» Programme

Prof. Joachim Kohn

Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University | President, International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUS-BSE)

joachimkohn@icloud.com

Opening Plenary Lecture: Polymeric Nanoparticles vs Extracellular Vesicles: Advantages, Limitations, and Opportunities in Drug Delivery

Joachim Kohn, PhD, FBSE is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA and the President of the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering. He is a leader in the field of biomaterials science. As founding director of the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (NJCBM) for 22 years, Prof. Kohn has made seminal contributions to the design and commercialization of new biomaterials for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and drug delivery. He has 78 issued US Patents on novel biomaterials and created several startup companies. His inventions were used in medical implants (including coronary and vascular stents and antimicrobial devices to prevent hospital-acquired infections). These implants are being used by over one million patients and are currently approved in 46 countries. Prof Kohn raised over $100 million to support research at Rutgers University. His inventions have generated millions of dollars of licensing income for Rutgers. He retired from academia in 2020 and remains active in research, entrepreneurship and the biomaterials community. His expertise in medical device manufacturing and commercialization aligns with his deep knowledge of biomaterials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Prof. Nicholas Dunne

nicholas.dunne@dcu.ie

Plenary Lecture: From Formulation to Preclinical Translation: A Bioinspired Calcium Phosphate Adhesive for Fragility Fracture Repair

Professor Nicholas Dunne is an internationally recognised authority in biomaterials engineering and medical device technology development. Building on over 20 years of innovation in drug-biomaterial combination devices for musculoskeletal repair, wound healing and cancer, he has +300 peer‑reviewed publications, h‑index of 52 and +€44M in competitively awarded research funding as PI/Co‑I, alongside sustained mentoring of +50 PhD and 22 postdoctoral researchers, who have progressed to academia or the MedTech sector.
As Founding Biodesign Europe Executive Director and Deputy Dean at DCU, he leads +80 principal investigators in an integrated academic-industrial-clinical across Europe and the US. His longstanding collaborations with Summit Medical and DePuy Synthes have delivered orthopaedic mixing systems and cements now preferred by surgeons globally, demonstrating direct patient benefit and international clinical impact.
His international leadership is evident in his role as an IUSBSE Fellow, the Presidency of the European Society for Biomaterials, the organisation of the 11th World Biomaterials Congress (2020) and 8th (2024) and 9th (2026) China-Europe Symposium on Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine, and editorial stewardship as Editor‑in‑Chief of RSC Biomaterials Science (Q1:IF=5.70) and Editor of Biomaterials Advances (Q1:IF=6.00). Through co‑founding and serving as Chief Scientific Officer of XapHe, advancing patented peptide‑based nucleic acid delivery platforms, and leading the OsStic™ bone adhesive programme with PBC Biomed/Biomimetics-Innovations, recognised by FDA Breakthrough Device designation and MHRA approval for a first‑in‑human tibial plateau fracture study, he has driven biomaterials translation and helped shape the global trajectory of biomaterials and MedTech innovation.

Prof. Yasuhiko Iwasaki

Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering Faculty of Chemistry | Materials and Bioengineering Kansai University | Osaka | Japan

yasu.bmt@kansai-u.ac.jp

Plenary Lecture: Bone-Targeting Phosphorus-Containing Polymer Therapeutics

Dr. Iwasaki obtained his MS degree in Department of Industrial Chemistry, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1995. Since 1995, he joined the organic materials laboratory of Institute of Biomedical and Bioengineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU). He worked as assistant professor at TMDU for three years and he received his PhD from Nihon University in 1998. He was then promoted as an assistant professor of TMDU in 1998. At the TMDU, he studied about surface modification with zwitterionic phosphoryl choline polymers to produce blood compatible biomedical devices. In 2000, he stayed at Polymer Science and Engineering Department (PS&E), University of Massachusetts (UMASS) for 7 months as a visiting scientist. At UMASS, he studied surface modification of a solid surface with organo silane compounds. In 2007, he moved to Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengineering, Kansai University, Osaka, Japan Kansai University and he was promoted to the full professor in 2011. His present research interests are surface modification of polymeric biomaterials, blood compatible surface, biodegradable polyphosphoesters and surface engineering of living mammalian cells. Dr. Iwasaki received several awards related biomaterials and polymer science such as, Korea-Japan Biomaterials Research Young Investigator’s Award in 1999, Award for Encourage of Research in Polymer Science; The Society of Polymer Science, Japan in 2005, The Young Investigator’s Award of Japanese Society for Biomaterials in 2009, Award of Japanese Society for Biomaterials in 2020, Fellows of Biomaterials Science and Engineering in 2020, etc. Dr. Iwasaki has also published 271 SCI papers in international academic journals with over 10,000 citations and h-index 55.

Prof. João F. Mano

Department of Chemistry | CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials | University of Aveiro | Aveiro | Portugal

jmano@ua.pt

Plenary Lecture: Bioengineered Biomaterials with Distinct Cell Content

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.

Prof. Zhengwei Mao

Zhejiang University | Yuquan Campus | Hangzhou | China

zwmao@zju.edu.cn

Plenary Lecture: Living Microbes/Nanozymes Biohybrids for Disease Treatment

Zhengwei Mao is now the Dean of the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University. He received his PhD from Zhejiang University in the field of Materials Science and had a postdoc experience at Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany. He is winner of the National Science Fund (China) for Distinguished Young Scholars and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Prof. Mao’s research is focused on protein-based tissue adhesives, living hybrids for nanomedicine, and advanced nanomaterials for metabolism regulation and disease treatment. Prof. Mao has published more than 150 papers as first author or corresponding author in scientific journals including Nature, Nat. Nanotechnol., Nat. Comm., Sci. Adv., Adv. Mater., Biomaterials and so on, with 15,000 citations according to ISI web of Science. His patents were licensed to a company and attracted over ten million euros industry investment to generate advanced medical devices for hemostasis. He now serves as one of the editors of Acta Biomaterialia and the executive editor of Precision Medicine and Engineering.

Prof. Bożena Michniak-Kohn

Center for Dermal Research (CDR) & Laboratory for Drug Delivery (LDD) Life Sciences Building | Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey

michniak@pharmacy.rutgers.edu

Plenary Lecture: Microneedle-Based Devices for Dermal Drug Delivery

Dr. Bozena B. Michniak-Kohn is a tenured Professor of Pharmaceutics at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Founder /Director of the Center for Dermal Research CDR at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ. Her main focus is topical, transdermal and buccal drug delivery. Dr. Michniak-Kohn has over 45 years of experience in the design & optimization of topically applied formulations and transdermal patches. Dr. Michniak-Kohn received her B. Sc. (Honors) in Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the U.K. Dr. Michniak-Kohn has directed 74 Ph.D. and Masters students and the work resulted in over 220 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 530 abstracts, and 45 books and book chapters. She is a member of 10 journal editorial boards, several scientific advisory boards, member of the Boards of IPEC-Americas Foundation and the Board of Trustees at TRI Princeton and is a reviewer for over 50 pharmaceutical and drug delivery journals. Dr. Michniak-Kohn is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry (JPBI). For her research work she was awarded Fellow status of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in 2008 and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2023. In addition, in 2023 she received a D.Sc. Honoris Causa Doctorate from the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland. Websites: www.centerfordermalresearch.org, and www.michniaklab.org.

Prof. Maria Grazia Raucci

Institute of Polymers | Composites and Biomaterials - National Research Council (IPCB-CNR) | Italy

mariagrazia.raucci@cnr.it

Plenary Lecture: Advanced Materials for a Programable Therapeutic Strategy: A New Paradigm in Cancer Therapy

Dr. Maria Grazia Raucci is Research Director at the Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials of the Italian National Research Council (IPCB-CNR), where she leads research on advanced biomaterials for regenerative medicine and cancer therapy. She received her M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the Second University of Naples and her Ph.D. in Materials and Production Engineering from the University of Naples Federico II. Since 2014, she has been Head of the Tissue Engineering and Cell Culture Laboratory at IPCB (Naples/Portici), and in 2022 she was appointed Scientific Responsible of the IPCB unit at the University of Salento. She holds the National Scientific Qualification as Associate Professor in Bioengineering and in Materials Science and Technology.
Dr. Raucci has developed a strong international profile through collaborations and visiting positions at leading institutions, including the University of Brighton (UK), the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), Sichuan University, NERCB (China, through CNR–MOST funding), the Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland (USA, through projects funded by MAECI/JC-ST). Her research has focused on peptide-functionalized biomaterials, antibacterial and antibiofilm systems based on ionic liquids, and advanced nanostructured and injectable platforms for cancer therapy, validated through advanced in vitro models and in vivo systems.
Her current research centers on the engineering of multifunctional and “smart” biomaterials, integrating nanotechnology and bioactive systems to enable controlled therapeutic responses and tissue regeneration. Her work spans the development of advanced materials across multiple scales, from micro- to quantum-level systems, including biosensing platforms capable of modulating cellular responses, as well as engineered living biomaterials for next-generation regenerative and therapeutic applications.
She is actively involved in numerous national and international projects and has served as scientific coordinator and principal investigator in major initiatives, including Horizon 2020, European Research Council Proof of Concept, European Innovation Council Pathfinder, NATO SPS, PRIN, and PNRR-funded programs, as well as bilateral collaborations with institutions in Europe, China, and the Americas.
She currently serves as Council Member of the Italian Society for Biomaterials and as Council Member of the European Society for Biomaterials, acting as Liaison Officer for National Affiliated Societies.
Dr. Raucci is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed publications, six book chapters, and three patents, and has presented approximately 150 conference contributions, including more than 20 invited and plenary lectures at international conferences.

Prof. Urszula Stachewicz

Electrospun Fibers Group | Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science | AGH University of Krakow | Poland

ustachew@agh.edu.pl

Plenary Lecture: Electrospun Fibers for Drug Delivery, Skin Patches, Wound Healing, and Tissue Engineering: Perspectives and Challenges

Urszula Stachewicz is a Professor of Materials Science at AGH University of Kraków, Poland, where she leads the Electrospun Fibers Group at the Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science. She returned to her alma mater in October 2014, having earned her MSc in 2004 from the Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics, specializing in Biomaterials and Composites under the supervision of Prof. Stanisław Błażewicz. During her studies, she participated in the SOCRATES–ERASMUS program and conducted her master’s thesis research at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam-Golm, Germany, supervised by Prof. P. Fratzl and Dr. H. S. Gupta. This work was recognized with the Diamenty AGH award for the best application-oriented MSc thesis. Following her MSc, she shifted from biomaterials to fluid mechanics for her doctoral research. She earned her PhD from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, specializing in the electrohydrodynamics of liquids, with research conducted at Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven. During this period, she developed expertise in electrospraying and subsequently explored polymers within the electrospinning process, shaping her future research direction. After completing her PhD, she undertook postdoctoral research at Queen Mary University of London and worked at Nanoforce Technology Ltd. In UK, focusing on polymer science and electrospun fibers. In 2018, she was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, where she expanded her research into piezo- and triboelectric materials for energy harvesting applications. Her current research focuses on the surface and bulk properties of electrospun fibers, with applications in biomedicine, including drug delivery systems, skin patches, and cell–material interactions for tissue engineering, as well as water and energy harvesting and smart sensing materials. In 2020, she was awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant to develop, among other topics, biomimetic approaches for the design of thermally insulating materials. Additionally, she has secured numerous competitive grants from the National Science Centre in Poland, the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA). Her research group and laboratories attract visiting scientists from around the world, reflecting her strong international recognition and collaborative impact. Prof. Stachewicz is internationally recognized for her contributions to electrospinning, smart materials, and biomaterials research.

Prof. Murilo Daniel de Mello Innocentini

University of Ribeirão Preto | UNAERP | Brazil

minnocentini@unaerp.br

Keynote Lecture: From Pores to Performance: Multiscale Permeability Assessment of Porous Biomaterials and Scaffolds

Murilo Daniel de Mello Innocentini is a Full Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Ribeirão Preto (UNAERP), Brazil, and Coordinator (since 2022) of UNAERP’s Graduate Program in Environmental Technology. He earned his BSc (1991), MSc (1993), and PhD (1997) in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), including a PhD sandwich period at the University of Birmingham, UK (1996–1997). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Materials Engineering (UFSCar, 1998–2003) focused on drying and permeability of refractory ceramics. His research bridges biomaterials and environmental technologies through the fluid-dynamic, permeability and tortuosity characterization of porous materials, with applications spanning ceramic and polymer-based membranes, filtration media, and porous scaffolds. In the biomaterials domain, his work includes evaluation and simulation of bodily-fluid flow in biocompatible porous ceramic implants (e.g., titanium- and hydroxyapatite-based systems) and studies on porous substrates for biomedical applications. He has maintained broad international collaborations, including with partners in Poland, and is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath (UK) as Global South Chair (2023) at the Centre for Regenerative Design Engineering for a Net Positive World (RENEW) (https://www.bath.ac.uk/research-centres/centre-for-regenerative-design-engineering-for-a-net-positive-world/). Prof. Innocentini leads the CNPq research group “Sustainable Materials and Optimization of Environmental Processes” (http://dgp.cnpq.br/dgp/espelhogrupo/783919) and coordinates the ARES Project on indoor/outdoor air-quality monitoring (https://ares.eco.br). He is a CNPq Research Productivity Fellow (Level 2) and has published 175 peer-reviewed journal articles, 6 book chapters, and holds 4 patents. He has supervised 22 MSc and 13 PhD theses to completion and has provided 246 technical consultancies in chemical and materials engineering. His citation metrics include h-index 32 (Web of Science) and 34 (Scopus), and 5,453 citations (Google Scholar).

Thursday, 9 October

Welcome Dinner

Cottage bar "Nad potokiem"

Folk music, delicious food and drinks, exceptional atmosphere.

Friday, 10 October

Conference dinner

Cottage bar "Nad potokiem"

We have a lot to celebrate! 30 years of the Polish Society for Biomaterials and the 35th Jubilee Edition of our Conference.
Join us for the Conference Dinner — an evening to raise a glass, reconnect with colleagues, and toast three decades of biomaterials science in Poland.

Saturday, 11 October

Excursion

Short trip to Kamianna

Exploring the area around Rytro has become a cherished tradition of our conferences, and this year is no exception. During the conference, we are organising a short excursion through the scenic Poprad Valley. We will begin in Muszyna with a visit to the town’s Sensory Gardens, a series of themed gardens designed to engage all the senses. From there, we will visit the Orthodox Church of St James the Less the Apostle, a former Greek Catholic temple of striking historic and architectural character. The trip concludes in Krynica-Zdrój, where you will have time to stroll along the famous promenade (deptak) and visit the historic Pump Room (Pijalnia Wód) to sample the region’s renowned mineral waters.
Comfortable shoes and casual clothing are recommended.

Everyday

Swimming pool

Rytro hotel

Start the Day Right — Take a Swim! The hotel pool is open all day, but with our evenings full of activities, we say make the most of it in the morning. The perfect start to the day!

Programme

PSB2026

Plenary Speakers