkins University.
He graduated from Korea University with a B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology with an M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He received a Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2013. His research focuses on multilevel cellular mechanics, physics
of cancer, and cellular mechanosensation and mechanotransduction as well as disease biophysics.

Song Li
(UCLA, USA)

Dr. Li holds a B.S. and M.S. from Peking University, as well as a Ph.D. and postdoctoral training in Bioengineering from UC San Diego. Throughout his career, he has held positions with prestige and leadership, including serving as a professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley from 2001 to 2015, chairing the Bioengineering Department at UC Los Angeles, and serving as the Director of Bioengineering Institute for California. Dr. Li's research is focused on cell and tissue engineering. He has contributed to the understanding of how biophysical factors regulate stem cell differentiation and cell reprogramming, and has developed multidisciplinary approaches for engineering biomaterials, stem cells, and immune cells for tissue regeneration and disease therapy. Dr. Li has published his findings in top scientific journals such as Nature Materials, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Science Translational Medicine, and Advanced Materials. Additionally, he has filed 19 patent applications, co-edited 3 books, and served as the Co-Editor-in-Chief for Med-X Journal. Dr. Li's contributions to bioengineering have earned him numerous awards and honors, including being elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Chwee Teck Lim
(National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Professor Chwee Teck LIM is the NUS Society Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Institute for Health Innovation and Technology at the National University of Singapore. He is also the Founding Director of the Singapore Health Technologies Consortium. His research interests are in human disease mechanobiology as well as development of innovative biomedical technologies for disease diagnosis and therapy. He is a prolific researcher having co-authored over 470 journal publications including in Nature and Science related journals and given more than 450 plenary/keynote/invited lectures. He is also a serial entrepreneur having started six companies to commercialize technologies developed in his lab. Prof Lim is an Elected Fellow of IUPESM, US National Academy of Inventors, AIMBE, IAMBE, the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology, the Academy of Engineering, Singapore, the Singapore National Academy of Science and the Instition of Engineers, Singapore. He and his team have garnered over 100 research awards and honours including Nature Lifetime Achievement Award for Mentoring in Science, Asia’s Most Influential Scientist,Highly Cited Researcher, IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award, ASEAN Outstanding Engineering Achievement Award, Asian Scientists 100, Credit Suisse Technopreneur of the Year Award, Wall Street Journal Asian Innovation Award (Gold) and the President's Technology Award among others.

Jeongeun Hyun
(Dankook University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Hyun studied post-transcriptional i) microRNA-mediated mechanisms that regulate hepatic stellate cell biology, ii) RNA-binding protein-mediated mechanisms that control hepatocyte functions, and iii) whether and how dysregulation of these mechanisms affects liver disease. From March 2020 to the present, she has been working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University. The aim of Dr. Hyun's research is to elucidate the mechanisms regulating liver injury and repair and to improve our ability to diagnose and treat liver diseases such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and liver cancer. Currently, her research team is focusing on the mechano-responsiveness of various cells, including epithelial and immune cells, to study the effects of biophysical and mechanical changes in the tumor microenvironment on cancer progression. To this end, Dr. Hyun's team is working with collaborators from interdisciplinary fields covering biomaterials engineering, medicine, physics, and more.

Tae-Jin Kim
(Pusan National University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Tae-Jin Kim received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Following this, he completed post-doctoral work at the Department of Bioengineering, the University of Washington at Seattle, USA. He started his lab at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 2015 as a principal investigator and served as a faculty member at the University of Science and Technology. In 2017, he joined the Pusan National University as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, Integrated Biological Science, and Institute of Systems Biology. Currently, he is an Associate Professor and serves as the Head of the Department. He also serves as a Director of the Basic Research Laboratory supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea.

Arthur J. Coury
(Northeastern University, USA)

Arthur (Art) J. Coury
Member, National Academy of Engineering
American Chemical Society Fellow
University Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering
Northeastern University
artjcoury@aol.com
a.coury@northeastern.edu
617-834-9179

Dr. Art Coury holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Delaware (1962), a Ph.D. in organic chemistry (1965) and an M.B.A. (1980) from the University of Minnesota. His industrial career included positions as: Senior Research Chemist at General Mills, Inc. (1965-‐1976), Director, Polymer Technology and Research Fellow at Medtronic, Inc. (1976‐1993), Vice President, Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Focal, Inc. (1993‐2000), and Vice President, Biomaterials Research at Genzyme Corporation (2000‐2008). He currently is a consultant and academic professor. His career focus has been polymeric biomaterials for medical products such as implantable electronic devices, hydrogel‐based devices, and drug delivery systems. He holds over fifty-seven distinct patents and has published and presented widely in his field. His prior or current academic service has included adjunct or affiliate appointments at the University of Minnesota, the Harvard‐MIT Graduate Program in Health Sciences and Technology, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, the University of Trento, Italy, Sichuan University, China, Hebei University, China, and Northeastern University. His professional service has included: Chair, Minnesota Section, American Chemical Society (1989‐1990); President, Society for Biomaterials, USA (1999‐2000); President, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2003‐2004) and membership on several universities, professional societies, and corporate advisory boards. His recent recognitions have included the delivery of distinguished lectureships, receipt of the 2007 Innovation and Technology Development Award of the Society for Biomaterials, being named as one of “100 Notable People in the Medical Device Industry” by MD&DI magazine (2008), induction into the National Academy of Engineering, USA (2009), recognition on the University of Delaware alumni “Wall of Fame” (2010), “The Man, the Myth, the Materials”, a symposium in honor of Art Coury’s 70th birthday (2010), induction as an American Chemical Society Fellow (2011), recipient of the Society for Biomaterials Founders’ Award (2012) and its C. William Hall Award (2013) of the AIMBE Pierre Galletti Award, the University of Minnesota Outstanding Alumni Award (2013), appointment as Honorary Professor, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China (2013) and Hebei University, Tianjin, China (2019), University Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University (2014), and recognition with the Directors’ Award of the Harvard/MIT Joint Program in Health Sciences and Technology (2016). A joint U.S/Japan Society for Biomaterials Symposium was held to honor 2 American and 2 Japanese Biomaterials Leaders in Hawaii (January 2022), with Art being an Honoree. In April, 2023, Art received the Society for Biomaterials Service Award and the American Chemical Society Division of Rubber Chemistry Bioelastomer Award.

Ravi Kumar
(University of Alabama, USA)

Ravi Kumar is a Distinguished University Research Professor and Founding Director, Convergent Bioscience and Medicine (CCBM), at the University of Alabama. His research focuses on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to reposition existing drugs, as well as minimize drug attrition rates. He co-founded Peroral Biosciences Inc., to develop and commercialize next generation of peroral dosage forms of poorly bioavailable peptides, proteins, and other small molecules. He is elected a Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (NAI) [2023]; Corresponding Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) [2023]; Foreign Member, The French National Academy of Pharmacy [2022]; Foreign Member, Academia Europaea (AE) [2021]; Foreign Fellow, European Academy of Sciences (EurASc) [2020]. He is also an elected fellow of AIMBE, CRS, AAPS, and AAAS.

Nicholas Peppas
(University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Professor Nicholas A. Peppas is a chemical engineer, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist whose research contributions, innovations, inventions have led to 20 chemical/medical/pharmaceutical products.
Peppas is an elected member of the US-National Academy of Engineering, US- National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academy of Inventors, Academia Europaea, Canadian Engineering Academy, Indian National Engineering Academy, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Korean Academy of Science Technology, National Academy of France, Royal Academy of Spain, Academy of Athens, Greece, Academy of Romanian Scientists, and Academy of Texas. He has served as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Geneva, Paris-Sud, Santiago de Compostela. Madrid, Lisbon, Parma, Pavia, Napoli, Hecettepe/Ankara, Athens, Berlin, Hebrew University/Jerusalem, Hoshi University/Tokyo, Nanyang University/Singapore, Sichuan University, Peking Medical College. Peppas is a distinguished professor in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics, Surgery and Pharmacy, and a member of the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His group has set the fundamentals of flow and transport phenomena in numerous medical problems, based on the principles of Engineering Science. He has numerous books, 1,800 publications and is cited in more than 193,000 references (H=202). Honored by 170 Awards including NAE Founders Award, NAM Adam Yarmolinsky, Pharmaceutical Global Leader Award, and the Biomaterials Global Impact Awards. Peppas holds a D.Eng. from NTU Athens, a ScD. from MIT and is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and professorships from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Israel and China. Editor of Regenerative Biomaterials (Oxford) and President on the International Sigma Xi organization. He actively works to diversify program interests, take an active role towards increasing the number of young members, and actively promote the election and participation of a diverse and inclusive group of scientists.

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).

Dietmar Hutmacher
(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.

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).

Junmin Lee
(POSTECH, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Junmin Lee is currently an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at The Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Lee worked with Dr. Ali Khademhosseini as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Los-Angeles (UCLA) as well as Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation. He received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the supervision of Dr. Kristopher A. Kilian. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on developing engineering approaches to solve biological problems related to healthcare engineering. To address limitations of existing biomedical strategies including lack of suitable materials with high levels of complexities/dynamics in the body, our lab focuses on developing/designing smart biomaterial systems for potential applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Furthermore, Dr. Lee’s lab tries to understand human body/tissue systems as well as biomaterial-cell interfaces for smart healthcare engineering. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed journal papers. His papers have been cited ~4,800 times in total (H-index: 41) and have been highlighted in many newspapers.

Antonios Mikos
(Rice University, USA)

Antonios G. Mikos is the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. His research focuses on the synthesis, processing, and evaluation of new biomaterials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, as carriers for controlled drug delivery, as non-viral vectors for gene therapy, and as platforms for disease modeling. His work has led to the development of novel orthopaedic, dental, cardiovascular, neurologic, and ophthalmologic biomaterials. He is the author of over 700 publications and the inventor of 32 patents. Mikos is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Academia Europaea, and the Academy of Athens. He has been recognized by various awards including the Jensen Tissue Engineering Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Global, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas, the Founders Award of the Society For Biomaterials, the Founders Award of the Controlled Release Society, the Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal, the Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecturer Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research of the Orthopaedic Research Society. He is a Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Tissue Engineering.

Ali Khademhosseini
(Terasaki Institute, USA)

Ali Khademhosseini is currently the CEO and Founding Director at the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation. Previously, he was a Professor of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering and Radiology at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). He joined UCLA as the Levi Knight Chair in November 2017 from Harvard University where he was Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and faculty at the Harvard-MIT’s Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and as well as associate faculty at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. At Harvard University, he directed the Biomaterials Innovation Research Center (BIRC) a leading initiative in making engineered biomedical materials. Dr. Khademhosseini has served as an Associate Editor for ACS Nano from 2013 to 2021. He also served as the Research Highlights editor for Lab on a Chip. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE), Materials Research Society (MRS), NANOSMAT Society, and American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is also the recipient of the Mustafa Prize and is a member of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering, Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Inventors. He is an author on >700 peer-reviewed journal articles, editorials and review papers, >70 book chapters/edited books and >50 patents/patent applications. He has been cited >114,400 times and has an H-index of 174. He has made seminal contributions to modifying hydrogels and developing novel biomaterial solutions for addressing pressing problems in healthcare. He has founded 3 companies, Obsidio Medical which was recently acquired by Boston Scientific, Omeat and BioRAE. He received his Ph.D. in bioengineering from MIT (2005), and MASc (2001) and BASc (1999) degrees from University of Toronto both in chemical engineering.

Li Tang
(EPFL, Switzerland)

Li Tang received his B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University, China, in 2007, and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, in 2012, under the supervision of Prof. Jianjun Cheng. He was an CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Darrell Irvine at Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 2013-2016. He joined the faculty of Institute of Bioengineering, and Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in 2016, and promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2022. His research focuses on developing multidimensional immunoengineering approaches for enhanced cancer immunotherapies. Dr. Tang is the recipient of Cancer Research Institute CLIP Award (2021), Anna Fuller Award (2021 and 2022), and named in the MIT Technology Review’s "Top 35 Innovators under Age 35" list of China region (2020), Materials Horizons Emerging Investigator (2020), Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator (2019), and the recipient of European Research Council (ERC) starting grant (2018), and Nano Research Young Innovator Award (NR 45 under 45) (2018).

Nicholas Peppas
(University of Texas at Austin, USA)

Professor Nicholas A. Peppas is a chemical engineer, materials scientist, and nanotechnologist whose research contributions, innovations, inventions have led to 20 chemical/medical/pharmaceutical products.
Peppas is an elected member of the US-National Academy of Engineering, US- National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academy of Inventors, Academia Europaea, Canadian Engineering Academy, Indian National Engineering Academy, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Korean Academy of Science Technology, National Academy of France, Royal Academy of Spain, Academy of Athens, Greece, Academy of Romanian Scientists, and Academy of Texas. He has served as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Geneva, Paris-Sud, Santiago de Compostela. Madrid, Lisbon, Parma, Pavia, Napoli, Hecettepe/Ankara, Athens, Berlin, Hebrew University/Jerusalem, Hoshi University/Tokyo, Nanyang University/Singapore, Sichuan University, Peking Medical College. Peppas is a distinguished professor in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics, Surgery and Pharmacy, and a member of the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. His group has set the fundamentals of flow and transport phenomena in numerous medical problems, based on the principles of Engineering Science. He has numerous books, 1,800 publications and is cited in more than 193,000 references (H=202). Honored by 170 Awards including NAE Founders Award, NAM Adam Yarmolinsky, Pharmaceutical Global Leader Award, and the Biomaterials Global Impact Awards. Peppas holds a D.Eng. from NTU Athens, a ScD. from MIT and is the recipient of 13 honorary doctorates and professorships from France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Israel and China. Editor of Regenerative Biomaterials (Oxford) and President on the International Sigma Xi organization. He actively works to diversify program interests, take an active role towards increasing the number of young members, and actively promote the election and participation of a diverse and inclusive group of scientists.

Yong Kiel Sung
(Dongguk University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Yong Kiel Sung is currently Honorary President, Korean Society for Biomaterials, Seoul, Korea. He is one of the pioneers in the areas of biomaterials science for hydrogels, biodegradable drug delivery systems, and stimuli sensitive polymers. He has published over 500 papers and trained over 100 scientists. He has elected as a President of the initiative for Science Promotion (ISP) in Korea.

Suong-Hyu Hyon
(BMG Inc., Japan)

Kyoto University PhD(engineering) attained in 1978, became member of Japan Society for promotion of Science in 1979, became lecturer at Kyoto University, Biomedical Engineering Research Centre in 1992, became visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Biomedical Engineering Research Centre in 1995, at University of Utah in 1997, at Yonsei University (South Korea) in 1998, became Associate Professor at Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University in 1998, became Kindai University Professor (Life Science Engineering) in 2009, became visiting Professor at Pusan National University (South Korea) in 2011, Retired position at Kyoto University, Biomedical Engineering Research Centre in 2012, became appointed Professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2012 and retired the position in 2018, became visiting Professor at Kagoshima University in 2018.

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert
(University of Washington, USA)

Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, Ph.D. is the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education in the University of Washington School of Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering. She earned a S.B. in chemical engineering and biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a M.S. and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. She joined the faculty at Washington University in Biomedical Engineering in 2000 as an Assistant Professor, where she advanced to the position of the Joseph and Florence Farrow Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Vice Dean for Research in the School of Engineering. She served as Department Chair and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin from 2016- 2022.
Her research program focuses on developing biomaterials for drug delivery and cell transplantation for the treatment of peripheral nerve and spinal cord injury. She was Co-Director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine, as well as a member of the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering at Washington University. Her honors include Senior Scientist Award -TERMIS AM (2023), Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2017), Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Basic Research (2017), Outstanding Faculty Mentor from the WU Graduate Student Senate (2015), WU Distinguished Faculty Award (2013), and WU Dean’s Award for Excellence in Advising and Mentoring (2008). She was elected Fellow of the International College of Fellows in Biomaterials Science and Engineering in 2016, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2015, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) in 2013, and the and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2011.

Brian Aguado
(University of California San Diego, USA)

Dr. Brian Aguado (Twitter: @BrianAguado) is currently an Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego, where his laboratory research is focused on studying sex differences in cardiovascular disease using biomaterial technologies. Dr. Aguado completed his BS degree in Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University and his MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. He also obtained his certificate in Management for Scientists and Engineers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Aguado has received the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the American Heart Association Career Development Award, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award, and the NIH DP2 New Innovator Award to support his sex differences research. Dr. Aguado currently serves on the editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, GEN Biotechnology, and Frontiers in Bioengineering. Dr. Aguado is also a dedicated science communicator outside of the lab and enages historically excluded and marginalized populations in the sciences. Dr. Aguado co-founded LatinXinBME (Twitter: @LatinXinBME), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive community of Latinx biomedical engineers and scientists to support each other personally and professionally through their careers. For his efforts, he was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring Latinx Scientists in America by Cell Press and received the Biomaterials Diversity Award for Young Investigator from the Biomaterials journal and the GEMINI Faculty Mentor Award from the Institute for Engineering in Medicine.

Mary Beth Monroe
(Syracuse University, USA)

Dr. Mary Beth Monroe received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2013. Her dissertation research on tissue engineered vascular grafts was recognized by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Dr. Monroe conducted postdoctoral research on protein engineering for wound healing at the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, which was supported by the NIH National Research Service Postdoctoral Award. Prior to starting her current position as Assistant Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at Syracuse University, Dr. Monroe was a research scientist in the Biomedical Device Lab at Texas A&M, where she worked on shape memory polymer-based medical devices. Her current research on using smart materials to improve wound healing is supported by a talented team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers and by funding from NIH and DoD. It has been recognized by awards including the Society for Biomaterials Young Investigator Award and the Rosalind Franklin Society Special Award in Science.

Mrignayani Kotecha
(O2M Technologies, LLC, USA)

Dr. Mrignayani Kotecha is a founding member and CEO of O2M Technologies, LLC. In this role, Dr. Kotecha leads business strategy, execution, and development while maintaining the company’s unique culture of innovation in the field of EPR imaging, instrumentation, spin-probes, and its applications to biomedical problems in cancer, neurology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Beyond her administrative, scientific, and fiduciary roles, Dr. Kotecha enjoys serving as an active educator and mentor with a passion for supporting the growth of the young generation of responsible scientists and citizens. Dr. Kotecha has a Ph.D. in Physics and post-doctoral and faculty experience at leading institutions around the world spanning three continents prior to O2M. She is the lead editor of the 2017 Wiley book “Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Tissue Engineering” and a guest editor for the special issue of “Molecular Imaging and Biology” about “Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Imaging and Applications to Biomedical Sciences" which is expected to be released in April 2024. Dr. Kotecha received the 2024 C. William Hall Award from the “Society For Biomaterials.”