Crouzier, Thomas (Technical University of Denmark, Cirqle Biomedical, Denmark), Biomedical innovation through mucus engineering: from cell therapy to contraception
Du Prez, Filip (Ghent University, Belgium), Taking Dynamic Covalent Chemistry Out of the Lab into Reprocessable Industrial Thermosets
Fernandes, Susana (Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, France), Marine Materials from Nature to Applications
Lam, Yeng Min (Nanyang Technological University, Singapor), Sustainable Polymers – Can this be a possibility?
Lazzeri, Andrea (University of Pisa, Italy) Biopolymer composites
Reimhult, Erik (BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria), Making bioplastics competitive as nanocomposites
Keynote lectures:
Bartos, András (Sulis Polymers B.V., The Netherlands), Polymer biocomposting for green solutions: the characterization challenge
Binder, Wolfgang H. (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany), Dynamic polymers from dynamic bonds : vitrimers and self-healing materials
de La Caba, Koro (University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Valorization of dairy industry by-products: from protein extraction to compostable films
Favis, Basil D. (Polytechnique Montréal, Canada), Multiple Percolation and Droplet-in Droplet Structures as a Route to Next Generation Multi-Phase Biopolymer Systems
Toth, Istvan (University of Queensland, Australia), Polymeric Nanoparticle GnRH Vaccine to Treat Cancer and for Veterinary Immunocastration
Zirbs, Ronald (BOKU University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria) , Advancing Sustainable Packaging: Fully Biodegradable Core-Shell Nanoparticles Enhancing Barrier Properties in Food Packing Polymers
PLENARY LECTURERS:
Thomas CrouzierResearcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1981-3736
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crouzier/
Position: Co-founder and CSO of Cirqle Biomedical, Denmark – Associate Professor Danish Technical University, DTU, Denmark
After a Ph.D. at the University of Montpellier (France) in 2010 followed by a postdoctoral appointment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) until 2015, Dr. Thomas Crouzier took a position as a group leader at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH, Stockholm, Sweden), and now holds an Associate Professor position at the Danish Technical University. Dr. Crouzier pioneered a number of “mucus engineering” approaches, defined as the use or modification of the mucus gel that covers our eye, nose, lungs, digestive tract, and female reproductive tract, to develop new bioinspired biomaterials and address mucus-related medical conditions. As a researcher and group leader, Dr. Crouzier has published 50 papers and has been granted several patents. During his stay at KTH, he and his group developed a mucus-reinforcing technology which was translated into a new mechanism of action for a female contraceptive. Dr. Crouzier is co-founder and CSO of Cirqle Biomedical, a company founded in late 2018 leveraging this mucus engineering approach to develop a new generation of hormone-free contraceptives for women.
Filip Du PrezWeb site: www.PCR.UGent.be
Twitter: @Filip_Du_Prez
Position: Senior full professor Ghent University
Susana FernandesResearcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1295-5010
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susana-fernandes-439b63242/
Position: Professor at University of Pau and Adour Countries, France
Prof. Susana Fernandes obtained her two PhDs simultaneously in 2010 from both University of Aveiro and University of Pau and Adour Countries (UPPA), which was followed by a PostDoc at the University of Aveiro. Meanwhile, she also secured a PostDoc position and later was appointed as Researcher at the University of the Basque Country. From 2014 to 2016, she was Researcher and Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. In 2017 she was awarded with the Future Research Leaders Grant from the Swedish Research Council, and she moved to the Uppsala University. She joined UPPA in 2018 as Associated Professor and Chair in Marine Bioresources and By-products Valorization and in Marine Inspired Materials (Chair E2S UPPA – MANTA: marine materials). Since September 2023 she is Professor in Natural Polymers at UPPA. She is a chemist with expertise in research areas pertaining to functional and bio-inspired (bio)materials and to marine biological materials. She has authored around 70 publications in international journals, 3 patents, 1 book, 6 book chapters (4000 citations, h-index 38).
Yeng Ming LamResearcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9390-8074
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yeng-ming-lam-00b52660/
Position: Professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Prof Yeng Ming LAM received her Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge in 2001. She is currently a Professor and the Chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, NTU. She also holds the President Chair in Materials Science and Engineering. MSE at NTU is the leading materials science institution in Asia and ranks amongst the top globally – #1 in the U.S. News Best Global Universities Rankings and Top 10 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Yeng Ming is also the Director of the Facility for Analysis, Characterization, Testing and Simulations (FACTS), a university facility for advanced characterization using electrons and X-ray since 2016. She has actively promoted and built advanced characterization infrastructure for in-depth understanding of materials. Her research aims to understand and design novel nanostructured functional nanomaterials for application in sustainable energy, sustainable food production and also environment remediation. She is also the Founder for FytoSol Pte Ltd that is dedicated to deliver solutions to horticulture and agriculture needs. She sits on the governing board for International Symposium for Polymer Analysis and Characterization (ISPAC) and the National committee on Measurement and characterization. She held a concurrent Senior Scientist position in RWTH University in Aachen, Germany, between 2011 and 2014 and a concurrent Senior Scientist position in IMRE, A*Star, from 2010-2011. She was awarded the Nanyang Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2006 and the L’Oréal Unesco For Women in Science National Fellowship and the Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2009.
Andrea LazzeriLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-lazzeri-0b99184a/
Position: Full professor at Pisa University
In addition to his interests in Materials Science he is an active chess player (ELO FIDE 1606).
Erik ReimhultResearcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1417-5576
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-reimhult/
Position: Professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
Prof. Erik Reimhult obtained his PhD in 2004 from Chalmers University of Technology, which was followed by a first postdoc at IMRE in Singapore. It was followed by a second postdoc and a position as a Senior scientist at ETH Zürich from 2006 to 20110 in the Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology. Since 2010 Reimhult is Professor of Nanobiotechnology at the BOKU Wien. Reimhult was awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant for research on nanoparticle-membrane interactions. He was elected member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and has assumed numerous university functions, such as Vice-chairman of the Senate, and currently serves as the Head of the Department of Bionanosciences. Prof. Reimhult currently focuses his research on novel biomimetic nanomaterials with applications in biotechnology and sustainable composite materials and on improving our understanding of how bacteria form biofilms and how these can be prevented. He teaches colloid and biointerface science. His group excels at developing novel analytical approaches for biointerface research. This has led to more than 12 patent applications and three university spin-off companies. He has authored almost 150 publications in international journals (8000 citations, h-index 40).
Keynote Lecturers:
Andras BartosLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrasbartos
Position: Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Wolfgang H Binder
Researcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3834-5445
Linkedin: –
Position: Chair of Macromolecular Chemistry, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Prof. Wolfgang Binder is currently a Full Professor of Macromolecular Chemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He received his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1995 at the University of Vienna. In his post doc research at Emory University, USA, he specialized on colloidal chemistry/macro-molecular chemistry. In 1997 he became an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Vienna and in 2004 Associate Professor. Subsequently, he moved to Halle as a Full Professor in 2007. His research is focused on synthesis and self-assembly of tailored polymers and analytical polymer science, with applications in material science, nanotechnology and medicine. He has published more than 300 scientific articles. His research interests include “click”-chemistry, polymer synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, self-healing polymers, and nanotechnology.
Koro de la Caba
Researcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8866-7314
Position: Full Professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)
Prof. Koro de la Caba received her Doctorate in Chemistry at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in the research area of polymeric materials. She is Full Professor and head of BIOMAT research group in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Nowadays, she leads research projects in renewable materials based on proteins and polysaccharides for food and biomedical applications. The main research interests address various aspects of biodegradable materials from the extraction of raw materials to the end of life of products: the valorization of industrial waste to obtain raw materials, the optimization of processing conditions and methods to prepare materials with improved functional properties and the environmental assessment of products and processes to develop more sustainable alternatives.
Basil D. Favis
Researcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7980-3740
Linkedin: –
Position: Professor Emeritus at Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
Prof. Basil D. Favis received his Ph.D. in Polymer Physical Chemistry from McGill University in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. After a period in industry, he worked as a program manager for polymer blends with the Industrial Materials Institute of the National Research Council of Canada. Since 1990 he has been with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, where he was a full professor and is currently Professor Emeritus. He is a past-director of the Center for Research on High-Performance Polymer and Composite Systems (CREPEC). His work emphasizes the study of heterophase biopolymer systems with highly sophisticated morphologies and interfaces at both the nano and micro level. A number of novel high performance applications such as sustainable plastics containing large quantities of renewable materials, porous biopolymers for drug delivery and tissue engineering, conductive blends and a novel approach to polymer recycling have resulted from the work of his group.
Istvan TothWebsite: http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/835
Position: Chair in Biological Chemistry, School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences, Professor of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy
Ronald Zirbs
Researcher unique identifier (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0932-6317
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-zirbs-255ba540/
Position: SeniorScientist at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria
Ronald Zirbs obtained his PhD in 2009 from the Technical University Vienna (TU Vienna), which was followed by a PostDoc at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU). Since 2013 he is Senior Scientist in the Laboratory for Biologically Inspired Materials at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU). Dr. Zirbs’ current research focuses on developing filler materials to enhance the technical attributes of biodegradable and biobased polymers, with the aim of facilitating their broader utilization in the packaging industry.