Atsushi Mahara
(Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Japan)

My name is Atsushi Mahara. I was born in Japan and am now a Laboratory Chief at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute. When I was in the university, my research focused on nucleic acid chemistry and photoanalytical chemistry. After that, in my professional career, I have studied and developed cardiovascular devices based on tissue engineering and imaging technology. Especially, I have been interested in the preclinical application of decellularized artificial blood vessels and supramolecular MR contrast agents. I received the Young Investigation Award from the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine and the Society for Artificial Organs. My recent hobbies are reading, listening to and playing music, and walking with my dog.

Alireza Biglarnia
(Lund University, Sweden)

Dr. Biglarnia is an adjunct lecturer at Lund University and the medical director at the Department of Transplantation at Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden. His pre-clinical and clinical research is currently focused on the role of innate immunity in the mediation of graft injury in solid organ transplantation. Beyond academia, Dr. Biglarnia is also a co-founder of a pharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics by combining engineering techniques to address injurious innate immune responses across a variety of medical conditions.

Naoki Morimoto
(Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan)

2019.5-present Professor, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University
2016.12-2019.4 Associate professor, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kansai Medical University
2011.4-2016.11　Senior Lecturer, Department of Plastic and ReconstructiveSurgery, Kansai Medical University
2005.4 Ph.D. Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine
2004.4 –2011.3 Assistant professor, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyoto University
2003.4-2004.3 Fellow, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kyoto University
2000.4-2003.3 Regular surgical staff, Kobe Municipal General Hospital
1998.3-2000.3 Fellow, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, , Kyoto University
1996.4-1998.2 Regular surgical staff, Shimane Prefectural Central Hospital
1994.12-1996.3 Resident, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shimane Prefectural Central Hospital
1993.5-1994.12 Resident, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kobe Municipal General Hospital
1993.3 Graduated from Kyoto University School of Medicine

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.

Suping Lyu
(Medtronic Inc., USA)

Scientist at Medtronic PLC since 2020, expertise in polymer materials for medical devices.

Jing Liu
(Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China)

Jing Liu, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Master Supervisor, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2017, she graduated from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Peking University; She studied in Cornell University as an exchange student during 2015-2016. She was selected in the Tianjin promotion plan "Young Science and technology outstanding talents" and Tianjin "131" innovative talent training project.
The research of cardiovascular biomaterials and the development of implant interventional medical devices is her major, including the development of transcatheter aortic valve products and polymeric tissue engineering valves. She has undertaken 14 scientific research projects, including two National Natural Science Foundation, two Tianjin Natural Science Foundation, one Tianjin Key Research and Development Plan. She published more than 20 SCI papers, including Biomaterials, Chemical Engineering Journal, Advanced Healthcare Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, etc. She was authorized five Chinese invention patents and one utility model patent. She serves as the first member of the Cardiovascular Equipment Technical Committee of the Chinese Medical Equipment Association, the external expert of the Medical Device Technical Evaluation Center of the State Food and Drug Administration. Contact me: liujing@bme.pumc.edu.cn;

Ho-Wook Jun
(University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA)

Dr. Ho-Wook Jun is a Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Jun received Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2004. From 2004-2006, he was the Peter and Ruth Nicholas Postdoctoral Fellow at the Richard Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University. Dr. Jun is a Co-Founder and a Chief Scientific Officer of Endomimetics, LLC. Dr. Jun’s research topics focus on understanding the essential principles of nanostructured biomaterials and their applications for medical devices and therapeutics. He has received numerous awards including Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA), Early Career Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, Innovation Award from the American Diabetes Association, CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship.

Ho-Wook Jun
(University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA)

Dr. Ho-Wook Jun is a Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Jun received Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2004. From 2004-2006, he was the Peter and Ruth Nicholas Postdoctoral Fellow at the Richard Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University. Dr. Jun is a Co-Founder and a Chief Scientific Officer of Endomimetics, LLC. Dr. Jun’s research topics focus on understanding the essential principles of nanostructured biomaterials and their applications for medical devices and therapeutics. He has received numerous awards including Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA), Early Career Award from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, Innovation Award from the American Diabetes Association, CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship.

Juan Melero-Martin
(Boston Children's Hospital, USA)

Dr. Melero-Martin graduated in Chemical Engineering from the University of Seville, Spain, in 1998. After working for three years in Industry, he earned a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2005. He then trained as a post-doctoral fellow in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children's Hospital. In 2008, he joined the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital to run a biomedical research laboratory. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, a principal faculty at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and the inaugural incumbent of an endowed Chair in Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Melero-Martin’s research interest is primarily centered on bioengineering blood vessels. He investigates how vascular networks are formed from stem cell differentiation and has developed novel bioengineering applications with clinical translational potential. Dr. Melero-Martin strives to investigate questions that can have a long-lasting impact on regenerative medicine. His research goals are divided into four general categories:

1. Therapeutic revascularization of ischemic tissues (i.e., vascular cell therapy).
2. Engineering organ-specific vascular niches for tissue regeneration.
3. Genetically engineering vascular networks for drug delivery.
4. Vascularization of organoid systems.

Dr. Melero-Martin’s laboratory is a reference in human progenitor and pluripotent stem cell-derived vascular cells, areas in which he has contributed multiple original papers. His group has developed novel approaches to bioengineer vascular networks and has shown that bioengineered vascular networks can be used to harness the regenerative potential of other stem cells. In addition, his group developed a model that uses genetically engineered blood vessels to achieve the controlled release of therapeutic proteins in vivo.

Dr. Melero-Martin routinely collaborates and provides expertise to other laboratories in the US and abroad. People from other groups continue to come to his laboratory to learn about stem cell-derived vascular cells and models for building blood vessels. Dr. Melero-Martin has a track record of successfully obtaining funds from multiple sources, including the NIH, the private sector, foundations, and intramural support. The NIH has continuously funded him since 2009.

Fabien Kawecki
(University of Bordeaux, Inserm BioTis U 1026, France)

Fabien Kawecki, PhD, is a young researcher working at the laboratory for Bioengineering of Tissue (BioTis) at INSERM, University of Bordeaux, France. He completed his PhD in bone tissue engineering and microvascularization from Laval University in Quebec City, Canada. After that, he worked as an industrial Post-doc at Poietis Company in Pessac, France, where he developed a valvular tissue using a multimodal 3D bioprinting system (NGB). In 2019, He joined Dr. Nicolas L’Heureux’s research group at BioTis as a Post-doc to work on an ERC-granted project aimed at developing a new generation of woven tissue-engineered vascular grafts using Cell-Assembled extracellular Matrix (CAM) material. In 2021, he started his independent research program with the goal of developing completely biological strategies for cardiovascular surgical repairs, with a focus on using CAM material in pediatric cardiovascular applications (tetralogy of Fallot and Fontan procedures) to improve patient treatments. Fabien’s expertise covers tissue engineering of various connective tissues, including blood vessels, cardiac valves, bone, and skin. Email: fabien.kawecki@inserm.fr

Akari Seiner
(Drexel University, USA)

Akari J. Seiner is a third year PhD student studying Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University in the Tissue Instructive Materials Laboratory with Dr. Christopher Rodell. Her current research interests include pediatric and cardiovascular engineering, medical device development, and biomaterials. Her research project involves the development and characterization of covalently crosslinked photoresponsive hydrogels for use in pediatric heart reconstruction surgeries for newborns with single ventricle defects.

Evan Scott
(Northwestern University, USA)

Dr. Scott is the Kay Davis Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University, where he established his research lab in 2013. He has a BS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering respectively from Brown university and Washington University in St. Louis and completed his postdoctoral work at the EPFL in Switzerland. Dr. Scott is a recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Biomedical Engineering Society Mid-Career Award, and is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). His work has generated over 80 peer reviewed publications and 21 patent applications, some of which are the basis of his startup company SNC Therapeutics, where he serves as both the founder and CEO.

Yufeng Zheng
(Peking University, China)

Dr. Yufeng Zheng, received his Ph.D in materials science from Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 1998. From 1998 to 2004, he was Assistant Professor (1998-2000), Associate Professor (2000-2003), Full Professor (2003-2004) at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. He has been a full professor at the Peking University in Beijing, China since 2004, and Distinguished Professor at Kumamoto University, Japan since 2017. Dr. Zheng has authored or co-authored over 700 scientific peer-reviewed articles, with the citation of over 40000 times, and a H-index of 100. Currently he serves as Editor-in-Chief of “Bioactive Materials”, Vice Editor-in-Chief of “Journal of Materials Science & Technology”, Editor of “Materials Letters”. His areas of special interest include the development of new metallic biomaterials and their medical devices (biodegradable Mg, Fe and Zn based alloys, beta-Ti alloys with low elastic modulus, bulk metallic glass, ultra-fine grained metallic materials, etc). Dr. Zheng is the Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

Jian Yang
(Westlake University, China)

Dr. Jian Yang is currently a Chair Professor in Biomaterials and Regenerative Engineering, the chair of Biomedical Engineering Program, and an Associate Vice President at the Westlake University. Prior to Westlake, he was a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Yang is known for his pioneering contribution on citrate chemistry and biology for the development and applications of citrate-based biomaterials. He was a recipient of NSF CAREER Award (2010), Outstanding Young Engineering Faculty Award at UTA (2011), PSEAS Outstanding Research Award at Penn State (2018), and BMES Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation Award (2023). Dr. Yang is an elected Fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, 2016), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI, 2018), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES, 2020), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2021), and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE, 2023). Dr. Yang is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of “Bioactive Materials”, and an Associate Editor of “Science Advances”. Dr. Yang is a co-founder and the Past-President of Chinese Association for Biomaterials (CAB) and the recipient of 2023 CAB Distinguished Leadership and Service Award. Dr. Yang co-founded a medical device company, Aleo BME, Inc. and is also serving on the Scientific Advisory Board of Acuitive Technologies, LLC.

Yi Hong
(University of Texas at Arlington, USA)

Dr. Yi Hong is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). He achieved his PhD in Material Science and Engineering in 2005 at Zhejiang University. Before joining the UTA in 2012, Dr. Hong worked as a postdoc and later as a Research Assistant Professor in the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine in the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on developing functional and bioactive soft biomaterials and translational research for tissue repair and regeneration applications, especially for cardiovascular disease treatment, and women and children healthcare. He has published over 100 peer-review papers in the field of biomaterials and applied/issued 12 patents as well as over 160 conference abstracts. He received many awards, such as AHA Beginning Grant-in-Aid award (2014), NSF CAREER award (2016), College of Engineering Outstanding Early Career Award (2018), Junior Investigator Award from BMES ABioM-SIG (2018), CAB Mid-CAREER Award (2020), College of Engineering Excellence in Research Award (2020), University’s Outstanding Research Award (2021), and recent AHA Established Investigator Award (2022). He was elected as a Fellow of American Heart Association (AHA), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), and Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and a Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors.

Patricia Holt-Torres
(University of California, Riverside, USA)

I received a BA and MS in Biology at California State University, San Bernardino. Currently, I am a Ph.D. Candidate in the Microbiology Program at the University of California, Riverside in the Huinan Liu laboratory, where I am focused on identifying antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of bioresorbable nanoparticles.

Riccardo Levato
(University Utrecht, Department of Biofabrication and Regenerative Medicine, 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.

Jos Olijve
(Rousselot Biomedical, Netherlands)

Scientific Support Manager at Rousselot Biomedical and among others responsible for biomedical co-developments with academia, CRO’s, Institutes and customers. Involved in product developments and creating background knowledge in particular determining the relationship between physical, chemical and purity properties of gelatin and different biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
Also employed at FujiFilm, responsible for the development of photographic gelatins and besides this also involved in the development of recombinant gelatin and gelatin based peptides for both photographic and biomedical applications.
Holder of 16 patents/patent applications, and (co-)author of 16 scientific papers.
Holds a biochemical degree.

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.

Juyoung Park
(BioBricks, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Ju Young Park completed her Ph.D. in the Division of Integrative Biosciences & Biotechnology (IBB) at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 2016. Following her doctoral studies, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at POSTECH from 2016 to 2019 and then pursued further research training as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Biologically Inspired Engineering Systems Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania from 2019 to 2022.
Dr. Park has made significant contributions to her field, publishing over 30 peer-reviewed papers in prestigious journals within the domains of bioprinting and tissue engineering. Presently, she holds the position of Research Director at Biobricks, a startup company dedicated to tissue engineering utilizing decellularized extracellular matrix materials and 3D bioprinting technologies. In addition to her role at Biobricks, she also serves as a Research Professor in the Department of IT Convergence Engineering at POSTECH.
Her research interests are centered around pioneering innovative therapeutic solutions for transplantation within the human body, leveraging stem cells and tissue-derived natural biomaterials, as well as cutting-edge 3D bioprinting technology.

Jos Olijve
(Rousselot Biomedical, Netherlands)

Scientific Support Manager at Rousselot Biomedical and among others responsible for biomedical co-developments with academia, CRO’s, Institutes and customers. Involved in product developments and creating background knowledge in particular determining the relationship between physical, chemical and purity properties of gelatin and different biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
Also employed at FujiFilm, responsible for the development of photographic gelatins and besides this also involved in the development of recombinant gelatin and gelatin based peptides for both photographic and biomedical applications.
Holder of 16 patents/patent applications, and (co-)author of 16 scientific papers.
Holds a biochemical degree.

NURUL AIDA NGAH
(Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia)

I am a Malaysian Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and craniofacial biomaterial researcher from the Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Kyu Sang Joeng
(McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA)

Dr. Joeng has been an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania since 2018. Before Penn, he received his bachelor's in Biology from Yonsei University in 2000 and worked two more years at Yonsei University for a Master's Degree. He worked with Dr. Fanxin Long for his Ph.D. at Washington University in Saint Louis and joined Dr. Brendan Lee's lab for his postdoctoral training. The overall goal of his research program is to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of musculoskeletal disorders, particularly related to the joint, such as osteoarthritis and tendon/ligament disorders.

Jung-Taek Hwang
(Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Cuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University Medical College, Korea, Republic of)

I am a specialist in shoulder and elbow Surgery, sports medicine, and arthroscopy. And I am interested in musculoskeletal biomechanics, regenerative medicine, and postoperatiove pain control.

Alicia El Haj
(University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/chemical-engineering/el-haj-alicia.aspx

Mohd Fauzi MH Busra
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia)

The enthusiasm for fabrication and 3D design of natural sources biomaterials, composites and hybrid bioscaffolds to mimic as much as possible its native tissue scaffold is core-business in my field of tissue engineering and regenerative research. Intervention of plant polyphenol from flavonoid for natural biomaterials that function as crosslinker. The introduction of various plant-based crosslinkers to enhance the strength and reduce the cytotoxic effect prior to cell seeding at later stage.

Molly Stevens
(Imperial College London, United Kingdom)

Prof Molly Stevens FREng FRS is John Black Professor of Bionanoscience at the University of Oxford and also holds part-time professorships at Imperial College London and the Karolinska Institute.
She graduated with a First-Class Honours BPharm degree from Bath University in 1995 and a PhD from the University of Nottingham in 2001. After postdoctoral research in the Langer Lab at MIT, she joined Imperial College London in 2004 as a lecturer and was promoted to Professor in 2008 as one of the youngest Professors ever in the history of the institution.
Molly’s multidisciplinary research balances the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technology to address some of the major healthcare challenges. She is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several companies in the diagnostics, advanced therapeutics and regenerative medicine space. Her work has been instrumental in elucidating the bio-material interfaces. She has created a broad portfolio of designer biomaterials for applications in disease diagnostics and regenerative medicine. Her substantial body of work influences research groups around the world (>430 publications, h-index 104, >44k citations, 2018, 2021 and 2022 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-Field research).
Molly holds numerous leadership positions including Director of the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform "Smart Acellular Materials" Hub, Deputy Director of the EPSRC IRC in Early-Warning Sensing Systems for Infectious Diseases and Scientist Trustee of the National Gallery. She is Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA) and International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Mohd Fauzi MH Busra
(Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia)

The enthusiasm for fabrication and 3D design of natural sources biomaterials, composites and hybrid bioscaffolds to mimic as much as possible its native tissue scaffold is core-business in my field of tissue engineering and regenerative research. Intervention of plant polyphenol from flavonoid for natural biomaterials that function as crosslinker. The introduction of various plant-based crosslinkers to enhance the strength and reduce the cytotoxic effect prior to cell seeding at later stage.

Stuart Goodman
(Stanford University, USA)

Stuart B. Goodman MD MSc PhD FRCSC FACS FBSE FIOR FORS
Stuart B. Goodman is the Robert L. and Mary Ellenburg Professor of Surgery, and Professor with Tenure in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University. He has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Bioengineering, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, Engineering and Medicine for Human Health (ChEM-H). He was Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1994-2002.

Dr. Goodman received his BSc, MD, and MSc from the University of Toronto, and his PhD from Lund University. Dr. Goodman's clinical practice concentrates on adult reconstructive surgery. His clinical research interests center on outcomes of joint replacements, juvenile arthritis, and osteonecrosis. His basic science interests include implant biocompatibility, inflammation, osteonecrosis, and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration and repair.

Dr. Goodman is former Chairman of the AAOS Biological Implants Committee, and former member of the AAOS Biomedical Engineering Committee. He is a member of the American, European, and International Hip Societies, Knee Society, AAHKS, and ARCO, a consultant to the FDA, and former vice-chairman of the Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering study section at NIH. He was the President of the Society For Biomaterials (2001-2) and served on the Board of Directors of the Orthopaedic Research Society. Dr. Goodman is on the editorial board of numerous medical and bioengineering journals. Dr. Goodman has published over 600 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Goodman and co-workers have received numerous awards including the Clemson Award for Basic Research from the Society For Biomaterials in May 2000 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons.

Ching-Chang Ko
(Ohio State University, USA)

I am a dual trained clinician scientist. My job functions include teaching, research, and patient care. For the past 25 years, I have applied the fields of bioengineering in studying bone remodeling, bone marrow stromal cells, and medical artificial intelligence and utilized this combined knowledge to approach clinical problems, including biomaterials, bone reparation, bone disorders, and tooth movement. I have published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles. My laboratory has continually developed new biomaterials and factors that regulate bone remodeling. I have pioneered the synthetic process of hydroxyapatite-gelatin nanocomposites. I was previously funded by NIDCR (K08, R21, R43, R44, R01) to study bone regeneration using polydopamine-laced hydroxyapatite-gelatin scaffolds and to investigate mechanisms for dopamine-related osteogenesis.

Do-Gyoon Kim
(Ohio State University, USA)

Dr. Do-Gyoon Kim is a full Professor at Orthodontics, College of Dentistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. He was trained in biology for undergraduate at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. After obtaining master’s degree at the same institution, he started working in industry (Daewoo Co.), Korea. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY, USA marked his next stop in his professional development in the interdisciplinary field of basic science and applied engineering. His Ph.D dissertation focused intensively in biomechanics of the bone-implant interface from the microscopic point-of-view. Since finishing his Ph.D degree of Mechanical Engineering, he served as a post-doctoral researcher in SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY and as a research scientist and instructor at Bone and Joint Center at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. After joining OSU, Dr. Kim has managed several grants including AAOF Biomedical Research Award, OSU seed grant, dental implant corporate grant, NSF and NIH grants. Based on these supports, he has published more than 100 full papers.

Hiroshi Kamioka
(Okayama University, Japan)

1993-1999
Assistant Professor in Dept. of Orthodontics, Tokushima University Dental School
(1995-1998)
Post-doctoral fellow in Dept. of Anatomy, Indiana University Medical School in USA
1999-2005
Lecturer in Dept. of Orthodontics, Okayama University Hospital
2005-2014
Associate Professor in Dept. of Orthodontics, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University.
2014-present
Professor in Dept. of Orthodontics, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University.
2015-present
Director in Okayama University Hospital Advanced Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate Treatment Center
2021-present
Vice Director in Okayama University Hospital

Jung Suk Han
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Han is currently an Emeritus Professor in Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Seoul National University. He graduated from School of Dentistry, Seoul National University 1983 and received MS degree in Prosthodontics from University of Michigan 1989. He served as a president of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics and Korean Academy of Digital Dentistry. He served as a dean for 4 years in School of Dentistry, Seoul National University. He is an immediate past co-president of International College of Prosthodontist (ICP) and a president of International Academy of Digital Dental Medicine(IADDM). He is a member of American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics and former board member of American Equilibration Society.

Ching-Chang Ko
(The Ohio State University, USA)

I am a dual trained clinician scientist. My job functions include teaching, research, and patient care. For the past 25 years, I have applied the fields of bioengineering in studying bone remodeling, bone marrow stromal cells, and medical artificial intelligence and utilized this combined knowledge to approach clinical problems, including biomaterials, bone reparation, bone disorders, and tooth movement. I have published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles. My laboratory has continually developed new biomaterials and factors that regulate bone remodeling. I have pioneered the synthetic process of hydroxyapatite-gelatin nanocomposites. I was previously funded by NIDCR (K08, R21, R43, R44, R01) to study bone regeneration using polydopamine-laced hydroxyapatite-gelatin scaffolds and to investigate mechanisms for dopamine-related osteogenesis.

Takuya Matsumoto
(Okayama University, Japan)

Prof. Matsumoto graduated from Faculty of Dentistry, Osaka University and got DDS on 1997. Then he started dental biomaterials research and got PhD on 2002 from Osaka University. He is known as one of the leading designers of new dental-related biomaterials. His research approach is studying the hard tissue development with materials science perspective, and designing new materials based on the newly acquired understandings. Consequently, he has reported a three-dimensional in vitro model system that reproduce bone development from cell aggregates, developed technology for early bone regeneration/reconstruction, and has developed solid adhesives that has never existed before. Relating to these works, he has so far published more than 100 original papers (H index = 39) and submitted more than 15 patents relating to this field. He has received many important awards including Society Award and Young Investigator Award of Japanese Society for Biomaterials and Japanese Society for Dental Materials and Devices. Based on these achievements, he is currently active as a leader in Dental biomaterials, including executive director of the Japanese Society for Biomaterials and the Japanese Society for Dental Science and Technology, and director of the Japanese Association for Dental Research.

Jun-Beom Park
(The Catholic University of Korea, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Jun-Beom Park was born in 1973 in Republic of Korea, where he obtained his degrees at Seoul National University (B.S., M.S. and Ph.D.). In 2008, he joined the Dr. Victor C. Yang's Lab at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI, USA). He continued his postdoctoral fellowship at Seoul National University (Seoul, Korea). He continued his career at The Catholic University of Korea and he is working as a Full Professor at Department of Periodontics, Seoul St Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea. His main interests are the stem cell research, tissue engineering, dental implants and periodontitis.
Dr. Park is the member of the Korean Academy of Periodontology and he served as a Director of Publishing at the Korean Academy of Periodontology. He is currently working as an Associate Editor for Journal of Periodontal & Implant Science and an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports.
He has authored nine book chapters and he has published more than 100 original research papers. His papers were cited > 3,500 times. His major scientific contribution has been to enhance the bone regeneration using stem cells and growth factors, as well as to optimize the treatment of peri-implantitis.

Toru Deguchi
(University of Louisville, USA)

Dr. Toru Deguchi is a Professor and Chair of Department of Rehabilitative and Reconstructive Dentistry (Orthodontics and Prosthodontics) at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. He completed his dental training at the Aichi-Gakuin University and received PhD at the Okayama University. He also had his orthodontic training at the Indiana University. He has been focusing his clinical interests in the field of temporary anchorage device (TADs), lingual orthodontics, and interdisciplinary cases. He has been also engaged in the research field such as histomorphometric studies related to tooth movement and pain related studies. Dr. Deguchi is a Diplomate of American Board of Orthodontics and a member of the Midwest Angle Society. Dr. Deguchi has lectured as invited speaker at the European Orthodontic Society, American Association of Orthodontics and in other international meetings all around the world.

Christine Hong
(UCSF, USA)

Christine Hong, D.M.D, M.S. is a Professor at the UCSF School of Dentistry. She currently serves as Interim Chair of the Division of Orthodontics and Program Director of Post-doctoral Orthodontic Residency at the UCSF School of Dentistry. Dr. Hong completed her dental education from the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and obtained her Orthodontics training at UCLA with a Certificate of Orthodontics and a Master's degree  in  Oral  Biology.  Dr. Hong is extensively involved in basic, translational, and clinical research and has received numerous awards from the AAOF, Cleft Palate Foundation, and NIH. Her research interests include epigenetics, stem cell fate determination, TMJ development, craniofacial regeneration, biomaterials for craniofacial tissues, and dental sleep medicine.

Josephine Wong
(Collagen Solutions, United Kingdom)

Senior Scientist at Collagen Solutions and have worked on projects including as part of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and various internal and CDMO projects since joining in 2017. Collagen Solutions is a medical grade collagen material supplier and contract manufacturer.
My background is in Tissue Engineering and 3D tissue modelling based on type I collagen. I am particularly interested in researching the various techniques available to engineer and process collagen-based scaffolds for a clinically relevant material, and to assist in product development through scale-up. I currently work on the development of decellularised tissues for various potential applications.

Jinhui Huang
(Kunming Medical University, China)

PhD of Engineering, lecturer, master supervisor, Kunming Medical University. Selected as a young member of the Special Committee of Dentasl Materials of the Chinese Stomatological Association and the Xingdian Talent Program of Yunnan Province. Mainly engaged in soft and hard tissue regeneration for materialsoral and maxillofacial.Presided over 1 Fund project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, pesided over 4 provincial and and other projects, and published 15 relevant academic papers.

James Tsoi
(Hong Kong University, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Prof James Tsoi is an Associate Professor in Dental Materials Science and Assistant Dean (Innovation) at HKU Faculty of Dentistry. He received BSc in Applied and Analytical Chemistry and PhD in Dental Materials Science, from the University of Hong Kong. He also holds the Memberships of Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and British Computer Society (MBCS), and Fellow in Advanced HE (FHEA). James is actively engaged in a number of research areas including: Dental materials science (mechanical behaviours, surface/bonding and ceramics), smart manufacturing (CAD/CAM and 3D printing), digital dentistry (AI and data science) and dental education (basic science and e-learning). He has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, published and granted 10 patents, graduated 36 MSc and 11 PhDs, and been awarded 8 times in international conferences since he joined HKU Dentistry as a faculty member in 2012. He is currently serving several SCI journals’ editorial board (including Dental Materials), being President-elect in IADR-Dental Materials Group, Member-at-large in the Academy of Dental Materials, and Hong Kong head-of-delegate in ISO/TC 106 (Dentistry).

Seung Han Oh
(Wonkwang University, Korea, Republic of)

Seung Han Oh is a professor at the Department of Dental Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, Wonkwang University. His research focuses on developing new surface treatment technologies for dental/medical implants that exhibit excellent antibacterial activity and osseointegration with the help of different wavelengths of light.

James Tsoi
(Hong Kong University, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Prof James Tsoi is an Associate Professor in Dental Materials Science and Assistant Dean (Innovation) at HKU Faculty of Dentistry. He received BSc in Applied and Analytical Chemistry and PhD in Dental Materials Science, from the University of Hong Kong. He also holds the Memberships of Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and British Computer Society (MBCS), and Fellow in Advanced HE (FHEA). James is actively engaged in a number of research areas including: Dental materials science (mechanical behaviours, surface/bonding and ceramics), smart manufacturing (CAD/CAM and 3D printing), digital dentistry (AI and data science) and dental education (basic science and e-learning). He has authored more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, published and granted 10 patents, graduated 36 MSc and 11 PhDs, and been awarded 8 times in international conferences since he joined HKU Dentistry as a faculty member in 2012. He is currently serving several SCI journals’ editorial board (including Dental Materials), being President-elect in IADR-Dental Materials Group, Member-at-large in the Academy of Dental Materials, and Hong Kong head-of-delegate in ISO/TC 106 (Dentistry).

Utkarsh Mangal
(Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Utkarsh Mangal is an Assistant Research Professor at the Institute of Craniofacial Deformity, Department of Orthodontics, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea. He has a B.D.S. and M.D.S. (Orthodontics) from Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, India, and a Ph.D. (Dentistry) from Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea. His research interests include dental biomaterials, microbial interaction, human microbiome, artificial intelligence, and craniofacial deformity. He was Marshalls' award finalist at the Academy of Dental Materials annual conference in 2023. He has published several papers in reputed journals and participated in various research projects funded by the Korean government and industry. He is the principal investigator for the project studying functionally customizable dental polymers with nanozyme application.

Siwei Li
(VSS Academy Training and Education Ltd, Imperial College London, United Kingdom)

Dr Siwei Li is experienced in research, public health, and business management. He currently holds a dual role at VSS Academy Training and Education Ltd. As the operations manager, Siwei oversees all aspects involved in the delivery of NHS England contracts, including new contract acquisition, finance, health and safety, inventory and premises, human resources, staff training and compliance. In his capacity as the head of research, Siwei established the R&D arm at VSS and led translational research efforts in the fields of implants, materials, and cell biology.

Siwei holds a bachelor's degree in Medical Engineering and an MSc in Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine. After completing his PhD in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Siwei joined Prof. Julian Jones’ Biomaterial Group as a post-doctoral research associate. Subsequently, he continued to develop his business and management skills at VSS.

Xinquan Jiang
(College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)

Prof. Xinquan Jiang is now served as dean of faculty of dentistry, executive dean of college of stomatology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, academic leader of the department of prosthodontics, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, director of Shanghai Engineering and Research Center for Advanced Dental Technology and Materials and deputy director of National Center for Stomatology, executive vice-director of National Center for Stomatology, director of Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology. Currently, he is also a distinguished professor at Shanghai Jiao tong University and an honorary professor at the University of Sydney (Faculty of Engineering and IT). He serves as president of ICP (International College of Prosthodontists) and fellow of ICD (international college of dentistry), vice president of Chinese Stomatological Association Council, vice president of Chinese Prosthodontic Society, councilor of Chinese Society for Biomaterials Council, and councilor of Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering. Jiang was also invited as a member of the 8th subject consultative group, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, and the editorial member of 5 International Journals.
Prof. Jiang’s research focuses on prosthodontics and regenerative medicine, particularly bone regeneration and oral function restoration, with tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies. He serves as the PI or Co-PI for more than 28 national or international grants and carries out clinical trials on evidence-based principles. He has 138 publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Advanced Materials, Advanced Science, Biomaterials, Journal of Dental Research, etc. He was invited for keynotes or invited lectures in national or international important meetings more than 20 times. He was involved in compiling 10 national planned teaching materials for the universities.
He won the prestigious IADR/Unilever Hatton Award in 2005 and was awarded by many national-level programs. He has long been engaged in teaching, guiding students to win awards, including the first International College of Prosthodontics "Research Assistance Programme" (ICP Research Grant Program, RGP) in 2016, the first prize of the Authur R Frechette 2016 new investigator award in the Prosthodontics Division and the Young investigator prize in the Oral Implantology Division, National Natural Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scholars, the Meiji Dairy Life Science Award, Young Ph.D. scholarship of Education Ministry, Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST, Shanghai Rising-star Program, and Sailing Program, etc.

Hala Zreiqat
(Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Unit, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University of Sydney, Australia)

Hala Zreiqat, is a Payne-Scott Professor of biomedical engineering at The University of Sydney. The focus of her lab is on engineering functional synthetic biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine using cutting-edge materials, biological and nano techniques, and novel 3D-printing technologies.

Prof. Zreiqat’s contribution to regenerative medicine and orthopaedic research has led to a number of national and international awards, including being named a Member of the Order of Australia (2019), 2021-2022 Fulbright Senior Scholar; Laureate for the TAKREEM Foundation 2022 “Scientific & Technological Achievement”; the 2018 New South Wales Premier’s Woman of the Year, the King Abdullah II Order of Distinction of the Second Class (2018), Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University (2016-2017); Eureka Prize winner for Innovative Use of Technology (2019); and University of Sydney Payne-Scott Professorial Distinction (2019). She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences (2021); the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering (2020), the International Association of Advanced Materials (2022), the Royal Society of New South Wales (2019); Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2019), and the International Orthopaedic Research Society (2019). She is the past president of the Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society. She was the Director of the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Innovative BioEngineering (2017-2022) and a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow (2006-2020). She is the Chair of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) (2020-2023); an Associate of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and an Honorary Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Prof. Zreiqat has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications with over 10,000 citations. Her research in the field of musculoskeletal disorders and biomaterials research has led to four awarded and four provisional patents and more than $20.5M in competitive funding, including major grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council and the New South Wales Medical Devices Fund.
As well as her pioneering work in biomaterials development, Prof. Zreiqat is committed to improving opportunities for women and young scientists around the world. She is the founder and Chair of the BIOTech Futures, a science and engineering mentorship program for high school students.

Xinquan Jiang
(College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)

Prof. Xinquan Jiang is now served as dean of faculty of dentistry, executive dean of college of stomatology, Shanghai JiaoTong University, academic leader of the department of prosthodontics, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, director of Shanghai Engineering and Research Center for Advanced Dental Technology and Materials and deputy director of National Center for Stomatology, executive vice-director of National Center for Stomatology, director of Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology. Currently, he is also a distinguished professor at Shanghai Jiao tong University and an honorary professor at the University of Sydney (Faculty of Engineering and IT). He serves as president of ICP (International College of Prosthodontists) and fellow of ICD (international college of dentistry), vice president of Chinese Stomatological Association Council, vice president of Chinese Prosthodontic Society, councilor of Chinese Society for Biomaterials Council, and councilor of Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering. Jiang was also invited as a member of the 8th subject consultative group, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, and the editorial member of 5 International Journals.
Prof. Jiang’s research focuses on prosthodontics and regenerative medicine, particularly bone regeneration and oral function restoration, with tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies. He serves as the PI or Co-PI for more than 28 national or international grants and carries out clinical trials on evidence-based principles. He has 138 publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Advanced Materials, Advanced Science, Biomaterials, Journal of Dental Research, etc. He was invited for keynotes or invited lectures in national or international important meetings more than 20 times. He was involved in compiling 10 national planned teaching materials for the universities.
He won the prestigious IADR/Unilever Hatton Award in 2005 and was awarded by many national-level programs. He has long been engaged in teaching, guiding students to win awards, including the first International College of Prosthodontics "Research Assistance Programme" (ICP Research Grant Program, RGP) in 2016, the first prize of the Authur R Frechette 2016 new investigator award in the Prosthodontics Division and the Young investigator prize in the Oral Implantology Division, National Natural Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scholars, the Meiji Dairy Life Science Award, Young Ph.D. scholarship of Education Ministry, Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST, Shanghai Rising-star Program, and Sailing Program, etc.

Hala Zreiqat
(Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Unit, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University of Sydney, Australia)

Hala Zreiqat, is a Payne-Scott Professor of biomedical engineering at The University of Sydney. The focus of her lab is on engineering functional synthetic biomaterials for use in regenerative medicine using cutting-edge materials, biological and nano techniques, and novel 3D-printing technologies.

Prof. Zreiqat’s contribution to regenerative medicine and orthopaedic research has led to a number of national and international awards, including being named a Member of the Order of Australia (2019), 2021-2022 Fulbright Senior Scholar; Laureate for the TAKREEM Foundation 2022 “Scientific & Technological Achievement”; the 2018 New South Wales Premier’s Woman of the Year, the King Abdullah II Order of Distinction of the Second Class (2018), Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University (2016-2017); Eureka Prize winner for Innovative Use of Technology (2019); and University of Sydney Payne-Scott Professorial Distinction (2019). She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences (2021); the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering (2020), the International Association of Advanced Materials (2022), the Royal Society of New South Wales (2019); Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2019), and the International Orthopaedic Research Society (2019). She is the past president of the Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society. She was the Director of the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Innovative BioEngineering (2017-2022) and a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow (2006-2020). She is the Chair of the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR) (2020-2023); an Associate of the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and an Honorary Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Prof. Zreiqat has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications with over 10,000 citations. Her research in the field of musculoskeletal disorders and biomaterials research has led to four awarded and four provisional patents and more than $20.5M in competitive funding, including major grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Research Council and the New South Wales Medical Devices Fund.
As well as her pioneering work in biomaterials development, Prof. Zreiqat is committed to improving opportunities for women and young scientists around the world. She is the founder and Chair of the BIOTech Futures, a science and engineering mentorship program for high school students.

Azam Ali
(University, New Zealand)

Professor Azam Ali, an internationally recognised biomaterial scientist, has strong research and teaching expertise in biomaterials and biomedical engineering. He obtained his PhD in biomaterials and bioengineering (2000) from USM. He worked at the Crown Research Institute (AgResearch, the largest New Zealand Govt. Research Organisation) as a senior scientist and research leader (2003-2013). He joined the University of Otago (UoO) in 2013 as associate professor and director of the Centre for Bioengineering and Nanomedicine (Dunedin Hub), at the Faculty of Dentistry, Division of Health Sciences. He has secured many national/International grants, worth NZ$12.5 million for 20+ projects. He has been leading (director) the bioengineering academic program at UoO, since 2014. He has published over 138 refereed articles, holds 24 Patents (21 granted as full patents), invented 6 medical devices (commercialising over 23 countries worldwide), 10+ Book chapters. He served as editor-in-chief (J. Mat Sci. & Eng.), and editorial board member of Bioactive Materials.

Maud Viallon
(Laval University, Canada)

Postdoctoral fellow in Biomaterials, my domain of expertise is in natural polymer-based hydrogels for biomedical applications. I earned a Master degree in polymer physico-chemistry in 2012 and a PhD in micro- nano-technologies and sensors in 2017. After that I undertook exploring the beautiful world of naturals polymers, and their applications in biomedicine especially regenerative medicine. My current research is focused on tuning properties of gels mainly from natural origin for new therapies for buccal diseases treatment/management. Passionate of cooking, nature, gardening and travelling, I like to express my creativity and discover new cultures (history, food...), ways of life and landscapes.

Sandra Van Vlierberghe
(Ghent University, Belgium)

Sandra Van Vlierberghe (10-07-1981) was granted a full-time professorship at UGent since October 1st, 2017. Her research targets to establish at UGent, “a polymer-based technological platform covering processing and functionalization aspects sufficiently versatile to potentially address a wide range of tissue engineering (TE) challenges by exploiting the unique properties of light.” Indeed, her research focusses on the development of photo-crosslinkable (bio)polymers and their processing capabilities using 3D printing techniques. She has acquired expertise related to the synthesis, the modification and the processing (through extrusion-based 3D printing, electrospinning and light-based 3D-printing (two-photon polymerization (2PP), digital light projection (DLP) and volumetric printing) of a variety of (bio)polymers including thermoplasts (e.g. polyesters) and hydrogels (e.g. proteins and polysaccharides) in the field of regenerative medicine during the past 15 years. She graduated as a Master in Chemistry with high distinction with majors in Polymer Chemistry in 2003 and received her PhD in Sciences in 2008, both at Ghent University. She authored more than 235 Web of Science Core Collection cited papers of which 195 high impact journal papers (one with an impact factor of 42.846) and 16 full papers in international conference proceedings. In addition, she also authored more than 200 conference abstracts. She has a h-index of 44 (WoS) and is promoter of 23 PhD’s (in addition to 15 defended PhD’s), she edited three books, authored 7 chapters in books of which 5 invited and was invited speaker at > 15 international conferences and keynote as well as plenary speaker at 15 international conferences. She is treasurer of the Belgian Polymer Group (BPG), she was spokesperson of the YSF which is affiliated to the ESB and she is secretary of the Belgian Society for Tissue Engineering (BSTE). She is TERMIS-EU council member since 2019 and ESB council member since 2021. She is also founding board member of GATE (Ghent Alliance for Advanced Therapies and Tissue Engineering). Since 2020, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Fernand Lazard Foundation. Sandra is also editorial board member of the Biomaterials Network, associate editor of Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine and of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (editor-in-chief of Biofabrication section), academic guest editor of Materials, editorial advisory board member of Hydrogels and editorial board member of Biomedical Materials, Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology and Journal of Applied Biomaterials and Functional Materials. She has also been active in project reviewing and as panel member (e.g. 3 x panel member of ERC StG). In 2017, she received the Jean Leray Award from the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB). This award is established to recognize outstanding research in the field of biomaterials by scientists not older than 40 years. In 2020 and 2021, she also served on the Independent Awards Committee of ESB. She is co-founder of spin-offs BIO INX and 4Tissue Laboratory.

Insup Noh
(Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Insup Noh is a professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a chief professor/founder of the Convergence Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials of Seoul National Univ. of Science & Technology (Korea). After both receiving his MS and Ph.D. degrees in the areas of biomaterials for tissue engineering from the Univ. of Texas at Austin (1994) and working at the California Institute of Technology(Caltech, 1995-1997) as a special graduate student under J.A. Hubbell, he had done researches with E.R. Edelman in the division of Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher for local drug delivery in cardiovascular diseases(1997-1999). Professor Insup Noh’s expertise lies in the area of functional biomaterials for bone and cartilage tissue engineering by using in situ 3D bioprining technology with diverse bioinks. He served the president of the Korean Society for Biomaterials(2020) and the editor-in-chief of Biomaterials Research (2012-2019, Springer-Nature, UK) and is the president/founder of MatrixCellBio Inc., Korea, and a IUSBSE KSBM delegate.

Jasper Van Hoorick
(BIO INX, Belgium)

Jasper Van Hoorick graduated as master in Chemistry in 2014 with a major in Molecular and Macromolecular design and a minor in Industry and Management. In his master thesis he focussed on the development of materials for tissue engineering purposes for which he received the 2014 Agoria award for technological master dissertations as part of the Vlaamse Scriptieprijs. Thanks to this award he completed an executive masterclass in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Vlerick business school in 2015. In 2015 he secured funding from the FWO (Research Foundation Flanders) for a joint PhD project between the Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Research group (PBM) at Ghent University and Brussels Photonics (B-PHOT) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. In his PhD he focussed on the development of novel biodegradable polymer materials and their processing into membranes for ocular tissue regeneration thereby taking advantage of (high resolution) additive manufacturing using laser based multiphoton lithography 3D printing (2PP). He co-authored over 30 Web of Science Core Collection cited papers, 1 book chapter and co-edited one book. Additionally, he attended multiple international conferences to present the results he obtained during his PhD, and obtained funding for 5 international research stays in Vienna, Austria (Prof. Dr. Aleksandr Ovsianikov) to perform 2PP experiments. Finally, the work performed during his PhD also resulted in the filing of 2 patents. In 2018 he aided in consolidating FWO funding thereby aiming to further develop the corneal membranes towards (pre)clinical applications. In 2019 he completed his PhD with greatest honours for which he was awarded a Solvay award in 2020 and a Julia Polak Award in 2021. Additionally, he was a finalist in the Flemish PhD cup in 2021. After his PhD, he secured funding for a post-doc position at Ghent University towards the preparation of a spin-off company. In 2022, the spin-off company BIO INX was launched, which he leads as CEO. BIO INX focusses on the development and commercialisation of biomaterials and bio inks for 3D bioprinting with applications in regenerative medicine. It made the finals of the 2022 RSC Emerging Technologies Competition in 2022 and was elected in 2023 as UNIZO East-Flanders Start-up of the year.

Yong Woo Cho
(Hanyang University, Korea, Republic of)

Yong Woo CHO PhD is a Professor, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University ERICA and CEO of ExoStemTech Inc, South Korea. He got BS, MS, and PhD degrees from School of Engineering, Seoul National University. He worked for KIST (Korea Institute for Science and Technology) and Purdue University as a Post Doc. Since 2006, he has been working for Hanyang University ERICA. His research interest is exosome-based therapeutics, focused on regenerative medicine using stem cell exosomes and exosome-based protein/RNA delivery systems. In 2016, he founded a bio-venture company, ExoStemTech Inc., for the clinical development of exosome therapeutics and is currently developing several exosome products for the treatment of osteoarthritis, tendinitis, lung fibrosis, Parkinson’s disease, etc.

Chris Wattengel
(Collagen Solutions, United Kingdom)

Chris Wattengel is Global Vice President of R&D for Collagen Solutions. He is a seasoned medical device industry innovator and leader with over 20 years of experience in product and business development. He has led R&D teams from concept through commercialization, and been involved with bringing over 10 product families to market.

Yufeng Zheng
(Peking University, China)

Dr. Yufeng Zheng, received his Ph.D in materials science from Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 1998. From 1998 to 2004, he was Assistant Professor (1998-2000), Associate Professor (2000-2003), Full Professor (2003-2004) at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. He has been a full professor at the Peking University in Beijing, China since 2004, and Distinguished Professor at Kumamoto University, Japan since 2017. Dr. Zheng has authored or co-authored over 700 scientific peer-reviewed articles, with the citation of over 40000 times, and a H-index of 100. Currently he serves as Editor-in-Chief of “Bioactive Materials”, Vice Editor-in-Chief of “Journal of Materials Science & Technology”, Editor of “Materials Letters”. His areas of special interest include the development of new metallic biomaterials and their medical devices (biodegradable Mg, Fe and Zn based alloys, beta-Ti alloys with low elastic modulus, bulk metallic glass, ultra-fine grained metallic materials, etc). Dr. Zheng is the Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

Diego Mantovani
(Laval University, Canada)

Professor in biomaterials, scientist in regenerative medicine, holder of the Canada Research Chair Tieur I in biomaterials and bioengineering for the innovation in surgery, Diego Mantovani is en expert in nanocoatings, biodegradable metals and 3D cell culture for advanced in vitro tests alternative to in vivo. With his team, he carried out R&D&I projects often in collaboration with companies to unravel how sciences and engineering can improve the patient quality of life of Humans, and to develop new processes for improving the clinical performances of commercial devices, as well as exploring new strategies for tomorrow's clinical therapies. Focus is on cardiac, peripheral, cerebral, dental and parenchymal tissue. The Lab is based at ULaval, in the beatiful nordic city of Quebec, labelled UNESCO treasure, in the French-living part of Canada. He was elected Fellow of the International Union of Societies of Biomaterials since 2012, of the American Society for Materials Intl since 2016, the American Institute of Medical Biological Engineering since 2019, and of the Canadian Academy of Engineering since 2020. He was executive Co-Chair of the 10th World Biomaterials Congress, held in Montréal, Canada, in 2016, May.

Frank Witte
(Berlin Charite Research Center - Dental Schoool, Germany)

Professor Witte is affiliated to the Charité Medical University Berlin in the Department of Prosthodontics and has hold for 5 years the endowed Synthes Chair for Bioactive Implants at the Charité Medical University Berlin where he has focused on biodegradable metals, its surface modification, and its immunological response. Professor Dr. Witte has gained extensive industry experience as Chief Scientist Officer and Chief Technology Officer Magnesium Technologies of biotrics bioimplants AG, where he has successfully developed and CE certified two biodegradable magnesium implant systems for oral surgery (www.novamag.info). Professor Witte is currently working at one of the largest European Notified Bodies (TüvSüd Product Service GmbH) for conformity assessment of medical products.
He also holds an Adjunct Professorship for Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, USA and is Honorary Professor at the Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Technologies in Shenzhen, China. Just recently he was awarded an Associate Professorship at University Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Prof. Witte is co-founder of the successful conference series on Biodegradable Metals (BIOMETAL, www.biodegradablemetals.org) and works on the ISO and ASTM writing groups to achieve new standards for regulatory evaluation of biodegradable metal implants. Professor Witte is associate editor and editorial board member of Bioactive Materials, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal Biomedical Materials Research Part A, Materials Science and Engineering Part B and the Journal of Orthopedic Translation. He has published more than 130 peer reviewed journal papers, including in Nature Medicine, filed more than 30 patents and is author of several book chapters.

SangIhn Han
(Center for Biomaterials, Biomedical Research Division, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

SangIhn Han is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Biomaterials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Seoul National University in 2019, where he worked under the supervision of Professor Taeghwan Hyeon. Dr. Han's research focuses on the synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials and their applications in soft bioelectronics, as well as the development of nanozymes for treating diseases related to reactive oxygen species.

Regine Willumeit-Romer
(Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon GmbH, Germany)

R. Willumeit-Römer started her career as physicist specialized on ribosomal structure research. After her PhD in physics she habilitated in biochemistry and moved from the ribosome towards membrane active molecules such as peptide antibiotics. This was also the link to become interested in antibacterial implant surfaces and biomaterials as such. To date, as Director of the Institute of Materials Research, Division Metallic Biomaterials she is responsible for the development of degradable Mg-based implant materials.

Orahn Preiss-Bloom
(OSSIO Ltd, Israel)

Orahn founded OSSIO® in 2014 with a passion for transformative improvement in orthopedic healing, expertise in biomaterial biomechanics, and a vision for game changing bio-integrative implants. Since then, he has served the company in leadership roles at the Executive Committee and Board levels. Previously, Orahn was Co-founder and CTO at LifeBond, a commercial-stage biosurgical device start-up which was acquired in 2019 by CR Bard, now part of BD (NYSE: BDX). Prior, he was a biomechanics researcher at IDF Institute for Military Physiology and at Columbia University Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

Philip Procter
(Uppsala University, France)

I am industry-based and a self-employed medical device consultant in France. My main activity is translating biomaterials from the laboratory to clinical use to meet unmet clinical needs.
I have co-founded two SME’s GPBio Ltd, (Ireland 2013) for developing adhesive biomaterials and Biomimetic Innovations Ltd, (Ireland 2020) which is currently commercialising OsSticR, a patented, adhesive platform technology with two multinational implant companies.
I direct research into Biomimetic injectable biomaterials, Tissue adhesives and Bone graft substitutes, primarily at UU as Adj Prof, and also at EPFL in Lausanee, Switzerland.
I am a Chartered Engineer (FIMechE, UK) and Chartered Scientist (FIPEM, UK) with a Diploma in Management and Marketing IMI Dublin (Ireland), a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Strathclyde University, (Scotland) and a BTech. Mechanical Engineering, Brunel University London, (UK).

You-Yeon Won
(Purdue University, USA)

Dr. Won earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University (1992). He received his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2000), and Postdoctoral training in Applied Physics at Harvard (2001 – 2003) and in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT (2000 – 2001). Dr. Won joined the Purdue faculty as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering in 2003, and was promoted to Full Professor in 2014. Dr. Won originally came from a background in polymer science. Dr. Won’s current research focus is applying this polymer science knowledge to developing (1) synthetic pulmonary surfactants for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome, (2) radioluminescent theranostic agents for cancer treatment, and (3) sequence-controlled aliphatic copolyesters for long-acting controlled-release drug formulations. Dr. Won founded two startup companies to commercialize these technologies.

Ester J. Kwon
(University of California San Diego, USA)

Ester J. Kwon is an associate professor of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego. She earned her B.S. in Bioengineering and B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington with Suzie H. Pun and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Sangeeta N. Bhatia. Dr. Kwon is a recipient of the pre- and post-doctoral NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, the NIH Director’s New Innovator award, and the NSF CAREER Award. Her lab engineers nanomaterials as tools, diagnostics, and treatments for disorders that affect the brain. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Kwon is motivated to create an inclusive research environment through the individualized mentorship of trainees and outreach to young scientists.

Gabe Kwong
(Georgia Institute of Technology, USA)

Dr. Kwong is an Associate Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. He earned his B.S. from UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Caltech both in Bioengineering. His research program is centered at the interface of bioengineering, immunology and medicine. His group pioneers cell therapies and biosensors to address frontier challenges in cancer, transplantation medicine, and infectious diseases. Among his distinctions, Dr. Kwong is a recipient of the NIH Director's New Innovator and Pioneer Awards, and currently leads the $49.5 million Cancer and Organ Degradome Atlas (CODA) project, a multi-institutional research enterprise supported by ARPA-H to revolutionize multi-cancer early detection. Dr. Kwong co-founded two biotechnology companies, and holds over 35 issued or pending patents.

Ester J. Kwon
(University of California San Diego, USA)

Ester J. Kwon is an associate professor of Bioengineering at the University of California San Diego. She earned her B.S. in Bioengineering and B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology at UC Berkeley. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Washington with Suzie H. Pun and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Sangeeta N. Bhatia. Dr. Kwon is a recipient of the pre- and post-doctoral NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, the NIH Director’s New Innovator award, and the NSF CAREER Award. Her lab engineers nanomaterials as tools, diagnostics, and treatments for disorders that affect the brain. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Kwon is motivated to create an inclusive research environment through the individualized mentorship of trainees and outreach to young scientists.

Yu Zhang
(Shandong University, China)

Prof. Yu Zhang Shandong University, Prof. Zhang obtained joint Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at Yale University and Shandong University. His research focus on novel electronic materials and devices for biosensor and optoelectronics, such as 2D materials and devices, GaN materials and devices, microfluidics. In recent 5 years, Prof. Yu Zhang has published more than 40 research papers on Small methods，advanced health materials，NPJ 2D materials and applications, nano-micro Letters etc. and applied more than 30 inventions with more than 20 granted. He services as reviewers for many scientific journals including Advanced mateirals, biomaterials, and Advanced functional materials etc.

João Carlos Varela
(KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Science for Life Laboratory, Sweden)

PhD student in Biotechnology, currently developing novel molecular diagnostic methods to use in resource-limited setting, using microfluidics and optical fibers (KTH Royal Institute of Technology/Science for Life Laboratory - SciLifeLab).

Interested in molecular diagnostics, life sciences, bioengineering, and microfluidics, with a "soft spot" for sport science and food chemistry.

Qingqing Fan
(University of New South Wales, Australia)

Qingqing Fan is a 3rd year Ph.D. candidate in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of New South Wales under the supervision of A/Prof. Rona Chandrawati. She received her Bachelor of Biological Sciences with Dean's Honors from the University of California, Davis (USA) in 2019, and an Honors degree in Science (Microbiology) from Monash University (Australia) in 2020. Her research focuses on the development of metal-based nanomaterials for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. To date, her contributions to the field include the publication of 3 papers in leading journals, presenting at 4 prestigious national and international conferences, and mentoring postgraduate students. She is the Vice President of the Chemical Engineering Research Society at the University of New South Wales. Additionally, she is a founding member of the HDR Engineering Postgraduate Initiative aimed at enhancing the work and personal lives of >500 postgraduate engineering students.

Minhaz Uddin Ahmed
(Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam)

I am an Associate Professor at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), and I am passionate about developing biosensors and diagnostic technologies with significant applications in nanobiotechnology, clinical, food and environmental chemistry. My academic background includes a Ph.D. in Chemical Materials Science from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), and I have worked as a post-doctoral fellow with renowned professors at esteemed universities worldwide, such as Duke University, Osaka University, and INRS-EMT Canada. Throughout my career, my research contributions have been widely recognized and celebrated with numerous awards and accolades, including the prestigious Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) young scientist award, the United States Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) post-doctoral fellowship and UBD Research Excellence Award 2022. I am glad to have extensive research experience and expertise in the field of biosensors and biomaterials, bioengineering and nanobiotechnology.

I am pleased to serve as a member of the Editorial Board in several reputed journals in related areas of expertise and regularly review research articles from the world’s top-ranked associated journals. I carry out research activities in several exciting areas, including Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Electroanalysis, DNA chips, and Nucleic Acid Sensors, CRISPR-Cas, Apta and Immunosensors, and Point of Care Devices. My vision is to develop high-sensitive, low-cost, point of care biosensing and diagnostics platforms that can help revolutionize healthcare and make a significant impact in the fields of food safety and environmental protection.

Insup Noh
(Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Insup Noh is a professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a chief professor/founder of the Convergence Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials of Seoul National Univ. of Science & Technology (Korea). After both receiving his MS and Ph.D. degrees in the areas of biomaterials for tissue engineering from the Univ. of Texas at Austin (1994) and working at the California Institute of Technology(Caltech, 1995-1997) as a special graduate student under J.A. Hubbell, he had done researches with E.R. Edelman in the division of Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher for local drug delivery in cardiovascular diseases(1997-1999). Professor Insup Noh’s expertise lies in the area of functional biomaterials for bone and cartilage tissue engineering by using in situ 3D bioprining technology with diverse bioinks. He served the president of the Korean Society for Biomaterials(2020) and the editor-in-chief of Biomaterials Research (2012-2019, Springer-Nature, UK) and is the president/founder of MatrixCellBio Inc., Korea, and a IUSBSE KSBM delegate.

Sandra Van Vlierberghe
(Ghent University, Belgium)

Sandra Van Vlierberghe (10-07-1981) was granted a full-time professorship at UGent since October 1st, 2017. Her research targets to establish at UGent, “a polymer-based technological platform covering processing and functionalization aspects sufficiently versatile to potentially address a wide range of tissue engineering (TE) challenges by exploiting the unique properties of light.” Indeed, her research focusses on the development of photo-crosslinkable (bio)polymers and their processing capabilities using 3D printing techniques. She has acquired expertise related to the synthesis, the modification and the processing (through extrusion-based 3D printing, electrospinning and light-based 3D-printing (two-photon polymerization (2PP), digital light projection (DLP) and volumetric printing) of a variety of (bio)polymers including thermoplasts (e.g. polyesters) and hydrogels (e.g. proteins and polysaccharides) in the field of regenerative medicine during the past 15 years. She graduated as a Master in Chemistry with high distinction with majors in Polymer Chemistry in 2003 and received her PhD in Sciences in 2008, both at Ghent University. She authored more than 235 Web of Science Core Collection cited papers of which 195 high impact journal papers (one with an impact factor of 42.846) and 16 full papers in international conference proceedings. In addition, she also authored more than 200 conference abstracts. She has a h-index of 44 (WoS) and is promoter of 23 PhD’s (in addition to 15 defended PhD’s), she edited three books, authored 7 chapters in books of which 5 invited and was invited speaker at > 15 international conferences and keynote as well as plenary speaker at 15 international conferences. She is treasurer of the Belgian Polymer Group (BPG), she was spokesperson of the YSF which is affiliated to the ESB and she is secretary of the Belgian Society for Tissue Engineering (BSTE). She is TERMIS-EU council member since 2019 and ESB council member since 2021. She is also founding board member of GATE (Ghent Alliance for Advanced Therapies and Tissue Engineering). Since 2020, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Fernand Lazard Foundation. Sandra is also editorial board member of the Biomaterials Network, associate editor of Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine and of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (editor-in-chief of Biofabrication section), academic guest editor of Materials, editorial advisory board member of Hydrogels and editorial board member of Biomedical Materials, Journal of Nanomedicine and Nanotechnology and Journal of Applied Biomaterials and Functional Materials. She has also been active in project reviewing and as panel member (e.g. 3 x panel member of ERC StG). In 2017, she received the Jean Leray Award from the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB). This award is established to recognize outstanding research in the field of biomaterials by scientists not older than 40 years. In 2020 and 2021, she also served on the Independent Awards Committee of ESB. She is co-founder of spin-offs BIO INX and 4Tissue Laboratory.

Insup Noh
(Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Insup Noh is a professor at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and a chief professor/founder of the Convergence Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials of Seoul National Univ. of Science & Technology (Korea). After both receiving his MS and Ph.D. degrees in the areas of biomaterials for tissue engineering from the Univ. of Texas at Austin (1994) and working at the California Institute of Technology(Caltech, 1995-1997) as a special graduate student under J.A. Hubbell, he had done researches with E.R. Edelman in the division of Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology as a postdoctoral researcher for local drug delivery in cardiovascular diseases(1997-1999). Professor Insup Noh’s expertise lies in the area of functional biomaterials for bone and cartilage tissue engineering by using in situ 3D bioprining technology with diverse bioinks. He served the president of the Korean Society for Biomaterials(2020) and the editor-in-chief of Biomaterials Research (2012-2019, Springer-Nature, UK) and is the president/founder of MatrixCellBio Inc., Korea, and a IUSBSE KSBM delegate.

Chul-Su Yang
(Hanyang University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Chul-Su Yang who professor of Infection Biology Lab at Dept. of Medicinal and Life Science, Hanyang University.
Research interests as below,
1. Microbial pathogenesis and host responses. (1) Molecular and cellular pathogenesis of intracellular microbes infection especially on Mycobacteria, Listeria, Candida, Toxoplasma, Influenza infection (2) Signal transduction mechanisms in immune and inflammatory responses (3) Molecular and immunopathogenesis in neuroinflammatory diseases.
2. Host-pathogen functional interactions and its therapeutic strategies. (1) The role of ROS-generating NADPH oxidases activation and expression (2) Exploring of cell death and autophagy pathways in microbial infection (3) The role of nuclear receptors in innate immunity (4) The role of mitochondria and autophagy in innate immunity.
3. Molecular engineering of Peptide-Drug Conjugates for therapeutics. (1) Peptide and protein therapeutics (2) Pharmaceutics drug delivery and targeting

Vikas Sharma
(Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Vikas Sharma currently holds a postdoctoral fellow position within the CIMPS group at the Chemical Engineering department of Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from National Institute of Technology Raipur, India, where his research focused on the production and purification of thermostable enzymes. He then served CSIR-IITR, India, as a Senior Project Associate, and was also awarded the prestigious SERB-NPDF postdoctoral fellowship by the Government of India. He has published his works in reputed journals, such as Bioresource Technology, Renewable Energy, Chemosphere and Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering. His research interests lie in developing innovative solutions for upstream and downstream processing of biopharmaceuticals utilizing microfluidics and scale-up modules.

Elaine Duncan
(Paladin Medical, Inc. & Adjunct Professor, F. Joseph Halcomb III, M.D. Department of Biomedical Engineering Pigman College of Engineering, University of Kentucky, USA)

Ms. Duncan enables large and small companies alike to acquire US FDA clearance and approval by guiding teams to establishing programs of Design Control and Review, teaching and establishing Quality Systems, developing protocols and reports of pre-clinical and clinical studies for new devices and planning biocompatibility testing, verification, validation and human factors studies. From her wide experience in medical device technology, encompassing implantable devices, biomaterials such as bone void fillers, textiles and magnetic materials, software and electronics and assistive device technologies, she serves as a trainer and instructor to medical device development peers and university students. Ms. Duncan has given numerous lectures, written many trade-journal articles and authored book chapters, including, three chapters in the 4th Edition of Biomaterials Science (C 2020.) Ms. Duncan has been recognized for her service to the advancement of biomaterials and medical device science throughout her years of service.

Michael J. Sailor
(University of California San Diego, USA)

Michael J. Sailor is Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Diego, Director of the UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (an NSF MRSEC), and Director of the UC San Diego Institute for Materials Discovery & Design. He holds Affiliate Appointments in the UCSD Bioengineering Department, the Nanoengineering Department, and the Materials Science and Engineering program. He was trained at Harvey Mudd College (BS Chemistry), Northwestern University (PhD Chemistry), Stanford (Post-doctoral), and Caltech (Post-doctoral). He has supervised more than 160 undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students, he is the author of more than 260 peer-reviewed research publications, one book, and 39 issued patents. He has an H-Index (Google Scholar) of 100. He has founded or co-founded four companies, including Lisata Therapeutics (NASDAQ: LSTA). He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and he serves as Associate Editor of the journal ACS Sensors.

Hyunwoo Yuk
(SanaHeal, USA)

Dr. Hyunwoo Yuk received a Ph.D. / M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2021/2016, and a B.S. from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2014, both in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Yuk is currently the CTO of a medtech startup, SanaHeal, Inc., which he founded in 2021. His research focuses on the broad topics of mechanics and materials science and engineering in human–machine interfaces including robust adhesion of soft materials, hydrogel bioelectronics, and 3D printing of advanced soft materials. He is a recipient of various prestigious awards including the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award, Forbes 30 Under 30, and MIT Technology Reviews Innovators Under 35.

Alec Smith
(University of Washington, USA)

Dr. Alec Smith is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at The University of Washington. Dr. Smith earned his Ph.D. in Tissue Engineering from University College, London (UK) in 2012 before moving to the United States to pursue a career in biomedical research. His expertise includes electrophysiology, molecular biology, and tissue engineering, with a particular focus on muscle and neuronal tissues. His work has involved the development of novel 2D and 3D culture systems for assessing nerve and muscle performance, and the analysis of physiological interactions between multiple cell types in vitro. By integrating human tissue engineering and cell culture with advanced methods for assaying electrophysiological and contractile function, he aims to develop novel platforms with which to improve the predictive capacity of current preclinical toxicity screening and disease modeling technologies. To date, Dr. Smith has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and referenced conference proceedings, as well as 5 book chapters, and his papers have been cited over 2,700 times. In addition, he has filed 3 patents (issued or pending) based on his research. Over the course of his career so far, Dr. Smith has been the recipient of a number of awards, including The UK Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Award (2007), The Jaconette L. Tietze Young Scientist Award (2017), The University of Washington’s Institute for Translational Health Science KL2 Career Development Award (2017), and the Weill Neurohub Investigator Award (2023).

Eun Je Jeon
(Cellartgen, Korea, Republic of)

Eun Je Jeon currently serves as the team leader in the Advanced Biomaterials Research and Development Department at Cellartgen Inc. in the Republic of Korea. She earned her B.S. degree from the College of Natural Sciences at Seoul Women's University in 2013 and later obtained her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Yonsei University. In 2022, she joined Cellartgen Inc. as a Senior Researcher and was appointed team leader for Advanced Biomaterials Research and Development in 2023. She has also been selected as a Junior Researcher in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups since May 2023. Her research interests focus on utilizing functional biomaterials for tissue engineering, particularly in the areas of stem cells, reprogrammed cells, and organoids. She has published 19 peer-reviewed papers with over 754 citations and obtained more than 17 filed patents and pending patent applications. Recognized for her outstanding contributions, she received the KSBM-KOFWST Young Scientist Award from the Korean Society for Biomaterials and the WBF-Biosolution Saebyeol Women's Science Award from the Women's Bioscience Forum in 2021.

To Ngai
(Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

To NGAI now is Professor in the Department of chemistry, Assistant Dean (Research) of the Faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He received his B.Sc. degree with first class honours and PhD in chemistry from CUHK in 1999 and 2003 respectively. He moved to BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) in 2003 as the postdoctoral fellow for two years. After a short postdoctoral training in the Chemistry Department at the University of Minnesota in 2005, he joined the Chemistry Department at CUHK in 2006 as a research assistant professor. He has been appointed as an assistant professor in 2008, and promoted to associate professor in 2012. In 2017, he was promoted to Professor. His current research interests center around the colloids, surface chemistry, polymers and soft matter.

Ho Cheung Anderson SHUM
(Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Ir Prof. Shum is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the University of Hong Kong, Director of the Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, and President of Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences. His research interests include biomicrofluidics, biomedical engineering, and soft matter. Prof. Shum received Gold Medal and International Special Award in 8th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN, 2023), Gold Medal in 48th International Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, Switzerland, 2023), Hong Kong Engineering Science and Technology Award 2022, Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2020, Rising Star Award by Ton Duc Thang University 2019, NSFC Excellent Young Scientist Fund 2019, Young Scientists Award in Microsystems-and-Nanoengineering-Summit 2019, IEEE Nanomed New Innovator 2018. He was selected as Fellow in HKIE (2023), IAAM (2023), RSC (2017).

Ho Cheung Anderson SHUM
(Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong SAR, China)

Ir Prof. Shum is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the University of Hong Kong, Director of the Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, and President of Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences. His research interests include biomicrofluidics, biomedical engineering, and soft matter. Prof. Shum received Gold Medal and International Special Award in 8th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN, 2023), Gold Medal in 48th International Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, Switzerland, 2023), Hong Kong Engineering Science and Technology Award 2022, Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2020, Rising Star Award by Ton Duc Thang University 2019, NSFC Excellent Young Scientist Fund 2019, Young Scientists Award in Microsystems-and-Nanoengineering-Summit 2019, IEEE Nanomed New Innovator 2018. He was selected as Fellow in HKIE (2023), IAAM (2023), RSC (2017).

Liang-Yin Chu
(Sichuan University, China)

Liang-Yin CHU is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and a Vice President at Sichuan University in China. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1995 from Northeastern University. He was promoted as a full professor of Chemical Engineering at Sichuan University in 1997 and became Director of the Sichuan Provincial Key Laboratory for Filtration and Separation in 2001. He was a research fellow at the University of Tokyo (1999-2001) and a visiting scholar at Harvard University (2006-2007), ESPCI Paris (2007-2008) and the University of Birmingham (2011). He has authored and co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles, 85 patents, 7 books and 19 book chapters. He has received many honors and awards, including Natural Science Awards issued by the Ministry of Education (2003) and Sichuan Provincial Government (2015, 2020), Distinguished Young Scholar issued by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (2008), Distinguished Professor of Chang Jiang Scholars Program issued by the Ministry of Education (2009), the Hou Debang Chemical Science and Technology Award - Innovation Award issued by the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China (2013), Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (2014), National Technological Invention Award (2018), Fellow of the Global Academy of Chinese Chemical Engineers (2021), the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation (2021), the Hou Debang Chemical Science and Technology Award - Achievement Award issued by the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China (2022), and Fellow of the Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China (2022). His teaching and research are focused on advanced functional materials, mass transfer and separations, membrane materials and processes, microfluidics, and smart controlled-release systems.

To Ngai
(Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China)

To NGAI now is Professor in the Department of chemistry, Assistant Dean (Research) of the Faculty at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He received his B.Sc. degree with first class honours and PhD in chemistry from CUHK in 1999 and 2003 respectively. He moved to BASF (Ludwigshafen, Germany) in 2003 as the postdoctoral fellow for two years. After a short postdoctoral training in the Chemistry Department at the University of Minnesota in 2005, he joined the Chemistry Department at CUHK in 2006 as a research assistant professor. He has been appointed as an assistant professor in 2008, and promoted to associate professor in 2012. In 2017, he was promoted to Professor. His current research interests center around the colloids, surface chemistry, polymers and soft matter.

Akihiro Kishimura
(Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan)

Akihiro Kishimura received his PhD degree of engineering under the supervision of Prof. T. Aida from the University of Tokyo in 2005. After his career as an assistant professor in the research group of Prof. K. Kataoka (The University of Tokyo) from 2006 to 2013, he moved to Kyushu University as an associate professor in 2013. He joined Science Council of Japan in 2016, and worked as the chair of Young Academy of Japan (2017-2020). He was also a member of the Global Young Academy (2017-2022). Since 2020, he has been appointed as an Executive Assistant to the President of Kyushu University and worked as a member of the Q-dai Science Communication Promoting Group (Q-STRING). His present research focuses on nanomedicine, and molecular system toward artificial cells by mimicking crowded environments of living system.

Naozumi Teramoto
(Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan)

Dr. Naozumi Teramoto is a Professor at Chiba Institute of Technology (CIT) in Japan. He has been working with bio-based materials since he began his career at CIT in 2000. Prof. Teramoto received his Master degree and Ph.D. in Material Chemistry from Kyoto University in Japan. He has published technical papers on biodegradable polymers and bio-based polymers from polysaccharide, trehalose, collagen, lactide and other biomass resources. From Jun. 2015 to Nov. 2015, he has been a visiting scholar at the University of Delaware in USA. Recently, he has started the researches on cytocompatible materials, stimuli-responsive polymers and reinforcement of hydrogels.

Minh Le
(National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Dr. Minh Le assumed the role of Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director at the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, effective in 2019. Additionally, starting in May 2023, Dr. Le has served as an Adjunct Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore. She also currently holds editorial positions as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Extracellular Biology, Associate Editor of the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, and Associate Editor of Cancer Nanotechnology.
Dr. Le’s academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Computational and Systems Biology from the Singapore-MIT Alliance, followed by five years of postdoctoral training at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She has received several prestigious global and national awards, such as the L’Oréal Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowship in 2009, the Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship in 2011, and being featured in the book "Stories of Integration" as a Singaporean who made an impact in 2021. She was honored with the Falling Walls Venture Award for her leadership in a science start-up in 2021 and received the NUS Graduate Mentor of the Year Award in 2022.
Dr. Le is renowned for her contributions to extracellular vesicles and cancer biology. Her research group has developed a strategy to utilize extracellular vesicles derived from red blood cells for delivering nucleic acids, laying the foundation for her startup, Carmine Therapeutics, in 2019.

Minh Le
(National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Dr. Minh Le assumed the role of Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director at the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, effective in 2019. Additionally, starting in May 2023, Dr. Le has served as an Adjunct Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore. She also currently holds editorial positions as Deputy Editor of the Journal of Extracellular Biology, Associate Editor of the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, and Associate Editor of Cancer Nanotechnology.
Dr. Le’s academic journey includes a Ph.D. in Computational and Systems Biology from the Singapore-MIT Alliance, followed by five years of postdoctoral training at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She has received several prestigious global and national awards, such as the L’Oréal Singapore for Women in Science National Fellowship in 2009, the Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship in 2011, and being featured in the book "Stories of Integration" as a Singaporean who made an impact in 2021. She was honored with the Falling Walls Venture Award for her leadership in a science start-up in 2021 and received the NUS Graduate Mentor of the Year Award in 2022.
Dr. Le is renowned for her contributions to extracellular vesicles and cancer biology. Her research group has developed a strategy to utilize extracellular vesicles derived from red blood cells for delivering nucleic acids, laying the foundation for her startup, Carmine Therapeutics, in 2019.

Wei Seong Toh
(National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore)

Wei Seong Toh, PhD, is an Associate Professor (tenured) and Research Director at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also a Principal Investigator at the NUS Tissue Engineering Program. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms for degeneration and developing strategies for regeneration of tissues of the musculoskeletal system. His team first reported that the small extracellular vesicles, popularly known as the exosomes underpin the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells in joint repair. To date, he has secured >S$8 million total funding, presented >50 plenary/keynote/invited talks, and published >80 publications accumulating h-index 44 and >15000 citations. He and his research team have garnered >40 research awards/honors, including the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University from 2020 to present. He is currently the Secretary of SOCRATES, Society for Clinical Research and Translation of Extracellular Vesicles Singapore. He is also an executive committee member of APSEV, Asia-Pacific Societies for Extracellular Vesicles, and a member of ISEV, International Society for Extracellular Vesicles Task Force on Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Use of EV-based Therapeutics.

Yoon-Kyoung Cho
(UNIST, Korea, Republic of)

Yoon-Kyoung Cho is currently a full professor in Biomedical Engineering at UNIST and a group leader in the Center for Algorithmic and Robotic Synthesis at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Republic of Korea.

She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999, having obtained her M.S. and B.S. in Chemical Engineering from POSTECH in 1994 and 1992, respectively. She worked as a senior researcher (1999–2008) at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), where she participated in the development of in vitro diagnostic devices for biomedical applications.

She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), an associate editor of the journal ‘Lab on a Chip, a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a member of the board of directors of the Chemical and Biological Microsystems Society (CBMS).

Her research interests range from fundamental sciences to translational research in microfluidics and nanomedicine. Current research topics include a lab-on-a-disc for the detection of rare cells and extracellular biomarkers, quantitative analysis of single cells and cell migration, and systems analysis of intercellular communication.

For more details, visit http://fruits.unist.ac.kr.

Buddy Ratner
(University of Washington, USA)

Professor Buddy Ratner, PhD, is Co-Director of the Center for Dialysis Innovation, Director of the Engineered Biomaterials Engineering Research Center, Michael L. and Myrna Darland Endowed Chair in Technology Commercialization, and Professor in Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington. He received his PhD from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He is an expert in biomaterials used in medical devices and implants, and his lab is working on multiple bioengineering projects for tissues and organs. Dr. Ratner is a fellow and past president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a fellow and past president of the Society For Biomaterials, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of AVS (formerly the American Vacuum Society), a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a fellow of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society. He has participated in the launch of numerous companies including Healionics, Inc., Asemblon, Inc. and Kuleana Technology, Inc. (focused on innovative dialysis devices). Dr. Ratner has authored more than 500 scholarly works and has more than 30 issued patents. His numerous awards include the 2014 Lifetime Inventor and Innovator Award from the University of Washington, the Distinguished Service Award from the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry; the Langmuir Lecture Award from the American Chemical Society; the Most Cited Paper Award (2015) from the Annals of Biomedical Engineering; George Winter Award, European Society for Biomaterials; and the Pierre Galletti Award of AIMBE.

Yoon Sung Nam
(Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Yoon Sung Nam is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Sciences at KAIST. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from MIT in 2010 and worked as a George W. Beadle Argonne Named Postdoctoral Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory before he joined KAIST in 2011. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from KAIST. Professor Nam's research group focuses on nanoscale functional materials for nucleic acid biosensors, vaccine delivery, and phage therapy. He has a strong interest in identifying key factors and processes of biochemical recognition and selection of molecules/materials in biological systems, including peptide-mediated molecular recognition, ligand-cell receptor interactions, self-assembly of biomolecules, charge transfer mediators, and light harvesting processes.

Buddy Ratner
(University of Washington, USA)

Professor Buddy Ratner, PhD, is Co-Director of the Center for Dialysis Innovation, Director of the Engineered Biomaterials Engineering Research Center, Michael L. and Myrna Darland Endowed Chair in Technology Commercialization, and Professor in Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington. He received his PhD from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He is an expert in biomaterials used in medical devices and implants, and his lab is working on multiple bioengineering projects for tissues and organs. Dr. Ratner is a fellow and past president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a fellow and past president of the Society For Biomaterials, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of AVS (formerly the American Vacuum Society), a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a fellow of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society. He has participated in the launch of numerous companies including Healionics, Inc., Asemblon, Inc. and Kuleana Technology, Inc. (focused on innovative dialysis devices). Dr. Ratner has authored more than 500 scholarly works and has more than 30 issued patents. His numerous awards include the 2014 Lifetime Inventor and Innovator Award from the University of Washington, the Distinguished Service Award from the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry; the Langmuir Lecture Award from the American Chemical Society; the Most Cited Paper Award (2015) from the Annals of Biomedical Engineering; George Winter Award, European Society for Biomaterials; and the Pierre Galletti Award of AIMBE.

Yoon Sung Nam
(Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Yoon Sung Nam is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Sciences at KAIST. He received his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from MIT in 2010 and worked as a George W. Beadle Argonne Named Postdoctoral Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory before he joined KAIST in 2011. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University and a M.S. in Biological Sciences from KAIST. Professor Nam's research group focuses on nanoscale functional materials for nucleic acid biosensors, vaccine delivery, and phage therapy. He has a strong interest in identifying key factors and processes of biochemical recognition and selection of molecules/materials in biological systems, including peptide-mediated molecular recognition, ligand-cell receptor interactions, self-assembly of biomolecules, charge transfer mediators, and light harvesting processes.

Ahmad Bikharudin
(Okayama University, Japan)

I am Ahmad Bikharudin, from Indonesia, and I am recently a 3rd-year PhD student at the Department of Biomaterials at Okayama University, Japan. My research interest is to develop novel functions and mechanisms of biomaterials for a range of biomedical applications.

Matthias Barz
(Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden University, Netherlands)

Dr. Matthias Barz studied chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (Germany) and Seoul National University (South Korea) received a diploma degree in chemistry in 2006 and a PhD in polymer chemistry from the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (Germany) in 2010. Afterwards, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Maria J. Vicent at the CIPF (Valencia, Spain, Pharmaceutical Technology/Drug Delivery) and Prof. T. Kirchhausen at Boston Children’s Hospital (Boston, USA, Molecular Cell Biology). In 2013, he became independent junior research group leader at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz (Germany), finished his habilitation in organic chemistry in 2017. Since 2020 he is full professor for biopharmacy at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research (LACDR) at the University Leiden (Leiden, Netherlands), leads the division of BioTherapeurics and is member of the management board of LACDR.
His group focusses on the development of nanomedicines based on polypept(o)ides, polymers combining polypeptides with polypeptoids, for applications in cancer immune therapy, cancer theragnostic (pre-targeting), autoimmune diseases and control of antibacterial infections.
Dr. Matthias Barz has published more than 150 research papers, commentaries, reviews, book chapters and patents. For his independent research he received numerous awards, including the most prestigious Chemie Dozentenpreis (FCI), the Hermann Schnell Scholarship (GDCH) and was named ACS PMSE Young Investigator in 2018. In 2022 he had the honor to deliver a speech at Dias Natalis of Leiden University (most important honoree lecture for professors in Leiden).

Ho Jeong Jeon
(Korean Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Hojeong Jeon received his B.S. (2001) and M.Sc. Degree (2004) in Mechanical Engineering from the Seoul National University, Korea. He holds a Ph.D. (2011) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, US. He joined Biomedical Research Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 2012 as a senior research scientist and was promoted to a principal research scientist in 2017. Since 2021, he has also been a professor at the KU-KIST Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Korea University. Now, he is a head of the Biomaterials Research Center. Jeon’s current research interests are in micro/nano surface modification for functional biomaterials, microfabrication for tissue engineering and implantable biomedical devices. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers.

Taher Saif
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA)

Dr Taher Saif received his BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Washington State University respectively in 1984 and 1986. He obtained his Ph.D degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University in 1993. He worked as a Post Doctoral Associate in Electrical Engineering and the National Nanofabrication Facility at Cornell University during 1993-97. He joined the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during 1997. He is curently the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor in the department. His current research includes cancer tumor micro environment, mechanics of neurons and cardiac cells, development of biological machines and materials, and electro-thermo-mechanical behavior of nano scale metals and semiconductors. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. He received the Warner T. Koiter Medal from American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2018, and the Engineering Science Medal from the Society of Engineering Science in 2020. He became Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2023.

Ho Jeong Jeon
(Korean Institute of Science and Technology, Korea, Republic of)

Hojeong Jeon received his B.S. (2001) and M.Sc. Degree (2004) in Mechanical Engineering from the Seoul National University, Korea. He holds a Ph.D. (2011) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, US. He joined Biomedical Research Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in 2012 as a senior research scientist and was promoted to a principal research scientist in 2017. Since 2021, he has also been a professor at the KU-KIST Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Korea University. Now, he is a head of the Biomaterials Research Center. Jeon’s current research interests are in micro/nano surface modification for functional biomaterials, microfabrication for tissue engineering and implantable biomedical devices. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers.

Arum Han
(TEXAS A&M University, USA)

Dr. Han is the Texas Instruments Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Chancellor’s EDGES Fellow and the Presidential Impact Fellow of Texas A&M University. He also holds joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering, is a Graduate Faculty of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Faculty of the Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, and Faculty of Toxicology. His research focuses on development of microfluidic, lab-on-a-chip, and organ-on-a-chip systems that enable unique biological experiments at high throughput and high accuracy that can then be readily adopted by the broad bio/medical science community. He has pioneered the area of high-throughput microfluidics for microbiology applications, and have been applying these technologies for synthetic biology, host-pathogen interactions, infectious disease, and microbial bioproduction. Developing technologies that enable complex multi-step biological assays that involves mammalian cells, microorganisms, and viruses to be conducted in high-throughput microfluidics format are some of his key accomplishments. He has also pioneered the area of organ-on-a-chip systems for feto-maternal interface and preterm birth research, and is applying these microphysiological system models for new therapeutic development and environmental toxicant testing. He is an extremely prolific multidisciplinary researcher, with more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, and has been leading and co-leading numerous multi-disciplinary projects. He is also the director of the AggieFab Nanofabrication Facility, a campus-wide core user facility. Under his leadership, the AggieFeb went through rapid expansion. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the journal Biomedical Microdevices.

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.

Deepak Choudhury
(Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Singapore)

Dr Deepak Choudhury is currently a Principal Scientist and Group Leader of Biomanufacturing Technology at Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) A*STAR. His research interests include biomaterials/ biofabrication processes development for cellular agriculture, regenerative medicine, cell therapy and tissue engineering. Dr. Choudhury and his team have published several unique insights in the CM field – starting with cover story on “The business of cultured meat”, which catalogued CM companies/meat focus/funding landscape, etc. The team wrote two more analyses in 2020 on the nomenclature and impact of 3D printing in CM. Then in 2021-2022, followed up with state of edible scaffolds, developing CM ecosystem, fermentation effect, as well as the first patentometric analysis in the CM.

Dr Choudhury was invited as an expert for consultation on “Scientific advice on cell-based food products and food safety considerations” in 2022. This 3-day consultation session was organised by FAO & WHO in Singapore. Dr Choudhury is recipient of the 1st & 2nd Alternative Protein Seed Challenges under Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme, as well as a Co-Investigator of the CentRe of Innovation for Sustainable banking and production of cultivated Meats (CRISP Meats) established in Singapore. He has secured > S$4 million in competitive funding and has five patent applications and more than 35 publications. Dr Choudhury has also been an active reviewer of technical and review journal articles in the alternative proteins/cultivated meat space, including for Nature Food, NPJ Science of Food, Future Foods, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Trends in Food Science and Technology, etc.

Tatsuya Shimizu
(Tokyo Women's Medical University, Japan)

Prof. Tatsuya Shimizu is now Director & Professor, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science, Tokyo Women's Medical University (TWMU). He graduated from Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo and got medical doctor (M.D.) in 1992. After two-year clinical training, he made a specialty of cardiovascular medicine including catheterization and got Ph.D in 1999. After that, he moved to TWMU and started the research of tissue engineering based on “cell sheet technology”. Especially, he has engaged in myocardial tissue engineering and successfully fabricated beating myocardial tissues. Recent works are engineering thick vascularized tissues and 3-D tissue model systems for heart, liver and kidney. Furthermore, he has started the research for cultivated meat production since 2017. Now he is leading several cultivated meat national projects, in particular the development of a circulating cell culture system using algae and animal cells. Based on these achievements, he has published about 250 papers (H-index 63) and received several awards in the fields of cardiology and regenerative medicine.

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.

Deepak Choudhury
(DR, Singapore)

Dr Deepak Choudhury is currently a Principal Scientist and Group Leader of Biomanufacturing Technology at Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) A*STAR. His research interests include biomaterials/ biofabrication processes development for cellular agriculture, regenerative medicine, cell therapy and tissue engineering. Dr. Choudhury and his team have published several unique insights in the CM field – starting with cover story on “The business of cultured meat”, which catalogued CM companies/meat focus/funding landscape, etc. The team wrote two more analyses in 2020 on the nomenclature and impact of 3D printing in CM. Then in 2021-2022, followed up with state of edible scaffolds, developing CM ecosystem, fermentation effect, as well as the first patentometric analysis in the CM.

Dr Choudhury was invited as an expert for consultation on “Scientific advice on cell-based food products and food safety considerations” in 2022. This 3-day consultation session was organised by FAO & WHO in Singapore. Dr Choudhury is recipient of the 1st & 2nd Alternative Protein Seed Challenges under Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme, as well as a Co-Investigator of the CentRe of Innovation for Sustainable banking and production of cultivated Meats (CRISP Meats) established in Singapore. He has secured > S$4 million in competitive funding and has five patent applications and more than 35 publications. Dr Choudhury has also been an active reviewer of technical and review journal articles in the alternative proteins/cultivated meat space, including for Nature Food, NPJ Science of Food, Future Foods, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Trends in Food Science and Technology, etc.

Maartje Bastings
(EPFL, Switzerland)

Maartje Bastings is a biomaterials engineer leading the Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory at EPFL. Dr. Bastings studies how rigidity versus flexibility and uniform control over nano-geometry interplay toward (super-)selectivity, using DNA as programmable engineering tool. Selectivity is key for the performance of nanotherapeutics, as it defines where and when an interaction will – or can – take place. Her team discovered that super-selective multivalent interactions can be achieved in the low-valency regime when binding units are spatially and geometrically constrained, a concept she defined as “Multivalent Pattern Recognition (MPR)”. She showed that molecular flexibility at interfaces comes with a cost in selectivity and demonstrated that the super-selectivity of materials for immune engineering can be controlled by their mechanical and structural design. Supporting the development of bioactive DNA-based nanomaterials, she made key contributions to ensure structural stability and methods to guide cell-uptake, which now are widely adopted as common-practice in the field.

Dan Luo
(Cornell University, USA)

Bio: Dr. Luo obtained his B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China and his PhD from The Ohio State University. He arrived at Cornell in 1998 for his postdoctoral training under Prof. Saltzman in the School of Chemical Engineering before joining the Cornell faculty in the Dept. of Biological and Environmental Engineering in 2001. He was promoted to full professorship in 2011. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award, the Cornell Provost’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, the Journal of Materials Chemistry Inaugural Editorial Board Award, New York State Faculty Development Award, CALS College Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Basic Research, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Point-of-Care Diagnostics Grand Challenge Award. He was also selected four times by Cornell’s top undergraduate seniors (Merrill Presidential Scholars) as a Cornell outstanding professor/mentor. Dr. Luo' group has published more than 150 peer reviewed papers with more than 20 in the top journals including subseries of Nature and Science (e.g. Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Science Robotics, etc). Dr. Luo has delivered close to 300 plenary or invited talks around the world. In 2013, Dr. Luo was elected as a College Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).

Wenlong Cheng
(University of Sydney, Australia)

Wenlong Cheng is a professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Sydney. He was a professor and director of research in the Department of Chemical&Biological Engineering at Monash University, Australia. He is currently NHMRC Investigator Leadership Fellow and a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and was an Ambassador Tech Fellow in Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication. He earned his PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2005 and his BS from Jilin University, China in 1999. He was Alexander von Humboldt fellow in the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and a research associate in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering of Cornell University. He founded Monash NanoBionics lab at the Monash University in 2010. His research interest lies at the Nano-Bio Interface, particularly self-assembly of 2D plasmonic nanomaterials, DNA nanotechnology, electronic skins and stretchable energy devices. He has published >200 papers. He is currently the scientific editor for Nanoscale Horizon (Royal Society of Chemistry) and the editorial board members for a few journals including Nanoscale, Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale Advances, Advanced Sensor Research, Advanced Electronic Materials, ChemNanomat, Advanced Sensors and Energy Materials, iScience, Chemosensors, Austin Journal of Biomedical Engineering, FlexTech and Wearable Electronics.

Maartje Bastings
(EPFL, Switzerland)

Maartje Bastings is a biomaterials engineer leading the Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory at EPFL. Dr. Bastings studies how rigidity versus flexibility and uniform control over nano-geometry interplay toward (super-)selectivity, using DNA as programmable engineering tool. Selectivity is key for the performance of nanotherapeutics, as it defines where and when an interaction will – or can – take place. Her team discovered that super-selective multivalent interactions can be achieved in the low-valency regime when binding units are spatially and geometrically constrained, a concept she defined as “Multivalent Pattern Recognition (MPR)”. She showed that molecular flexibility at interfaces comes with a cost in selectivity and demonstrated that the super-selectivity of materials for immune engineering can be controlled by their mechanical and structural design. Supporting the development of bioactive DNA-based nanomaterials, she made key contributions to ensure structural stability and methods to guide cell-uptake, which now are widely adopted as common-practice in the field.

Josep Puigmartí-Luis
(Department of Materials Science & Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Spain)

Prof. Dr. Josep Puigmartí-Luis is a Professor at University of Barcelona, working on controlled synthesis of functional materials with the aid of microfluidic technologies. His work in supramolecular and flow chemistry, has been awarded with “Premi Antoni de Martí i Franquès de Ciències Químiques”, award from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (2009), St. Jordi award from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and the Societat Catalana de Química (2006) and an ETH fellowship in 2008. In 2012, he was appointed a Ramon Y Cajal (RyC) researcher, and in 2015 was awarded an ERC starting grant to study and control self-assembly processes of metal-organic based crystalline materials. In 2019, he was appointed as an ICREA Research Professor, and since 2020, his group is located at the University of Barcelona (UB). He was also awarded "Rising Star Award" from IEEE-3M Nano Community in 2023.

BAIYAN SUI
(Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China)

Baiyan Sui received his Ph.D. degree in Basic Science of Stomatology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) in 2017. He is a Research Associate at the department of dental materials, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is also a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Biomaterials, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany) for a year in 2022. His research interests lie in the construction of functional inorganic nanoparticles for tumor therapy, the biological evaluation of various biomaterials, and the development of bioactive glasses for regenerative medicine.

Ji Ho Park
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Ji-Ho Park is Associate Professor of Bio and Brain Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. He holds an Affiliate appointment in the KAIST Institute of Health Science and Technology at KAIST. He received a B.S. degree in Materials Science and a M.S. degree in Medical Science from Yonsei University, South Korea. He then moved to the USA and received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from University of California, San Diego under the direction of Professor Michael Sailor in 2009. He joined the faculty in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST in 2011 after postdoctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley under Professor Peidong Yang. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. He is the recipient of Young Investigator Award from the Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering. He is the author of over 120 research publications in journals including Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, and PNAS, in subjects related to nanomedicine, drug delivery, and biomaterials. He has 30 patents or patents pending.

Gabe Kwong
(Georgia Tech, USA)

Dr. Kwong is an Associate Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. He earned his B.S. from UC Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Caltech both in Bioengineering. His research program is centered at the interface of bioengineering, immunology and medicine. His group pioneers cell therapies and biosensors to address frontier challenges in cancer, transplantation medicine, and infectious diseases. Among his distinctions, Dr. Kwong is a recipient of the NIH Director's New Innovator and Pioneer Awards, and currently leads the $49.5 million Cancer and Organ Degradome Atlas (CODA) project, a multi-institutional research enterprise supported by ARPA-H to revolutionize multi-cancer early detection. Dr. Kwong co-founded two biotechnology companies, and holds over 35 issued or pending patents.

Yoonkey Nam
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Yoonkey Nam is a Professor in Bio and Brain Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He received the B.S. degree from Seoul National University in 1997, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Since 2006, he has been with KAIST, where he is now a Professor of Bio and Brain Engineering and principal investigator of Neural Engineering Laboratory (https://neuros.kaist.ac.kr/). He served as the organizing committee member of MicroTAS 2015 and IEEE EMBC 2017, and as the Academic Program Chair of The Korean Society of Medical & Biological Engineering (KOSOMBE, 2010-2011), and The Korean BioChip Society (KBCS, 2017). His current research interests include the application of micro-and nanotechnology in neuroscience, Brain-on-a-Chip technology, electrical and optical neural interface technology, and multichannel neural signal processing. He is the recipient of the Young Biomedical Engineer Award from KOSOMBE (2011), and the Early Achievement Award from KBSC (2013), and elected as ‘The Top 100 Technologies and Leaders in 2025 Korea’ from The National Academy of Engineering of Korea in 2017.

Ji Ho Park
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Ji-Ho Park is Associate Professor of Bio and Brain Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea. He holds an Affiliate appointment in the KAIST Institute of Health Science and Technology at KAIST. He received a B.S. degree in Materials Science and a M.S. degree in Medical Science from Yonsei University, South Korea. He then moved to the USA and received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science from University of California, San Diego under the direction of Professor Michael Sailor in 2009. He joined the faculty in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST in 2011 after postdoctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley under Professor Peidong Yang. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015. He is the recipient of Young Investigator Award from the Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering. He is the author of over 120 research publications in journals including Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, and PNAS, in subjects related to nanomedicine, drug delivery, and biomaterials. He has 30 patents or patents pending.

BIN YANG
(Guangzhou Medical University, China)

Bin Yang received his B.Sc and Ph. D degrees in the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences from Wuhan University (2005-2014), and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Biomedical Engineering at Wayne State University from 2015 to 2017. In 2017, he joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Guangzhou Medical University as an associate professor. His research interests focus on developing functional polymeric nanomedicines for targeted drug delivery and cancer immunotherapy.

Artur Moreira Pinto
(LEBABE - University of Porto, Portugal)

Artur M. Pinto graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences, obtaining his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto (PT). His PhD work was carried out at LEPABE - FEUP, INEB-i3S, and University of Washington - Bioengineering Department - Buddy Ratner's Lab (USA). After his graduation, Artur has been appointed as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Materials and Interface Chemistry Lab (SMG) - Eindhoven University of Technology (NL), where he developed research work on graphene-based materials for electronic and biomedical applications, namely 3D printing of polymeric implants. Also, he was also Lecturing at the Chemical Engineering and Chemistry Department (Nanotechnology course). Following his Post-doc, Artur has been appointed as Researcher at INEB-i3S, being Principal Investigator of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) R&D project "NovaDerma", whose work plan comprised the development of innovative nanomaterials/drugs conjugates to be integrated in pharmaceutical formulations for the phototherapy of skin diseases, such as basal cell carcinoma. Meanwhile, he has been awarded a long-term Researcher position at LEPABE-FEUP, on the competitive national call CEEC-IND, carrying out his research activities on both institutions. Artur has been the main supervisor of 2 Postdocs, 9 Research Fellows, 2 BSc students, 1 MSc Student in Erasmus, 5 PhD students awarded a FCT grant (ongoing). He has supervised also 12 BSc/MSc trainees, 10 MSc students thesis. His >30 publications on 2DnMat/biomedical field have been cited >1700 times and have an h-index of 14 (i10 of 17). In the last 5 years he has published 22 articles, 10 of which in journals with IF>10 and 12 as the last author. His work has resulted in over 100 conference presentations, including several invited talks and workshops, resulting in 2 patent requests and 1 world patent granted. During his career, Artur has been involved in several international collaborative research projects, working directly with partners from institutions in countries such as the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Finland. The projects he has been involved in as a PI or proposal writer, amount to a total funding above 1M€. Artur has been performing the evaluation of international research projects, and has been invited for chairing and refereeing in prestigious conferences on his field of work. He recently organized a Symposium on Advanced Materials at the MRS Fall Meeting, and another one on 2D-Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications (UT Austin Portugal) together with colleagues from the USA. Also, Artur has received the Julia Polak European Research Award in recognition of the work developed in the field, by the European Society for Biomaterials. Artur has co-written a chapter on Carbon Biomaterials for the most recently-released 4th edition of the world-renowned book Biomaterials Science: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine. He is currently, Principal Investigator of 2 FCT projects, one of them from the UT Austin Portugal Program, whose work plan focuses on developing new 2D nanomaterials for cancer photo/immunotherapy. He is also Lecturing at FEUP's Chemical Engineering Department and supervising a team of >10 research fellows/PhD/MSc students.

Melis Emanet
(Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy)

Melis Emanet (female, born on May 22nd, 1989) is a Postdoctoral Collaborator at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in Italy, Department of since July 2020. She received her bachelor's degree in the Molecular Biology and Genetic Department at Istanbul University, Turkey. In February 2019, she received her Ph. D. in Biotechnology (with honors) from Yeditepe University, Turkey. Smart Bio-Interfaces, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. She was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Sabancı University in Istanbul, Department of Engineering and Natural Science between July 2019 – July 2020. Her main research interest is smart nanomaterials for nanomedicine and interactions at bio and nano interfaces. She participated as a researcher in 3 projects founded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). She has published 18 peer-reviewed papers and 15 conference papers in international journals and conferences, besides 2 book chapters in international books. She was also a teaching assistant of biochemistry and analytical chemistry lectures at the Department of Genetic and Bioengineering at Yeditepe University for 6 years between 2013 and 2019.

Nathaniel Hwang
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Nathaniel S. Hwang is currently a tenured full professor in the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. Prof. Hwang is a member of Institute for Chemical Processes and BioMAX Institute at Seoul National University. In addition, he also holds an adjunct position in Stem Cell Graduate Program and Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering at the Seoul National University.
Prof. Hwang received a bachelor degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering in 2002. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2007 under the guidance of Professor Jennifer Elisseeff. After doctoral studies, he was a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, Department of Bioengineering, and worked with Professor Shyni Varghese. From 2008 through 2011, he worked as a postdoctoral associate in Professor Robert Langer’s laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2011, Dr. Hwang joined the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University.
Prof. Hwang is currently leading a group of students that work together to develop new biomaterials, study stem cells, and design new technologies for regenerative medicine. In particular, Prof. Hwang’s laboratory is working toward the fabrication of bio-synthetic microenvironments conducive to stem cell differentiation by manipulating scaffold properties and incorporating the desired biological signals. In addition, Prof. Hwang’s laboratory is developing non-viral strategies for a direct conversion stem cell technology. He has published over 110 research articles and book chapters covering biomaterials and stem cells for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration (h-index >41, citations>6300). Prof. Hwang is an active member of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society and Korean Society for Biomaterials.

Nathaniel Hwang
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Nathaniel S. Hwang is currently a tenured full professor in the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. Prof. Hwang is a member of Institute for Chemical Processes and BioMAX Institute at Seoul National University. In addition, he also holds an adjunct position in Stem Cell Graduate Program and Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering at the Seoul National University.
Prof. Hwang received a bachelor degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering in 2002. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2007 under the guidance of Professor Jennifer Elisseeff. After doctoral studies, he was a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, Department of Bioengineering, and worked with Professor Shyni Varghese. From 2008 through 2011, he worked as a postdoctoral associate in Professor Robert Langer’s laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2011, Dr. Hwang joined the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University.
Prof. Hwang is currently leading a group of students that work together to develop new biomaterials, study stem cells, and design new technologies for regenerative medicine. In particular, Prof. Hwang’s laboratory is working toward the fabrication of bio-synthetic microenvironments conducive to stem cell differentiation by manipulating scaffold properties and incorporating the desired biological signals. In addition, Prof. Hwang’s laboratory is developing non-viral strategies for a direct conversion stem cell technology. He has published over 110 research articles and book chapters covering biomaterials and stem cells for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration (h-index >41, citations>6300). Prof. Hwang is an active member of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society and Korean Society for Biomaterials.

Marc-Andre Fortin
(CR-CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Canada)

Prof. Marc-André Fortin is the head of the Biomaterials for Imaging laboratory at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CR-CHU de Québec - Université Laval in Quebec City). He is a full professor at the department of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering at U. Laval. He is the founder and the manager of CR-CHU de Qc’s small-animal imaging platform (magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and X-ray computed tomography), mainly dedicated to the study of nano(bio)materials in vivo. Dr Fortin graduated with a Ph.D. from Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Énergie et Matériaux (INRS-ÉMT - Montréal), followed by a Postdoc in biomedical imaging at Uppsala and Linköping Universities (Sweden; in biomedical imaging). Dr Fortin received twice a Career Award from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRQS Junior 1 and 2; 2008 - 2016). His main research interests include the development of nano(bio)materials for imaging applications, new strategies to image the biodistribution of nanomaterials in vivo, additive manufacturing of biomedical polymers for enhanced visibility in biomedical imaging, as well as novel routes for radioactive nanoparticles synthesis. Dr. Fortin has published more than 70 scientific papers (ACS Nano, Nanoscale, Advanced Materials, Chemistry of Materials, Journal of Controlled Release…), 3 book chapters and 3 reviews in the field of nanomaterials for imaging. He holds several patents on novel nanoparticle synthesis routes by plasma technologies. Currently, he holds funding from NSERC, CIHR, CFI, FRQNT, and NRCan. He is a member of the College of Reviewers of the Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR; Pharmaceutical Sciences panel). At U.Laval since 2007, he lectures on materials analysis, biomedical imaging, and nanotechnology for biomedical applications. He chaired the International Gold Conference 2022 (www.gold2022.org), a scientific platform uniting research in gold-based nanomaterials for high-technology applications.

Maartje Bastings
(EPFL, Switzerland)

Maartje Bastings is a biomaterials engineer leading the Programmable Biomaterials Laboratory at EPFL. Dr. Bastings studies how rigidity versus flexibility and uniform control over nano-geometry interplay toward (super-)selectivity, using DNA as programmable engineering tool. Selectivity is key for the performance of nanotherapeutics, as it defines where and when an interaction will – or can – take place. Her team discovered that super-selective multivalent interactions can be achieved in the low-valency regime when binding units are spatially and geometrically constrained, a concept she defined as “Multivalent Pattern Recognition (MPR)”. She showed that molecular flexibility at interfaces comes with a cost in selectivity and demonstrated that the super-selectivity of materials for immune engineering can be controlled by their mechanical and structural design. Supporting the development of bioactive DNA-based nanomaterials, she made key contributions to ensure structural stability and methods to guide cell-uptake, which now are widely adopted as common-practice in the field.

William M. Shih
(Harvard University, USA)

Dr. Shih is a Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Cancer Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. William studied Biochemical Sciences at Harvard for his A.B. (1990–1994) and Biochemistry at Stanford for his Ph.D. (1994–2000) He did a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute (2001–2004) and has since been back at Harvard as a faculty member. His laboratory develops self-assembling DNA nanostructures and devices for use in biomedical applications.

Andreas Herrmann
(RWTH Aachen University, Germany)

Andreas Herrmann studied chemistry at the University of Mainz (Germany). From 1997 to 2000 he pursued his graduate studies at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany, in the group of Prof. Klaus Müllen. Then he worked as a consultant for Roland Berger Management Consultants in Munich (2001). In the years 2002 and 2003, he returned to academia as a postdoctoral fellow working on protein engineering with Prof. Don Hilvert at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich. In 2004, he was appointed as a head of a junior research group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. From 2007 to 2017 he held a position as full professor at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, where he headed the chair for Polymer Chemistry and Bioengineering. Since June 2017, he is scientific board member of the DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials in Aachen, Germany, and fills a position as full professor at RWTH Aachen University for Macromolecular Materials and Systems. In 2018, he became vice-director of the DWI – Leibniz Institute and director in 2023.

Youngeun Kim
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

B.S., Materials Science and Engineering (double major in Biomedical Engineering), Carnegie Mellon University (2011)
Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University (2016)
Postdoc, Harvard University (2017-2022)
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University (2022-present)

Bingyun Li
(West Virginia University School of Medicine, USA)

Dr. Bingyun Li is a full Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at West Virginia University (USA). He is a member of the Society for Biomaterials (SFB), Materials Research Society (MRS), Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Chinese Association for Biomaterials (CAB), and International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS). Currently, Dr. Li is serving as the President of CAB and Liaison Committee Chair of SFB. Dr. Li is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Dr. Li’s research focuses on advanced materials, bioengineering, and nanomedicine. He has supervised 100+ trainees, and his research group has published 112 peer-reviewed articles (h-index=53), four edited books, 11 book chapters, 12 provisional/full patents, and 178 abstracts. Dr. Li has given 67 invited talks including three keynote presentations at national and international conferences.

Jeremy L. Gilbert
(Clemson University, USA)

Jeremy L. Gilbert, Ph.D. (Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, 1987), is the Hansjörg Wyss Endowed Chair for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Bioengineering at Clemson University. He is the director of the Clemson – Medical University of South Carolina Bioengineering Program, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research – Part B: Applied Biomaterials and past president of the Society For Biomaterials. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (FAIMBE), a fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) of the international union of societies of biomaterials science and engineering (IUSBSE), and an associate member of The Hip Society. He was Professor of Biomaterials at Syracuse University for 18 years and an assistant and associate professor at Northwestern University for 11 years before that. Dr. Gilbert’s research area is primarily focused on metallic biomaterials, orthopedic implants and their degradation in the human body, implant retrieval analyses and development of advanced electrochemically-based test methods for medical devices and biomaterials. He has investigated orthopedic alloys and conjoint degradation modes related to tribology and electrochemistry (tribocorrosion). He also has carried out research focused on electrochemical control of biological processes including infection and cellular apoptosis at metal implant surfaces.

Jianjun Guan
(Washington University in St. Louis, USA)

Professor Guan is Earl E. & Myrtle E. Walker Professor of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Professor Guan’s research interests are in functional biomaterials and microenvironments for cell and drug delivery; oxygen sensitive biomaterials for non-invasively and real time imaging and detecting tissue oxygen during vascularization therapy; and cardiovascular, skin, and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. His research covers regenerative medicine, polymer, drug delivery, nanomedicine, stem cell, biomechanics, surgery and biomedical imaging fields.

Bingyun Li
(West Virginia University School of Medicine, USA)

Dr. Bingyun Li is a full Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at West Virginia University (USA). He is a member of the Society for Biomaterials (SFB), Materials Research Society (MRS), Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS), American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Chinese Association for Biomaterials (CAB), and International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society (ICMRS). Currently, Dr. Li is serving as the President of CAB and Liaison Committee Chair of SFB. Dr. Li is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Dr. Li’s research focuses on advanced materials, bioengineering, and nanomedicine. He has supervised 100+ trainees, and his research group has published 112 peer-reviewed articles (h-index=53), four edited books, 11 book chapters, 12 provisional/full patents, and 178 abstracts. Dr. Li has given 67 invited talks including three keynote presentations at national and international conferences.

Ranjit De
(Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Ranjit De is an innovative researcher who has received foundational training in polymer science, specifically exploring the physicochemical properties of polyelectrolytes in solution phase. However, he has since ventured into the realm of polymeric nanoparticles, light-responsive nanomaterials, etc., and their applications in various fields. His motivation stems from the conviction that revolutionary technologies can arise when different research areas converge.

One of his notable inventions is a versatile nanocarrier capable of loading and delivering sensitive therapeutics with protein-like properties, while also safeguarding them from degradation caused by heat and enzymes. This technology paves the way to negate the requirement of refrigeration otherwise required for the protection of proteinaceous therapeutics, e.g., vaccines, as the nature does. Consequently, it offers a solution to the challenges associated with transporting sensitive therapeutic materials to remote areas of developing countries lacking refrigeration infrastructure. These significant findings were featured on the cover page of a science journal published by the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry.

In another recent project, Dr. De devised a simple, rapid, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method to create nitrogen-enriched carbon quantum dots using a readily available microwave oven. These zero-dimensional nanomaterials exhibited excellent solubility in both aqueous and organic environments, making them suitable for a wide range of applications. These include the development of invisible ink, light-emitting polymeric molds, long-lasting stability on cellulose papers, finger imprinting, metal ion detection, pH sensing, ROS sensing, and bioimaging/drug delivery. Moreover, when these fluorescent graphitic carbon dots were tested on human neuroblastoma cells, they demonstrated exceptional cell viability, reaching approximately 100%. The groundbreaking nature of this work was acknowledged by its selection for highlighting on the cover page of a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. De also bears expertise in fabricating molecule sensor using the array of nobel metal nanostructures. Employing the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), the detection of such molecules have been highly successful wven when they were present in extremely low concentrations.

Dr. De's contributions have not gone unnoticed, as he received the esteemed 'J. K. Mittal' award for delivering the best oral presentation on his doctoral research from the Indian Society for Surface Science and Technology. His work has resulted in the publication of over 30 research papers to date, and researchers worldwide are actively utilizing his technologies.

Furthermore, Dr. De's overarching goal is to seamlessly integrate nanomaterials into biological systems, introducing functionalities that surpass the limitations of biology itself. By achieving this objective, he aims to transcend our biological boundaries and enable novel applications of nanomaterials in diverse biological contexts.

His objective is to be enriched with academic excellences through interdisciplinary research that supports proficiency to compete global challenges beyond the fields of nanotechnology, chemistry, biology, and physics to yield purpose driven discovery for societal benefits. He is inquisitive, fun-loving, and always ready to assist and collaborate. He believes “Interdisciplinary research is the future of science, and the measure of success is its real-life impact”.

Takahiro Nomoto
(University of Tokyo, Japan)

Takahiro Nomoto studied materials science in Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, and joined the laboratory of Prof. Kazunori Kataoka, starting his career as a researcher of biomaterials and drug delivery. After obtaining Ph.D. in Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, he has worked as Assistant Professor in Chemical Resources Laboratory (Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research from 2016), Tokyo Institute of Technology. He started his original research projects by re-interpreting/constructing Ringsdorf's model of polymer-drug conjugates. One of the most important achievements is the extremely simple polymer-drug conjugates for boron neutron capture therapy. In addition, he has developed polymer-drug conjugates for photodynamic therapy and polymeric iron chelators for potentially modulating tumor immune environment. In 2023, he moved to Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo as Associate Professor, and his laboratory started. His team conducts research to create new medical technologies by integrating various research fields with a focus on drug delivery.

Nicholas Dunne
(Dublin City University, Ireland)

Nicholas Dunne is the Full Professor of Biomaterials Engineering and holds Executive Directorship for the Medical Engineering Research Centre and Biodesign Europe at Dublin City University (Ireland). Prof Dunne's research programme lies at the interface of materials science, engineering and biology, and his group focuses in the development of stratified approaches for the design, manufacture and characterisation of drug-biomaterial combination medical devices for efficacious hard and soft tissue repair and regeneration. This work spans fundamental mechanisms at the host/material interface as well as translational research to target non-union bone defects, bone metastases and chronic wounds. This research programme has been developed via a strong, interdisciplinary research programme complimented with over-arching international research institute and industry collaborations.

Takahiro Nomoto
(University of Tokyo, Japan)

Takahiro Nomoto studied materials science in Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, and joined the laboratory of Prof. Kazunori Kataoka, starting his career as a researcher of biomaterials and drug delivery. After obtaining Ph.D. in Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, he has worked as Assistant Professor in Chemical Resources Laboratory (Laboratory for Chemistry and Life Science, Institute of Innovative Research from 2016), Tokyo Institute of Technology. He started his original research projects by re-interpreting/constructing Ringsdorf's model of polymer-drug conjugates. One of the most important achievements is the extremely simple polymer-drug conjugates for boron neutron capture therapy. In addition, he has developed polymer-drug conjugates for photodynamic therapy and polymeric iron chelators for potentially modulating tumor immune environment. In 2023, he moved to Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo as Associate Professor, and his laboratory started. His team conducts research to create new medical technologies by integrating various research fields with a focus on drug delivery.

Shivam Gupta
(National Tsing Hua University, Chinese Taipei)

Dr. Shivam Gupta received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan in 2019. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow under the supervision of Prof. Nyan-Hwa Tai at the National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan. He completed Master of Technology in Materials Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. His research interests encompass syntheses of carbon nanomaterials, metal oxide semiconductors, ferrites and their composites; and the applications of the synthesized nanomaterials in electromagnetic interference shield, biosensors, energy, electric devices and environmental science.

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.