Eben Alsberg, University of Illinois at Chicago

Eben Alsberg holds the Richard and Loan Hill Chair Professorship in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Orthopaedics, Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he serves as Director of the Alsberg Stem Cell and Engineered Novel Therapeutics (ASCENT) Laboratory. He was previously a professor at Case Western Reserve University in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery from 2005-2018. He received his B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering and also in Mechanical Engineering and Material Science from Duke University in 1994. He then went to graduate school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received an M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering (1998), an M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering (1998), and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (2002). Following his graduate studies, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Vascular Biology Program at Harvard Medical School. His laboratory focuses on engineering functional biologic replacements to repair damaged or diseased tissues in the body. Complex signals implicated in tissue morphogenesis, repair, and homeostasis are used as inspiration for the development of innovative biomaterials for tissue regeneration. Through the precise temporal and spatial presentation of soluble bioactive factors, mechanical forces, and biomaterial physical and biochemical properties, his lab aspires to create microenvironments that regulate cell gene expression and new tissue formation. He has co-authored >150 peer reviewed papers and book chapters, and his work has been recognized with the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) Senior Scientist Award, the Biovalley Young Investigator Award from the Tissue Engineering Society International (TESI), the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, the Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 Award, the Technion Lady Davis Fellowship, a Visiting Professorship at Kyung Hee University, and election as fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). His research has been funded by the NIH, DOD, NSF, the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Coulter Foundation, the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, the State of Ohio and the AO Foundation. Alsberg has ~35 patents issued or pending in the field of tissue engineering. He has given >160 invited lectures around the world and is active in many professional societies.

Susmita Bose, Washington State University

Susmita Bose is the Westinghouse Distinguished Professor at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, affiliate faculty of the Department of Chemistry, and Elson Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. Prof. Bose's interdisciplinary research interest lies at the interface of Chemistry, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Biology, focusing on 3D-printed bone scaffolds, implant materials, and   drug delivery vehicles. Prof. Bose received the CAREER award in 2002 and the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the National Science Foundation. She has advised over 45 graduate students for their MS and Ph.D., and over 40 undergraduate students in research, and published over 300 technical articles, including over 250 journal articles, 24 book chapters, 9 edited books, 13 issued patents. Her research papers have been cited over 31,200 times, "h" index 90 (Google Scholar). She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Materials Research Society (MRS), ASM International, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). She received the PACE and Fulrath Awards from the American Ceramic Society. In 2015, Prof. Bose was named Life Science Innovation Northwest Women to Watch Honoree by the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. In 2016, she received the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine research excellence award. In 2017 she was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences; in 2018, she received WSU distinguished faculty award, and in 2019 WSU Sahlin faculty excellence award for research scholarships and art. Since 2011, Dr. Bose's group's research on 3D printed ceramic bone scaffolds with controlled chemistry for hard tissue engineering, and natural medicinal compounds were featured by the AP, BBC, NPR, CBS News, MSNBC, ABC News, and many other TV, radio stations, magazines and news sites all over the world, including R&D magazine, Science Daily News, etc.

Xu Cao, Johns Hopkins University

Xu Cao, Ph.D., Lee Riley Professor and Director, Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Cao was initially trained as bone biologist during his Ph. D study at University of South Carolina. He studied osteoclast biology in his postdoctoral training at Washington University. The research focus of his laboratory is to study the mechanism of skeletal tissue homeostasis and related skeletal disorders including rare genetic diseases, osteoarthritis, and spine degeneration. His lab has discovered TGFβ in coupling bone resorption and formation during bone remodeling, PDGF-BB secreted by preosteoclasts in angiogenesis and their roles in osteoarthritis and other skeletal diseases. Particularly, aberrant bone remodeling activates causes TGF-β1 in many different bone diseases such as osteoarthritis, low back pain, ankylosing spondylitis, and heterotopic ossification. Recently, Dr. Cao’s group has found that the skeletal interoception regulates skeleton homeostasis and pain. Specifically, sensory nerves in the bone perceive the concentration changes of osteoblast-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) to activate PGE2 receptor EP4 as ascending interoceptive signal to the hypothalamus. PGE2/EP4 signal downregulates sympathetic tone for osteoblastic bone formation to maintain bone homeostasis as the skeletal interoception circuitry. These findings implicate therapeutic potentials for skeletal pain. He served Ad-hoc Reviewer for over 40 journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Cell Metabolism, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Communication, Nature Endocrine Review and PNAS. He is the Founding Editor of Bone Research.

Matteo D'Este, AO Foundation

Matteo D’Este has a background in Physical Chemistry from the University of Padova, where he achieved the MSc in 2002, and the PhD in 2006. After the PhD, Matteo has been working as researcher in pharmaceutical industry, focusing on the chemical modification of biopolymers, tech transfer, and the development of injectable medical devices. His career in Biomaterials Science started in 2011, when he joined the AO Research Institute Davos, where his current position is Principal Scientist and Focus Area Leader Biomedical Materials. D’ Este has wide expertise in biopolymers chemical modification for the development of molecular networks for fundamental and translational research. His research interests embrace biofabrication, immunomodulatory biomaterials, and drug delivery. D'Este is also actively committed to the growth of the biomaterial community and rising of the research level in areas previously penalized by geopolitical situation and lack of infrastructures. He is the author of six patents and about 60 papers. He is adjunct professor at the Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, and Chair of the 33rd Annual Conference of the European Society for Biomaterials, ESB2023. He is member of the European Society for Biomaterials Council, of the Swiss Society for Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine Executive Committee, the International Society for Biofabrication, and the Society for Biohydrogels.

Jeremy Gilbert , Clemson University

Jeremy L. Gilbert, Ph.D. (Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, 1987), is the Hansjörg Wyss Endowed Chair for Regenerative Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Bioengineering at Clemson University. He is the director of the Clemson – Medical University of South Carolina Bioengineering Program, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research – Part B: Applied Biomaterials and past president of the Society For Biomaterials. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (FAIMBE), a fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) of the international union of societies of biomaterials science and engineering (IUSBSE), and an associate member of The Hip Society. He was Professor of Biomaterials at Syracuse University for 18 years and an assistant and associate professor at Northwestern University for 11 years before that. Dr. Gilbert’s research area is primarily focused on metallic biomaterials, orthopedic implants and their degradation in the human body, implant retrieval analyses and development of advanced electrochemically-based test methods for medical devices and biomaterials. He has investigated orthopedic alloys and conjoint degradation modes related to tribology and electrochemistry (tribocorrosion). He also has carried out research focused on electrochemical control of biological processes including infection and cellular apoptosis at metal implant surfaces.

William Lu, The University of Hong Kong

Professor Lu is the  Chair Professor & Head. Dept of Pharmaceutical materials science and translational medicine Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, PRC. He was the Ng Chun-Man Endowed Professor in Orthopaedic Bioengineering, the Univesity of Hong Kong. He obtained his PhD degree and the “Distinguished Graduate Award” from the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 1994. He joined the Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 1995 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2001, and full Professor in 2009. He was established Orthopaedic Research Centre in 1995 and has served as director. Professor Lu has specific experience in the areas of Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Biomaterials, 3-D Bioprinting-technology as well as Clinical Bioengineering teaching and research. He has achieved substantial international recognition in the area of bioengineering and is widely acknowledged as top 1% scholars (2009-2018) according to ISI's Essential Science Indicators. Professor Lu has consistently secured a significant proportion of the research funding from Hong Kong and from PR China in his areas of activity from a number of major funding bodies, including as chief scientist of the National Key R&D Programs, funded RMB27.44 millions in 2019 by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST). He held a number of patents for his innovations and has published more than 290 papers in international Peer Reviewed Journals, with more than 13,000 citations and H-index 64.Prof. Lu has spinoff three companies as co-founder with his PhD students, and he has supervised more than 50 Ph.D students. 

David K. Mills, Louisiana Tech University

Dr. David K. Mills, Professor of Biological Science has been on the road less traveled and has met very few fellow travelers on his journey. He has a background in bioengineering, cell and molecular biology, and material science. His research groups are focused on designing dental and orthopedic implants, 3D printing of biomedical devices, implants and advanced parts and tools, filters, and filtration. Current projects are focused on supporting future Lunar and Mars missions through developing antimicrobial/viral filtration systems, nanoceramic materials for enhanced plant growth and protection, and radiation shielding materials for planetary habitats.

Roger Narayan, University of North Carolina; North Carolina State University

Roger Narayan is a Distinguished Professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University. He is an author of over 200 publications as well as several book chapters on novel approaches for the processing of biomedical materials. He currently serves as an editorial board member for several academic publications, including as executive editor of Biomaterials Forum (Society for Biomaterials) and associate editor of Applied Physics Reviews (AIP Publishing). Narayan has also edited several books, including the first and second editions of the textbook Biomedical Materials (Springer), the handbook Materials for Medical Devices (ASM International), the Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering (Elsevier), and the Encyclopedia of Sensors and Biosensors (Elsevier). Narayan currently leads the Materials Research Society Bio Staging Task Force on 3D/Bioprinting; he has previously served as director of the TMS Functional Materials Division, the ASM International Emerging Technologies Awareness Committee, and the American Ceramic Society Bioceramics Division. As the 2016-7 ASME Swanson Fellow, he worked with America Makes, the national additive manufacturing institute, on several activities to disseminate additive manufacturing technology, including the development of a workforce/education/outreach roadmap for additive manufacturing and the development of a repository containing educational materials related to additive manufacturing. Narayan has received several honors for his research activities, including the University of North Carolina Jefferson-Pilot Fellowship in Academic Medicine, the National Science Faculty Early Career Development Award, and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award. He has been elected as Fellow of AAAS, ASME, ASM International, AIMBE, American Ceramic Society, and MRS.

Lauren B. Priddy, Mississippi State University

Lauren B. Priddy is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Mississippi State University (MSU). Her research involves the design of surface-functionalized, load-bearing polymeric and metallic biomaterials to enhance bone healing, and hydrogel-based composite materials for local delivery of antimicrobial therapeutics. She has been recognized as one of Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s 40 Under 40 and as one of MSU Alumni Association’s Reveille 25 (under 40). She has also received the Early Career Award from the Journal of Orthopaedic Research and the Mississippi Academy of Sciences. She has supervised over 120 research students (>50% women) in the lab, in experiential learning and capstone design courses, and in visiting research programs. For her mentorship of veterinary students in summer research, Priddy was awarded the Boehringer Ingelheim Mentoring Award. For her efforts in the classroom, she has  received MSU’s Donald Zacharias Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, and she was inducted into MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Teachers. She has  been actively engaged with the Orthopaedic Research Society since 2011, and more recently, as a delegate for the International Consensus Meeting on Pre-Clinical Models of Orthopaedic Infection, guiding future areas of musculoskeletal infection research.

Will Wei Qiao  The University of Hong Kong

Dr QIAO Wei is currently Clinical Assistant Professor and Research Assistant Dean at the Faculty of Dentistry, the University of Hong Kong. He also serves as an early career editorial board member for Bioactive Materials. He obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in Oral Implantology from Sun Yat-sen University and then received his research training at the University of Hong Kong and Johns Hopkins University. He has great passion for investigating the interplay between host immune cells and peripheral sensory nerves during tissue regeneration. He is also interested in the development of biomaterials that can interact with the host tissue to establish a microenvironment conducive to infection eradication, inflammation resolution, and wound healing.  His first-authored works have been published in journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Science, Biomaterials, and Journal of Dental Research. He is the recipient of International Association for Dental Research Lion Award and World Biomaterials Congress trainee award. He has successfully secured over 11 million HKD research grants, including those from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, HKSAR Health Bureau, HKSAR Innovation and Technology Commission, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee, and Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

Geoff Richards, AO Foundation

Geoff Richards has worked at the AO Foundation in Davos, Switzerland since 1991. Since 2009, he has been the director of AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) and since 2020 the executive director AO Research & Development world-wide. The ARI has approx 150 multidisciplinary scientists, engineers and medical fellows undertaking cutting-edge translational research in orthopaedics (areas: regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, infection, stem cell research, biomaterials, biomechanics and implant science). Over 70% of the ARI budget comes from the AO Foundation's endowment created from ARI patents. His research work on metal implant surfaces was translated to major global improvements in the design and manufacture of fracture fixation products with synthes (now DPS). In 1999, he co-founded eCM journal, arguably the first online only, open access journal in the world, a pioneer in open access publishing. This concept disrupted the publishing field in science, which is now standard practice. Richards is a member of the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS) Steering Committee and in 2016 he founded the International College of Fellows for ICORS. He won the inaugural ICORS Transformative Contribution Award in Edinburgh in September 2022. He is past president of TERMIS Global and currently chair of the Chair of International Fellows of TERMIS. He holds a lifetime Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg. He also holds honorary professorships at Cardiff and Aberystwyth universities in Wales. He has been awarded several Fellowships, the most prestigious being Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales ((FLSW) the national academy for arts and sciences). He is also a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE), of International Orthopaedic Research (FIOR), of Orthopaedic Research Society (FORS) and of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (FTERM). Richards is ranked among the 1% most-cited scientists in the world regardless of scientific discipline (compiled by Stanford University). He has published over 300 papers.

Jian Yang, Westlake University

Dr. Jian Yang is currently a Chair Professor in Biomaterials and Regenerative Engineering, the chair of Biomedical Engineering Program, and an Associate Vice President at the Westlake University. Prior to Westlake, he was a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Yang is known for his pioneering contribution on citrate chemistry and biology for the development and applications of citrate-based biomaterials. He was a recipient of NSF CAREER Award (2010), Outstanding Young Engineering Faculty Award at UTA (2011), PSEAS Outstanding Research Award at Penn State (2018) , and BMES Wallace H. Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation (2023). Dr. Yang is an elected Fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE, 2016), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI, 2018), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES, 2020), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2021), and the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE, 2023).  Dr. Yang is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of “Bioactive Materials”, and an Associate Editor of “Science Advances”. Dr. Yang is a co-founder and the Past-President of Chinese Association for Biomaterials (CAB) and the recipient of 2023 CAB Distinguished Leadership and Service Award. Dr. Yang co-founded a medical device company, Aleo BME, Inc. and is also serving on the Scientific Advisory Board of Acuitive Technologies, LLC.

Xin Zhao, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Xin Zhao is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Her research interest is on Translational Regenerative Medicine, where she integrates multi-disciplinary approaches including material science, cell biology, engineering and medicine to modulate cell microenvironments, control cell behaviors and generate tissue-engineered organs, for addressing clinical issues. She has published >100 articles (with h-index of 51 in Google Scholar, 6 of which are ESI highly cited paper) in prestigious journals including Nat. Mater., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Chem. Rev., Mater. Today, Adv. Funct. Mater., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Biomaterials, Small. She is recognised in the list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2022” by Clarivate Analytics for their significant research impact. She has successfully attracted over 20 grants (⁓23 million) as principal investigator from the Hong Kong RGC (including CRF, NSFC-RGC), HMRF, ITF, NSFC, etc. She is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars 2021, President’s Award-Outstanding Young Researcher 2022, the Mid-Career Award of Chinese Association for Biomaterials 2022, and several other awards. Her research product “Biomimicking Photocrosslinkable Nanocomposite Bone Grafts” has won the Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2021, 2023 TechConnect Global Innovation Award and the Gold Medal at the 6th China (Shanghai) International Exhibition of Inventions 2023. She is also a founding editor of Engineered Regeneration, associate editor of Bio-Des. Manuf., and guest editor for 11 other journals.