ESB NEWSLETTER – AUTUMN 2015 (pdf)
Dear Colleagues,
The fantastic atmosphere and thought-provoking science of the last ESB conference in Krakow is still fresh in our minds and deep is the gratitude towards Prof Jan Chlopek, Prof Elzbieta Pamula and their team for the excellent organisation. Surely, the ESB 2015 conference will be remembered as a landmark in the history of our Society.
Now, we all look forward towards the World Congress for Biomaterials to be held in Montreal on 17-22 May 2016. Recent meetings with the WBC2016 organisers have highlighted that the ESB will be strongly represented in the organisation of Symposia and round tables, with the submission of abstracts and with the ESB 40th Anniversary Lecture when we will award our recently established International Award to a prominent figure in the field of Biomaterials. The Early Bird registration deadline is 21 January 2016 and as ESB members you will be able to register at a discounted fee.
Communication
Our website is now operational in all its main features and the help desk is available to you all for queries in case of technical problems. Indeed, some members have experienced problems in accessing the free electronic issues of our journal. We do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused while we work with Springer to solve this technical issue. To keep our website updated and efficient as well as to help our YSF to build up their micro-site we have decided to offer an extended contract to Mr Florian Cloquemin who has worked more than contractually agreed and who has provided a fantastic support throughout this first months of activity.
The General Assembly in Krakow featured the outcome of the new election. We gave our farewell to Prof Lucy DiSilvio, Prof Michael Doser and Prof Pedro Granja who served our society for many years in various roles with great humbleness and competence. We congratulate and welcome the new elected colleagues, Prof Aldo Boccaccini who has kindly taken the role of liaison officer for our Journal, Prof Jose Carlos Rodriguez Cabello who has accepted the role of liaison officer for Communication and Prof Ana Pego, who has agreed to act as liaison officer for YSF council. Of course, we also congratulate Prof Joelle Amedee who has been re-elected for her second mandate. We are delighted to say that Joelle has accepted the role of Vice-President of the society replacing Prof Doser. According to our records, Joelle is the first woman to take the role of Vice-President of the ESB. Joelle will also expand her role in the Education activities becoming the chair of the educational panels of our society. Prof Pamela Habibovic has replaced Prof Di Silvio in her role of liaison officer for the Presidents of the National Societies, while Prof Peter Dubruel has taken over the role of liaison officer for Industry and Treasurer from Prof Doser and Prof Granja, respectively.
The YSF of our society have completed the elections of their representatives. There were 4 seats available on the YSF Board and the outcome of the election is the following:
Sandra Van Vlierberghe: 26 votes, Laetitia Galea: 26 votes, Valeria Perugini: 19 votes, Giuseppe Cama: 16 votes, Mark Best: 12, Maria Grazia Raucci: 9 votes, Alfredo Ronca: 8 votes and Joana Magalhaes: 6 votes.
We thank all the candidates and congratulate Sandra, Laetitia, Valeria and Giuseppe for their achievement.
Innovation
The work to publish a Position Paper about the State of Translational Research in the fields of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine is now ready to be implemented. As reported at the last General Assembly we have signed up a contract with INGENIO (www. ingenio.upv.es/en), a research group at the University Polytechnic of Valencia, Spain, who are expert in socio-economical studies in biomedical research translation and innovation. The INGENIO team, together with the ESB Council, is preparing a questionnaire that will be circulated to Biomaterials stakeholders early in 2016 through ESB, national societies for biomaterials and other national contact points. The success of this initiative depends on you and your kind response to the questions. The final document will be a report not only assessing the state-of-the-art in research translation in our field but also aiming at offering a map of relevant, highly specialised facilities and expertise across Europe. We think that this will give for the first time a glance of the strength of our scientific and industrial communities and will be a very valuable tool for stakeholders seeking specific support. This, we believe, will enhance your research and service opportunities.
Education
We would
like to express our deepest gratitude to Prof Dirk Grijpma who, after many
years of service, has decided to step down from his role of chairman of the
European Doctorate Award panel. After being member of the Council for many
years, Dirk accepted to continue his service to the ESB being the chairman for the
EDA for two more years. Joelle will now replace him. We look forward to seeing
Dirk at our conferences and contribute to our science with his exciting
research on polymeric materials.
Prof Matteo Santin
(on behalf of the ESB Council) Brighton, UK, December 2015