21st European Society on Biomaterials
Brighton Dome played host to the European Society for Biomaterials Conference 2007, co-chaired by Professor Andrew Lloyd, Dr Matteo Santin and Dr Gary Phillips.
The biomedical Materials Research Group hosted the 21st European Conference on Biomaterials in Brighton, UK attracting over 500 delegates from 37 different countries.
The meeting explored the latest approaches in the development of high performance biomedical materials through award lectures, invited keynote lectures, oral and poster presentations. The meeting sought to challenge the role of traditional biomaterials in clinical practice and review the latest pioneering developments in material design, evaluation and manufacture for tissue engineering, reconstruction and regeneration.
In particular the meeting sought to encourage scientists, industrialists and clinicians to debate more widely on how we can improve the translation of scientific research from the laboratory to the clinic.
In the area of polymer science the conference focussed on the latest developments in polymeric biomedical materials with an opening plenary lecture on synthetic approaches to composite biomimetic, bioresponsive, bioactive biomaterials given by Professor Kevin Healey.
The growth in the area of functional biology and the importance of this field to tissue engineering and reconstruction was highlighted by the number of papers on stem cell biology and applications, and the interest in the plenary lecture on the therapeutic and research potential of human stem cells given by Professor Stephen Minger.
In the field of bioresponsive and bioactive materials there were presentations on surface modification of a wide range of material surfaces to control cellular-material interactions as the community further seeks to understand and control these reactions in order to improve the biocompatibility of materials used in different medical applications. The importance of developing biomimetic materials was also highlighted in a number of sessions and discussed in depth by Dr Pierre Layrolle in his Jean Leray Award lecture.
The latest developments of ceramic and composite biomaterials for functional application such as bone reconstruction highlighted by the 2007 George Winter Award Lecture given by Professor Peter Revell on loose joints - demonstrates the significant challenges which still need to be overcome in the orthopedic field.
The meeting saw an increase in presentations on drug and gene delivery as combination medical devices become more common, and therapeutic agents are used to more effectively control biological reactions to materials and stimulate growth of particular tissue structures in tissue engineering applications.
To illustrate the important role of clinicians in informing the development of new biomaterials, several stimulating keynote lectures were presented by academic clinicians who provided an insight into their perspective on the development of biomaterials for maxillofacial surgery (Dr Ken Lavery), hand surgery (Dr Antonio Merrolli) and cardiovascular applications (Professor Shervanti Homer Vanniasinkam).
The meeting also sought to inspire this next generation of biomaterial scientists by hosting the 6th Young Scientists Forum. With a strong link to the translational theme of the conference this year the meeting included a Technology Transfer Round Table Discussion Forum which brought together many of the keynote speakers and industrialists to discuss how we can improve the translation of research from the laboratory to the clinic looking at the role of academic, industrialists and clinicians in the process.
The papers selected for this special issue are those which the international review panel deemed to be the highest quality and are judged by ourselves as reflecting the range of papers, posters and different themes presented at ESB 2007 and illustrating the increasing role of biomaterials in tissue engineering, reconstruction and regeneration.
Andrew W Lloyd
Matteo Santin
Gary J Phillips
ESB2007 Conference Chairmen.
