Symposia Keynote Speakers

Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno

Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno is an European Registered Toxicologist (ERT) and Group Leader of the Nanosafety research area at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL). His work focuses on understanding the interactions between nanomaterials and biological systems, with particular emphasis on mechanisms of particle-induced toxicity, advanced in vitro models, and predictive approaches for human health risk assessment. He has contributed extensively to interdisciplinary efforts linking nanotechnology, toxicology, and materials science to support the development of safe-by-design nanomaterials and biomedical technologies. At INL, he leads collaborative projects addressing regulatory-relevant testing strategies and translational safety evaluation and during the last four years he has been coordinator of the iCare project, devoted to evaluate the neuronanosafety of advanced materials.

Prof. Conrado Aparicio

Dr. Aparicio is Group Leader of the Bioinspired Oral Biomaterials and Interfaces (BOBI) Lab and ICREA Research Professor at the Dpt. of Materials Science and Engineering of the UPC-Technical University of Catalonia since September 2024. Dr. Aparicio is materials engineer by training. He started his academic career at UPC, but moved to University of Minnesota (UMN) where he spent 12+ years in the Dpt. of Restorative Sciences and was Deputy Director of the Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics. He returned to Barcelona as FBA fellow at UIC Barcelona–Universitat International de Catalunya, where he was Vice-rector for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer and director of the Study and Control of Oral Infections Research Group. He is also associated researcher at IBEC-Institute for BioEngineering of Catalonia and elected fellow of AIMBE-American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Luigi Ambrosio

Luigi Ambrosio is Research Director Emeritus at the Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National Research Council, Naples, Italy.
President of the European Society of Biomaterials (2007-2013), Past President (2013-2017).
He is recipient of the “G. Winter Award” of the European Society for Biomaterials for the high worldwide contribution to Biomaterials Science (September 2015).
He has been nominated Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (since 2001), Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (since 2004), Fellow of the European Alliance for Medical and Biomedical Engineering & Science (since 2018) and Fellow Member of the European Academy of Science (since 2019). Executive Committee Member of International College of Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (Since May 2024)
Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine (2017-2025).
Publications include over 400 peer review papers, 27 patents, over 200 invited lectures and over 500 conference presentations.

Dr. Antonios Anastasiou

Dr Antonios Anastasiou graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) in 2008. In the same department he conducted his PhD research on the design and evaluation of Falling Film Microreactors between 2009 and 2013. In 2014 he started his Postdoc in the School of Chemical Engineering in University of Leeds, aiming to the investigation of medical devices for dental applications. In 2016 he was awarded an Individual Marie Curie Fellowship for the treatment of periodontitis using ultrafast femtosecond lasers. In 2019 he was appointed as a Lecturer in the Chemical Engineering Department in University of Manchester where he established the lab of Complex Fluids and Microfluidics while he intensified his research on microfluidics for biomedical applications.

Dr. Jennifer Ashworth  

Dr Jennifer Ashworth is a research group leader and Assistant Professor in Biomaterials and Complex Tissue Models at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her main research interest is designing tissue-mimetic biomaterials for 3D cell and organoid culture, with a particular focus on replicating extracellular matrix organisation. She completed her PhD in materials science at the University of Cambridge, UK, and now uses approaches from biomaterials science to characterise cell-matrix interactions in normal tissue and in disease progression. Her work developing animal-free peptide gels for 3D culture was recognised by a highly commended award from the International 3Rs Prize, and has now been commercialised through the University of Nottingham spin-out company PeptiMatrix, of which she is co-founder.

Dr. Ana Beloqui 

Dr. Ana Beloqui is a multidisciplinary researcher whose work spans chemistry, enzymology, nanotechnology, and applied polymer chemistry. She leads the PolyZymes Lab at POLYMAT Institute (Spain), where she has pioneered a research line focused on combining proteins and polymers to create advanced functional materials. These hybrids are meticulously designed to enhance the stability of functional proteins and expand their use in applications such as sensing, therapeutics, and bioremediation. With more than 70 original peer-reviewed research works, her contributions to the field have been recognized with the “Best Young Group Leader” award by the Group of Chemical Biology of the Spanish Royal Chemical Society.

Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Aldo R. Boccaccini is Professor of Materials Science and Head of the Institute of Biomaterials at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. His research activities are in the field of bioactive materials, scaffolds for tissue engineering, nanomaterials for drug delivery, biofabrication and antibacterial coatings. He has been a visiting professor at different universities around the world and has given more than 150 presentations at international conferences. He is listed as one of the most cited researchers in the world in the Stanford List of Highly Cited Researchers. He was member of the Council of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB) for 8 years (2015-2023), serving as ESB vice-president in 2020-2023. Boccaccini was elected Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) and he was inducted to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Boccaccini has received multiple international awards, including the ESB George Winter Award (2024) and the Larry L. Hench Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Ceramic Society (2025).

Dr. João Borges

Dr. João Borges is a Senior Researcher in the Department of Chemistry and CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. His research focuses on the molecular design, synthesis and development of chemically programmable and dynamic supramolecular multicomponent biomaterials to be used as bioinstructive matrices to control cell functions and as platforms for controlled drug/therapeutics/cell delivery. He currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Materials Chemistry B (RSC) and as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Medical Technology. He is a member of the RSC Biomaterials Chemistry Group and several scientific societies. He is a Chemistry Europe Fellow (Class 2022/2023) and has been recognized as an Emerging Investigator by Biomaterials Science (RSC, 2025) and Journal of Materials Chemistry B (RSC, 2023). He has been also actively invested in science communication, outreach, policy and diplomacy as a member of the Global Young Academy, Young Academy of Europe, and Young Scientists Seminar of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Marco Bottino 

Dr. Bottino is the Robert W. Browne Endowed Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics (CRSE) at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (U-M). He is currently the Director of Research in CRSE and the Director of the Postgraduate Program in Regenerative Dentistry at U-M. As a principal investigator, Marco has received research grants related to regenerative medicine from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), foundations, and private industry. He has received the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Centennial Emerging Leader Award and has received Young Investigator Awards from the IADR Pulp Biology and Implantology Research Groups, as well as a prestigious Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research at NIH. He also serves as the reviewer for more than 30 journals in regenerative medicine and biomaterials, and, between 2018 and 2023, served as a standing member of the Musculoskeletal and Tissue Engineering (MTE) study section for the NIH. Marco is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Dental Materials (ADM) and a board member. He was the 2019-2020 President of the Dental Materials Group of the IADR and is the Immediate Past-president of the Pulp Biology Research Group (PBRG). He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers in drug delivery, scaffolds for pulp-dentin complex regeneration, personalized scaffolds for craniomaxillofacial bone and periodontal regeneration, and soft tissue reconstruction.

Prof. Ruth Cameron

Professor Ruth Cameron FREng is Professor Materials Science at the University of Cambridge and was Joint Head of Department from 2020-2025. Together with Professor Serena Best she directs the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials and she is also a fellow of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge. In recent years, she has been awarded the UK Society for Biomaterials President’s Prize, the IOM3 Griffith Medal and Prize, the IOP Rosalind Franklin Medal and Prize, and the Suffrage Science Award. She has held an ERC Advanced Grant in 3D engineered environments for regenerative medicine and, with Serena Best, held the first jointly held £1.7 million EPSRC Established Career Fellowship.

Prof. Irene Carmagnola

During her research career, Prof. Carmagnola has developed strong expertise in biomaterials, nanotechnologies, and Tissue Engineering, with particular focus on the design, fabrication, and characterization of biomaterial-based scaffolds. She has applied both conventional techniques (electrospinning and freeze-drying) and advanced additive manufacturing approaches, including fused deposition modeling, bioprinting, and melt-electrowriting, to engineer scaffolds and advanced tissue models for therapy validation. She has also investigated the development of hydrogel-based bioinks for 3D printing to generate cellularized constructs.
Her main research focus is the development of engineered tissue models as alternatives to conventional in vitro and animal models for studying disease mechanisms and testing novel therapies. In this context, she has developed in vitro models of cardiac and skeletal muscle tissues. She has also gained solid expertise in surface functionalization and in the design of micro- and nanostructured materials to modulate biological responses, including antibacterial surfaces and biomaterials with improved bioactivity.

Gianluca Ciardelli

Gianluca Ciardelli is Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino (Italy), where he coordinates the Bioinside Group within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He obtained his degree in Chemistry from the University of Pisa in 1994 and a PhD in Natural Sciences from ETH Zurich in 1997.

His research focuses on biomaterials for tissue engineering, organ modeling, controlled drug delivery, and nanomedicine, with over 20 years of experience in these fields. He has authored more than 250 scientific publications, with an h-index of 51 and over 10,000 citations (Scopus).

He served as Chair of the 34th Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials, held in Turin in 2025.

Gianni Ciofani

Gianni Ciofani, Ph.D., is Senior Researcher Tenured at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia -Italian Institute of Technology, IIT- (Italy), where he is Principal Investigator of the Smart Bio-Interfaces Research Unit and Coordinator of the Center for Materials Interfaces. He has been Associate Professor at the Polytechnic University of Torino (Italy; 2015-2019) and Visiting Professor at Waseda University (Japan; 2021) and at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil; 2024). His main research interests concern smart nanomaterials for nanomedicine, microphysiological systems, and nanomedicine in altered gravity conditions.

Dr. Sophie Cox  

Dr Sophie Cox is an Associate Professor and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Birmingham. Her research team, the Centre for Custom Medical Devices, focuses on the exploitation of additive manufacturing technologies for skeletal implants. Through developing new fundamental understanding of metal additive manufacturing technologies, the team apply this knowledge to refine design and process parameters specifically for skeletal devices. Beyond this they aim to improve patient outcomes by creating novel metabiomaterials achieved by aligning novel material functionalities with high quality production of intricate porous device designs.

Prof. Dr. Sanjukta Deb 

Sanjukta Deb is a Full Professor of Biomaterials Science and Dean for International Engagement and Service at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King’s College London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Academy of Dental Materials. Her internationally recognised research advances clinically translatable, materials‑based solutions for the repair and regeneration of damaged tissues. Leveraging biomaterials chemistry, her work focuses on the design of tissue‑analogue systems, particularly for bone regeneration, antimicrobials, bone and dental cements, and advanced dental applications bridging fundamental science with real‑world clinical outcomes.

Paul Delrot 

Paul Delrot is CEO and co-founder of Readily3D. Paul co-invented the volumetric bioprinting technology at the end of his PhD studies in 2017 at EPFL, Switzerland. After transferring what was a lab experiment into a standalone and user-friendly 3D printer, Paul co-founded Readily3D in 2020. Since then, Paul has focused on demonstrating the wide range of applications enabled by volumetric bioprinting while leading product development at Readily3D.

Rui Domingues

Rui M. A. Domingues is a Research Group Leader at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), Portugal, where he leads an interdisciplinary research program at the interface of nanotechnology, biomaterials, biofabrication, and microphysiological systems. Trained as a chemist, he received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aveiro and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Minho and as a visiting researcher at The University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on nanostructured biomaterials and human microphysiological tendon models to study disease mechanisms and develop regenerative strategies. He is an ERC Consolidator Grant recipient (FORTIFy) and actively contributes to the European regenerative medicine community through TERMIS-EU Strategic Alliance Committee and the TENET – Tendon Regeneration Network.

Dr. Christophe Drouet

Drouet is a CNRS Senior Scientist (eq. Full Professor), Deputy Director of the CIRIMAT laboratory at the University of Toulouse, France. PhD in (bio)Materials Sciences, he develops his research on the “Phosphates, Pharmacotechnics, Biomaterials” theme. A special focus in C. Drouet’s research relates to the development of bioactive calcium phosphate-based systems (e.g. with antimicrobial, hemostatic, anticancer or prohealing features) and their processing into actual multifunctional medical devices. In particular, bone-biomimetic nanocrystalline apatites are especially studied, as such or in association with (bio)organic components to yield smart hybrid biomaterials for use in activated bone regeneration and nanomedicine (in dermatology, oncology, hematology…). Cited each year in the 2% most Highly-Cited Researchers from the Stanford surveys, C. Drouet received two international awards, the honorary Racquel Legeros Award in June 2013 and the ISCM Excellence Award in 2016, for his contribution to the field of calcium phosphates research.

Prof. Dr. Laura De Laporte

Laura De Laporte combines engineering, chemistry and biology to design biomaterials that control and direct the interaction with cells. She is a Chemical Engineer from Ghent, where she got the tissue engineering microbe. To follow her dream, she did her PhD with Lonnie Shea at Northwestern University and engineered guiding implants for nerve regeneration. At EPFL, she learned about hydrogels in Jeffrey Hubbell’s group during her post-doctoral research. Since 2018, she is a Leibniz Professor at the RWTH University in Aachen, Germany, where she works on Macromolecular Materials for Medicine at the DWI-Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials. Her team designs injectable polymeric hydrogel precursors, consisting of nano –and micron-scale building blocks that interlink to form macroporous 3D cell scaffolds and organoids, orient after injection to grow anisotropic tissues, and actuate to include movement into the growing tissues.

Dr. Mohamed Elsawy

‘Dr Mohamed Elsawy is Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Manchester, UK. He obtained his PhD from the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University of Belfast, UK. Following PhD, he did a postdoctoral training at the Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie at University of Bordeaux (France) funded by the Campus France & at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester funded by the EPSRC. In 2017, he started the Peptide BioNanomaterials Group, with a research focus on understanding the fundamentals behind molecular self-assembly of peptides into bio-inspired nanostructures for the rational design of responsive and functional novel biomaterials. Dr Elsawy has authored >54 peer-reviewed and conference publications, secured >£2.4 M from UKRI and Charities, mentored >23 early-career researchers (both PhDs and PDRAs), and plays an active leadership role in the international biomaterials community through the European Society of Biomaterials and the Royal Society of Chemistry.’

Prof. Dr. Anitha Ethirajan 

Prof. Dr. Anitha Ethirajan is a professor at the Institute for Materials Research (IUMAT) at Hasselt University, Belgium. In 2013, she received a postdoctoral fellowship of the Research foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium, enabling her to build an independent research team focusing on drug delivery, nano-bio and soft matter interfaces, and sensing. Within the field of drug delivery, her research targets stimuli responsive nanoparticles/nanocapsules based therapies in the field of cancer, tissue repair, and neurodegenerative diseases. She is currently heading an interdisciplinary research group ‘Nanobiophysics and Soft Matter Interfaces’ and she is also the coordinator of a master programme: Master in Biomedical Sciences – ‘Bioelectronics and Nanotechnology’ at Hasselt University.

Hugo Fernandes

Hugo Fernandes is Principal Investigator at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. The Fernandes lab’s research primarily investigates how ageing and metabolic diseases influence the process of tissue regeneration. To achieve this, the team specializes in developing advanced cell-based models that accurately mimic the cellular and molecular environment found in damaged or degenerated tissues. Using a high-throughput screening approach, our main goal is to identify molecules that can actively promote tissue regeneration, with a specific focus on understanding the function of non-coding RNAs in this process. A unifying theme connecting all the regenerative processes/strategies studied in the lab is the critical role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in cell-to-cell communication and their potential use as innovative drug delivery systems.

Prof. Carmen Freire

Carmen Freire (PhD, Mrs) is a Coordinating Researcher with Habilitation at CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials and Department of Chemistry of the University of Aveiro (Portugal) in the field of Biorrefineries and Bio-based materials. (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6320-4663)
Her research interests are mainly centered on the production and application of bio-based nanofibers (nanocelluloses, and protein amyloid fibrils), and other natural polymers, for the development of novel biocomposites and hybrid bio-based materials for both technological (packaging, functional paper materials, electronic devices, among others) and biomedical applications (drug delivery systems, bioinks for 3D-bioprinting, among others). She is also interested in the chemical modification and chemistry in general of lignocellulosic materials (including cellulose, wood, cork, etc.) and natural polymers as a strategy to improved their properties for distinct applications.

Prof. Marcelo Ganzarolli de Oliveira

Marcelo Ganzarolli de Oliveira is a full professor at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil, where he leads the Nitric Oxide & Biomaterials Group. He earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Science in 1992 from UNICAMP and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Southampton, UK (1993–1995). His research focuses on the design, development, and biomedical applications of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing polymeric biomaterials. The systems developed by his team have demonstrated significant biological effects, including the acceleration of wound healing and the enhancement of dermal vasodilation. He currently coordinates the Brazilian side of a bilateral Brazil-Netherlands thematic project funded by FAPESP/NWO. This initiative focuses on the development of 3D-printed NO-releasing absorbable stents to prevent restenosis, as well as topical and injectable hybrid NO-releasing hydrogels aimed at mitigating myocardial tissue damage associated with the ischemia-reperfusion process.

Prof. Julien Gautrot 

Julien Gautrot is Professor of Biomaterials and Biointerfaces in the School of Engineering and Materials Science at Queen Mary, University of London. After a PhD at Manchester University and postdoctoral research, first at the Universite de Montreal, then at the University of Cambridge, he joined QMUL as a lecturer in 2011. His research focuses on the development of biointerfaces and engineered biomaterials for stem cell technologies, gene delivery and regenerative medicine. In particular, his group has been exploring cross-talks between the physico-chemistry and biochemistry of soft biointerfaces (polymer brushes, hydrogels and protein assemblies) and the mechanical properties and microstructure of the cell microenvironment, and their impact on the regulation of cell adhesion and stem cell phenotype. Some of this work has led to the design of microfabricated platforms to investigate processes regulating cell phenotype and the engineering of organ-on-chip systems. These advanced in vitro models allow us to study more complex stem cell microenvironments such as the bone marrow and microvascular tissues, for example to investigate cancer progression and resistance to therapy. The Gautrot lab also pioneered novel approaches to investigate the impact of physico-chemical properties of gene delivery vectors on the complexation and release profile of RNA therapeutics and the impact such processes have on gene therapies.

Prof. Dr. Maria-Pau Ginebra

Maria-Pau Ginebra is Scientific Director of the Barcelona Research Centre in Multiscale Science and Engineering, and Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at  Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, where she heads the Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group. Her research centers on innovative biomaterials for tissue engineering, particularly for bone regeneration and antimicrobial applications, including pioneering work on bio-inspired ceramics and 3D-printing for regenerative medicine. She leads numerous projects, including an ERC Advanced Grant, as well as translational projects to the clinic and industry. In 2013 she founded the spin-off company Mimetis Biomaterials. She has authored more than 300 scientific articles. In 2019 she received the Klaas de Groot Award from the European Society for Biomaterials and in 2025 the National Research Award in Engineering and Architecture by the Spanish Government. She is a Fellow of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

Prof. Manuela E. Gomes

Manuela E. Gomes is a Professor and Codirector of the Bioengineering Program at the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) of the University of Porto and Leader of the Research Group on Regenerative Medicine and 3D Tissue Modelling.
Her research interests focus on tissue engineering strategies using magnetic stimulus for the development of anisotropic scaffold materials and bioinks to trigger stem cells differentiation and/or to modulate inflammation, particularly for tendon regeneration. She has led several projects in these topics, including 2 ERC Grants. Currently her team is exploring similar concepts in the development of advanced 3D musculoskeletal tumours and models.
As a result of her research, she has a total of 350 indexed publications, that have received over 12.000 citations (web of Science).
Manuela Gomes is a Fellow of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (FTERM) and Fellow of International Orthopaedic Research (FIOR). She is the present Chair of the TERMIS- EU and Ambassador to Portugal of the EORS

Kunio Ishikawa

Kunio Ishikawa, PhD, is Chairman and Distinguished Professor of the Department of Biomaterials, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, Japan. He received his PhD in Chemistry from Osaka University in 1990. Following industrial experience at Toray Co., Ltd., he pursued an academic career in biomaterials and has led the Department of Biomaterials at Kyushu University since 2001. His research focuses on biomaterials for bone regeneration, implant materials, antibacterial biomaterials, and stem cell research using carbonate apatite. Professor Ishikawa has played leading roles in international and national biomaterials communities, serving as President of the Japanese Society for Biomaterials and the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine. He has received numerous awards, including the Medal with Purple Ribbon (2024) and the Commendation for Science and Technology from the Japanese Government.

Prof. Daniel Kelly

Professor Daniel Kelly holds the Chair of Tissue Engineering at Trinity College Dublin. The goal of his laboratory is to develop novel tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting strategies to regenerate damaged and diseased musculoskeletal tissues. To date he has published over 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has successfully supervised over 25 PhD students to completion. He is the recipient of five European Research Council awards (Starter grant 2010; Consolidator grant 2015; Proof of Concept grant 2017, 2023; Advanced grant 2021), which have led to the development of new single stage strategies for bone and cartilage repair and innovations in 3D (bio)printing for the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues. He is also a co-founder of Altach Biomedical (https://altach.health/), which is pioneering the development of extracellular matrix derived scaffolds to regenerate damaged knee joints.

Dr. Byoung Soo Kim

Dr. Byoung Soo Kim is an Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Convergence Engineering at Pusan National University, Republic of Korea. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 2019, where his doctoral research focused on bioprinting and tissue engineering. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Biomedical Engineering Institute of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. His research focuses on 3D bioprinting, biofabrication, tissue engineering, mechanobiology, mechanical bioreactors, and AI-assisted bioprinting for biomedical applications. He has published extensively in leading journals, including Biomaterials, Advanced Functional Materials, Advanced Science, Nature Communications, Biofabrication, and Chemical Reviews. His current work aims to develop advanced engineered tissue models and biofabrication platforms for regenerative medicine and disease modeling.

Dr. Soohong Lee

Dr. Soo-Hong Lee is a Professor in the Department of Medical Biotechnology at Dongguk University. He earned his B.S. (1994), M.S. (1997), and Ph.D. (2002) degrees in Chemistry from Hanyang University and worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Rice University. Dr. Lee began his academic career as a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Science at CHA University (2006–2018) and moved to Department of Biomedical Engineering at Dongguk University in 2018. His research focuses on biomaterials, tissue engineering, stem cell engineering, and cell therapy. He has published over 180 scientific papers, which have been cited more than 11,156 times (H-index = 51). Additionally, he holds more than 60 granted or pending patents. Dr. Lee has received numerous prestigious awards including Award Certificate from Ministry of Health and Welfare (2025), IUSBSE Fellow (2024), Grand Prize from the Korean Society for Biomaterials (2023).

Prof. Geetha Manivasagam

Prof. Geetha Manivasagam, PhD, is the Dean of the School of Healthcare Sciences and Engineering (SHINE) at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, and the founding Director of VIT’s Center for Biomaterials, Cellular and Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT), established in 2016 to translate healthcare products and innovations across diagnostics, therapeutics, and theranostics. She has published 150+ papers, with research spanning on biotribocorrosion, surface engineering of biomedical implants, additive manufacturing of novel alloys and biomimetic orthopaedic devices, and functionalization/coating of implant materials. She leads collaborative projects and product development with universities and industry, supported by a global network across 20+ countries. She has secured over €500k in research funding from major national granting bodies in India. Her honours include the Fulbright–Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship and recognition as the No. 1 scientist in Materials Science by the Government of India’s MHRD (2016), among other accolades. She also serves as Vice President of the Society for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine India (STERMI) and is an elected Fellow of the Society of Biomaterials and Artificial Organs India (SBAOI).

João F. Mano 

João F. Mano is a Full Professor at the Chemistry Department of University of Aveiro, Portugal. He combines advanced biomaterials and cells towards multidisciplinary concepts in the field of regenerative and personalized medicine. Specifically, he utilizes biomimetic and nano/micro-technology approaches to develop polymer-based biomaterials for the creation of biomedical devices with enhanced structural and multi-functional properties. He also engineers microenvironments to regulate cell behavior and organization, with the goal of clinically applying these technologies in advanced therapies or in the bioengineering of disease models. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Materials Today Bio (Elsevier). He has been coordinating multiple research projects, including 2 Advanced Grants, 1 Synergy Grant, and 3 Proof-of-Concept Grants from the European Research Council. He received different honours, including two honoris causa doctorates (Univ. of Lorraine and Univ. Utrecht), the George Winter Award 2020 from the ESB and he was elected fellow FEurASc, FBSE and FAIMBE.

Dr. Emanuele Mauri

Dr. Emanuele Mauri is Associate Professor in Applied Physical Chemistry at Politecnico di Milano. His research focuses on polymer functionalization and the development of smart biomaterials for drug and cell delivery in nanomedicine and tissue engineering. He has expertise in the design of nanoparticles for targeted therapies, microfluidic-based synthesis of polymeric nanoscaffolds, and 3D printing of bioinks and microstructured platforms. He has gained international research experience through visiting appointments at leading European universities. His scientific contributions have been recognized with international awards from major biomaterials societies and nanotechnology initiatives. In recognition of his research and international collaborations, he was appointed Honorary Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. He has authored over 55 peer-reviewed publications, two volumes in the Advances in Chemical Engineering series, and seven book chapters.

Dr. Thomas Fintan Moriarty

Thomas Fintan Moriarty, PhD, is Group Leader of Infection Biology at the AO Research Institute Davos, Switzerland, where he leads research on musculoskeletal and implant‑associated infections. Trained as a microbiologist and pharmaceutics scientist at Queen’s University Belfast, Dr Moriarty has over 15 years of experience studying Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, fracture‑related infection, and novel anti‑infective strategies. His work focuses on translational approaches to prevent and treat bone infection, including local antimicrobial delivery systems, antibiofilm biomaterials, bacteriophages, and enzyme‑based therapeutics. He has numerous nationally and internationally funded projects, including EU FP7 and JPIAMR programs, and his laboratory is among the few GLP‑accredited academic facilities dedicated to orthopaedic infection research.

Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Moroni

Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Moroni received his Ph.D. cum laude in 2006 at University of Twente on 3D scaffolds for osteochondral regeneration, for which he was awarded the European doctorate award in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering from the European Society of Biomaterials (ESB).
Since 2014 he works at Maastricht University, where he is a founding member of the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine. In 2016, he became full professor in biofabrication for regenerative medicine. Since 2019, he is chair of the Complex Tissue Regeneration department. He was vice-director of MERLN from 2019 till 2022. Since 2022, he is director of MERLN.
In 2014, he received the Jean Leray award from the ESB and an ERC starting grant. In 2016, he also received the Robert Brown Award from TERMIS. In 2017, he was elected as faculty of the Young Academy of Europe and in the top 100 Italian scientists within 40 worldwide by the European Institute of Italian Culture. He was elected at the European Young Academy of Science in 2017, and at the European Academy of Science in 2022. He received the Merck Materials Science lecture award in 2023, the mid-term career TERMIS and ISBF awards in 2024. He was also elected in 2024 as Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering as well as Fellow of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.
He already guided more than 20 PhD students through their theses as (co-)promoter, and 15 postdocs through their next career steps as professional leaders either in academia or industry. His research group interests aim at developing biofabrication technologies to generate libraries of 3D biological constructs and scaffolds able to control cell fate, with applications spanning from skeletal to vascular, neural, and organ regeneration. From his research efforts, 3 products have already reached commercial translation.

Dr. Irina Negut

Dr. Irina Neguț is a Senior Scientific Researcher at the National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics in Măgurele, Romania, and a Lecturer at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics. With a Ph.D. in Physics (Optics, Spectroscopy, Plasma, Lasers), her research focuses on laser-based synthesis of thin films for biomedical, environmental, and industrial applications. She has extensive expertise in pulsed laser deposition, bioglass coatings, and smart biomaterials for implants and drug delivery systems.

Dr. Thanh D. Nguyen 

Dr. Nguyen is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, joined with the Biomedical Engineering department at the University of Connecticut (UConn). His research is highly interdisciplinary and at the interface of biomedicine, materials and nano/micro technology. Specifically, his research focuses on the science and technology to transform biodegradable and biocompatible materials (e.g surgical-suture polymers and amino acids) into special forms, shapes, or structures with “smart” functions at nano/micro-scales for diverse applications in vaccine/drug delivery, regenerative engineering and electrical implants. He developed a platform technology, so-called SEAL (StampEd Assembly of polymer Layer) to create 3-dimensional microstructures of biodegradable polymers and advanced the SEAL method to create a novel single-administration self-boosting skin microneedle patch for vaccines and other therapeutics. Besides, his research group at UConn has extensively studied biodegradable piezoelectric materials, derived from safe medical polymers and natural amino acids, to develop novel biodegradable implanted force-sensor and ultrasound transducer for monitoring vital intra-organ pressures and delivering medicines through the blood-brain barrier, respectively. The biodegradable piezoelectric materials were also used as a tissue scaffold which can be remotely activated to produce electrical cues for stimulating tissue regeneration. Dr. Nguyen’s works have been published in prestigious journals including Science, Science Translational medicine, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communication, Advanced Materials, PNAS etc. and highlighted in major media such as The New York Times, BBC News, the Guardian, NIH research matter etc. He was elected as the senior member of National Academy of Inventor – NAI (2024). He is the associate editor of the journal of Biomaterials and serving as a standing review member for National Institute of Health (NIH). He received several awards/honors including the MRS Early Career Distinguished Presenter (2025), the Young Investigator Award from the journal of Biomaterials (2022), ACell Young Investigator Award (2020), MIT top innovator under 35 for Asia Pacific (2019), NIH Trailblazer Award for Young and Early Investigators (2018), SPIE Rising Researcher Award (2019), Young Investigator Award in Biosciences and Bioengineering of Applied Sciences (2019), and the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2018) etc.

Dr. Guy Patchornik

Dr. Patchornik earned a PhD in biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel in 2002, studying the structure of: Na,K-ATPase. He then held a postdoctoral fellow position at UCLA, while unsuccessfully attempting to crystallize a membrane protein, lactose permease. In 2009, he joined the Department of Chemical Sciences at Ariel University, also in Israel. Currently, his research group focuses on the development of a potentially general and simple-to-implement mechanism based on divalent cation conjugation by His-tags, and capable of directing protein monomers & dimers to assemble into nanofibers and 2D sheets. To date, this mechanism has been successfully applied to five unrelated proteins: (1) human ubiquitin; (2) Cas9; (3) red fluorescent protein mCherry; (4) alkaline phosphatase; and (5) the Z-domain of Protein A.

Prof. Cecilia Persson

Prof. Cecilia Persson directs the AM4Life Competence Centre in Additive Manufacturing for the Life Sciences, as well as the EU MSCA Doctoral Network Print4Life and the open research infrastructure WISE Additive. She is the past President of the Scandinavian Society for Biomaterials (2019-2023).

She has authored more than 140 journal publications in biomaterials and biomechanics and has attracted research funding to a value of more than 60M€. She has received several scientific and innovation awards, e.g. the Scandinavian Society for Biomaterials Research Award in 2024, and is the co-founder of spin-off company Inossia AB, which provides a tailored bone cement for the osteoporotic spine.

Her educational background includes a European MSc in Materials Engineering from Sweden, France and Spain. She worked as a researcher at the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute in Bologna before starting her PhD studies in Spine Biomechanics at the University of Leeds. Since the PhD completion in 2009 she has been at Uppsala University, Sweden, a world top 100 university. She became full professor in 2018 and currently leads a research group of approx. 15 people, focussing on the development of new biomaterials through and for additive manufacturing.

Dr. Fiorenza Rancan

Fiorenza Rancan is an assistant professor in the Department of Dermatology at Charité University Hospital in Berlin. The Clinical Research Center for Skin and Hair Science conducts multidisciplinary research at experimental and clinical levels. Dr. Rancan is involved in several translational projects that aim to apply scientific findings to clinical practice. Her research interests range from dermal and transdermal drug delivery to chronic wound research and the development of topical treatments with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. The research group uses models based on ex vivo human skin with varying degrees of barrier disruption and inflammation to study inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, burns, and chronic wounds. Additionally, skin and wound infection models are used as preclinical platforms to screen antimicrobial treatments.

Prof. Leonardo Ricotti

Leonardo Ricotti is a Full Professor of Bioengineering and head of the Regenerative Technologies Lab (www.regenerativelab.it) at the BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa, Italy). His research interests include biophysical stimulation tools (e.g., ultrasound), functional biomaterials, smart nanomaterials, and other technologies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He also coordinates the PhD Program in Biorobotics at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, which involves ~ 150 PhD students working on bioengineering- and robotics-related topics. He has co-authored ~ 190 scientific publications, contributed six book chapters on biomedical technologies, and is the inventor of 24 patents. He has co-founded the spin-off company Relief s.r.l., where he currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Riccardo Rizzo

Dr. Riccardo Rizzo is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Laboratory of Applied Photonic Devices at EPFL, Lausanne, where his research focuses on tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing. His work spans from the design of novel photosensitive bioresins to the advancement of the printing process and its biomedical applications. In particular, Dr. Rizzo explores bioprinting strategies for tissue engineering and organ-on-chip technologies, aiming to bridge cutting-edge photonics with clinically relevant solutions.

Dr. Rizzo’s contributions in light-based bioprinting began during his doctoral studies in the Zenobi-Wong Lab at ETH Zurich, where he developed innovative printing and chemistry approaches. He continued to advance this line of research as a postdoctoral fellow in the Lewis Lab at Harvard University, exploring the intersection of biomaterials, photonics, and stem cell engineering. His work has led to numerous publications and recognition within the scientific community, highlighting the novelty and promise of his contributions.

Prof. Laura Russo

Laura Russo is Associate Professor at University of Milano-Bicocca, Associated Researcher at IRCCS San Gerardo Foundation University Hospital Visiting Faculty at CÚRAM-University of Galway. Her research is focused on biomaterials for the development of multifunctional medical devices, including 3D in vitro tissue models, regenerative medicine and medical devices and patient-personalized biosensors. Her research experience dates to 2010, University of Milano-Bicocca, developing a multidisciplinary project exploiting glycoscience in the field of biomaterials for tissue engineering. ​In 2010 LR was Visiting Researcher at Imperial College of London, studying hybrid bioglass based biomaterials for osteochondral tissue regeneration. From 2013 to 2015, she was a unit coordinator of a research project on smart biomaterials for organoid cell cultures for cardiac tissue engineering. In 2016, Laura was awarded an SFI Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG) at CÚRAM – where she started her research as Principal Investigator on Glycoconjugates Biomaterials for tissue engineering applications.  In 2017, she secured a faculty position at the University of Milano – Bicocca and maintained the position of visiting faculty at CÚRAM. Laura has been awarded the prestigious Junior Research Award for Organic Chemistry in Life Science of the Italian Chemical Society for her scientific contribution on organic chemistry applied to the life science field. Laura is Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Biocompatibility Innovation (BCI) and founder of Resyde srl – a start-up company in the field of implantable medical devices.

Prof. Chris Sammon

Professor Chris Sammon is a materials scientist whose research addresses fundamental and applied challenges in polymer science and biomaterials, with a particular focus on structure–property–function relationships in polymeric and hybrid systems. His work centres on molecular and nanoscale characterisation of polymers, composites, and bio‑interfaces, linking chemical architecture, morphology, and processing to mechanical, thermal, and functional performance.

He has contributed to the development and analysis of polymer‑based biomaterials for biomedical and environmental applications, using microscopic, spectroscopic, thermal and micromechanical techniques to inform durability, biocompatibility, and long‑term stability. His research supports the rational design of polymer systems for translation into real‑world biomaterials applications.

Chris also provides strategic leadership in interdisciplinary materials research as Chair of the RSC Biomaterials Chemistry Group and, in his day job, as Associate Dean of Research at Sheffield Hallam University, fostering collaboration across academia, industry and healthcare.

Fredrik Schaufelberger 

Fredrik Schaufelberger is assistant professor of synthetic chemistry at the University of Warwick and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. His group studies the use of the mechanical bond for applications in biomaterials and in chemical biology. Fredrik obtained his undergraduate degree from KTH (2007-2012), followed by PhD studies at the same university in the area of supramolecular and dynamic covalent chemistry with Olof Ramström. Following his dissertation, he moved to the group of David A. Leigh at the University of Manchester with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (2017-2020), where he studied functional molecular knots and chemically fuelled molecular assemblies such as rotaxanes. He then moved to the group of Molly M. Stevens at Imperial College London (2020-2021), working on biosensing and drug delivery. He started his independent career at KTH in 2021, and moved to Warwick in 2024.

Prof. Dr. Tatiana Segura

Tatiana Segura is the Robert Plonsey Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. She received her B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), her doctorate from Northwestern University, and her postdoctorate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. She began her independent career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) reaching the title of Professor of Chemical Engineering. At UCLA she participated actively in service culminating with her election as department Vice Chair and running the Graduate Program. At Duke she is currently Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering and serves as MPI of a T32 Biotechnology Training grant. Professor Segura has received numerous awards and distinctions during her career, including being named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors, receiving the Acta Biomaterialia Silver Medal, a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and an Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. Professor Segura has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers and reviews and has over 16,000 citations.

Prof. Raj Shabadi 

Prof. Raj Shabadi is Professor of Materials Science at Université de Lille, France, where he leads research on advanced metallic biomaterials and next-generation bioresorbable implant systems. His work focuses on the design and processing of magnesium-based and other biodegradable metallic alloys, integrating alloy architecture, microstructural engineering and surface functionalisation to control degradation behaviour and biological performance in orthopaedic and dental applications.
His research seeks to bridge fundamental materials science with translational biomedical technologies through predictive materials engineering approaches that combine advanced processing, microstructural design and emerging data-driven methodologies. Beyond his scientific contributions, Prof. Shabadi is actively involved in structuring international research collaborations in degradable metallic biomaterials across Europe and Asia. He contributes to initiatives aimed at strengthening European research networks and international doctoral training in this field, including the NEGBIO initiative, which focuses on advancing next-generation biodegradable metallic implants through integrated materials design, biological performance evaluation and pathways toward clinical translation.

Prof. Ángel Serrano-Aroca

Serrano-Aroca is a Full Professor at the Universidad Católica de Valencia (UCV) and Principal Investigator of the Biomaterials and Bioengineering Lab (Serrano BBlab). He studied Chemical Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and received his European PhD after a long stay at Université Paris-Saclay with a Marie Curie Fellowship. His research focuses on antimicrobial materials for biomedical applications, with 5 patents and over 150 publications. He was postdoctoral researcher at the King’s College London and Visiting Professor at NTNU Nowegian University of Science and Technology and at the University of Pennsylvania in the USA. He was co-founding member of the spin-off company Metis Biomaterials SL and has received multiple research awards. He has been included in the Stanford University’s “World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists” database for the past five years (2021-2025).

Prof. Artemis Stamboulis

Artemis Stamboulis is Professor of Biomaterials at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. She is a chemist and materials scientist whose research focuses on antimicrobial biomaterials, surface engineering and functional coatings for medical devices. Her work explores the design of bioactive materials that reduce infection risk, including the synthesis of antimicrobial peptides and their integration into metals, ceramics and polymer surfaces. Her research also investigates nanomaterial systems and peptide functionalisation strategies for the development of antimicrobial coatings and biomaterial interfaces. She has led and participated in several international interdisciplinary research collaborations, including European funded projects addressing antimicrobial surfaces and infection control. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials (IOM3) and an active member of the Bioceramics division of the American Ceramic Society.

Prof. Sabine van Rijt

Sabine van Rijt is Professor and Chair of the Instructive Biomaterials Engineering (IBE) department at the MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University (The Netherlands). Her research is rooted in the chemical design of inorganic nanomaterials and nanocomposite biomaterials that actively instruct biological systems. She develops multifunctional nanoparticles and nanocomposite matrices that are used as tracers, surface coatings, and building blocks within hydrogels to control nano–bio interactions. These platforms are designed to steer stem cell differentiation, promote tissue regeneration, or induce cancer cell death. Sabine is active in several national and international consortia, including the NWO Gravitation program Materials Driven Regeneration, SUMMIT grant (drive-RM) and co-applicant on multiple EU-funded projects (Premstem and Jointpromise). In 2023, she was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant focusing on responsive biomaterials for hard tissue regeneration and osteosarcoma treatment.

Prof. Eirini Velliou 

Eirini Velliou is Professor of Bioengineering at UCL. Her interests fall within the engineering and validation of novel biomaterial based, bioinspired platforms for in vitro studies of biological systems and diseases. She is working on developing advanced 3D models of (i) different types of cancer, i.e., pancreatic, ovarian (ii) healthy tissues, i.e., skin (iii) bacterial communities to study bacterial communication and bacterial-host interactions.

Previously she worked at the University of Surrey, where she founded the Bioprocess and Biochemical Engineering group, conducting research and teaching in Bioprocess and Tissue Engineering. She spent 2 years as postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College London, working on tissue engineering of healthy and diseased blood (leukaemia). She holds a PhD from KU Leuven, Belgium, where she worked on an integrated in vitro/in silico approach for predicting microbial environmental stress adaptation phenomena in liquid state and in viscoelastic biomaterials. She  holds a Master’s in Chemical Engineering (Meng) from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.

Dr. Verónica I. Dodero

Verónica I. Dodero is an Argentine-Spanish researcher whose work bridges chemistry, biophysics, and cell biochemistry. She studies the self-assembly and function of small molecules and peptides using organic and peptide synthesis, physicochemical characterization, and cellular studies, contributing to biomimetic systems and molecular and peptide self-assembly. She was a visiting scholar and Humboldt fellow at the Faculty of Chemistry at Bielefeld University and has been an independent scientist since 2019. Previously, she served as Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Universidad Nacional del Sur in Argentina and, more recently,as Deputy W3 Professor of Physical Chemistry at Paderborn University in the summer semester 2025. Her research focuses on how peptides self-assemble into supramolecular structures in water and their biological implications, particularly in transport and immune responses, including contributions to understanding gluten-related disorders and their inflammatory mechanisms.

Prof. Zarah Walsh-Korb

Zarah Walsh-Korb is Associate Professor for Sustainable Functional Materials at University College Dublin with a joint affiliation at the University of Basel. A major focus of her research is the development of animal-free stimuli-responsive biomaterials for 3D culture of in vitro models and biofabrication. Her research group uses biophysical and computational approaches to investigate how the molecular behaviour of recombinantly produced stimuli-responsive proteins and peptides can be rationally engineered into adaptable macroscale systems for in vitro model culture, as well as disease modeling and tissue regeneration. With the help of interdisciplinary collaborations ranging from fluid mechanics to medicine, her research aims to reduce reliance on animal-derived materials in biomedical research, while simultaneously advancing the functionality and tuneability of biomaterials to create more physiologically relevant in vitro models, particularly for the intestines and liver.

Prof. Dr. Regine Willumeit-Römer

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. As Director of the Institute for Metallic Biomaterials, Helmholtz Center Hereon, and Professor at the faculty of Engineering, Kiel University, she is now responsible for the development of degradable Mg-based implant materials. Her institute covers material design as well as complex cell culture studies and animal trials.

Dr. Zhang

Dr. Zhang is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Bioengineer in the Division of Engineering in Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Zhang is directing the Laboratory of Engineered Living Systems (www.shrikezhang.com), where the research is focused on innovating medical engineering technologies, including 3D bioprinting, organs-on-chips, microfluidics, and bioanalysis, to recreate functional tissues and their biomimetic models, for applications in regenerative medicine and personalized medicine. He has ~50,000 citations and an h-index of >110. His scientific contributions have been recognized by >50 international, national, and regional awards.