29th annual conference of the European Society for Biomaterials

Annual meetings of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB), the oldest and one of the largest societies in the field of materials for biomedical applications, are events that bring together academics, clinicians, and industrial researchers, to exchange advancements in the field and identify new opportunities. Themed ‘Materials for Life’, the 29th edition of the annual ESB conference was held in Maastricht, the Netherlands. It offered a chance for sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas to over 950 participants. The conference followed an inspiring program covering state-of-the-art research and developments in the field via 4 plenary speakers, 230 oral presentations, 700 poster presentations, 4 award sessions, 3 lunch symposia, multiple activities of the Young Scientists’ Forum (YSF), and more than 20 industrial exhibitors. Despite the European roots of the ESB, the conference was attended by a large number of participants from other continents, demonstrating the international dimension and collaborative nature of the field. The conference theme ‘Materials for Life’ was chosen to express the challenges that the field of biomaterials is facing: to provide effective and affordable biomaterial-based methods to repair and regenerate damaged and diseased tissues and organs. This challenge can only be overcome by converging breakthrough developments from the fields of chemistry, physics, materials science, biology and engineering to address real clinical needs, while also considering the translational pathway from bench to bedside. Advancements in the different disciplines were apparent from the plenary presentations by world renowned leaders in biomaterials science. Confronting conclusions on the value of animal models in anticancer therapy development (by Prof. David Grainger), insights into the role of matrix mechanobiology in cellular and bacterial adhesion (by Prof. Viola Vogel), fundamentals on the role of surface-nanotopographical cues on (stem) cell differentiation and cell metabolomics (by Prof. Matthew ...