Dr. Pedro J. Díaz Payno is currently working at IMDEA Materials Institute (Madrid) as a MSCA Fellow leading the RECoil3D project and assistant Professor at Francisco de Vitoria University. Originally from Madrid, Dr. Díaz Payno got his BSc in Biotechnology from AIT (Ireland) and UFV (Spain) in 2012 and 2013, respectively. He then joined Prof. Daniel Kelly lab where he was awarded an Irish Research Council PhD Fellowship to do his PhD. His PhD focused on “The development of biomimetic scaffolds for osteochondral tissue engineering” and defended in 2019. After his PhD, he moved to the Netherlands to work with Prof. Gerjo van Osch (ErasmusMC) and Prof. Amir Zadpoor (TUDelft) on the development of advanced 4D Bioprinting technology, part of the Medical Delta project REGMED4D. From 2020-2023, he was elected Secretary of the Student and Young Investigator Section (SYIS) of the European Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS). Then, in 2022, he moved back to Spain and worked as a Scientific Advisor in Pharmaceutical Laboratories Rovi, S.A, before joining IMDEA Materials to work on the development of biodegradable metals for tissue restoration, as part of the BIOMET4D project. He was organizer of WAB 2024, the first workshop on additive Biofabrication in Spain.
Dr. Jesús Ordoño is a researcher at IMDEA Materials Institute and adjunct professor in Bioengineering at the University Carlos III of Madrid. Originally from Barcelona, he holds a BSc in Biotechnology (2014) and a MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2015) from the University of Barcelona, and he obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia in 2020. During his thesis, he worked on the development of new biomaterials and regenerative strategies for cardiac tissue engineering at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC, Spain), under the supervision of Prof. Elisabeth Engel, and as a visiting researcher at the laboratory of Prof. Aitor Aguirre at Michigan State University (USA). In 2021, Dr. Ordoño joined the biomedical startup Kintsugi therapeutics SL, where he worked on the evaluation of novel drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders on in vitro cellular models, while also contributed to the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology laboratory of Dr. Teresa Gasull at Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institute (Spain). In 2022, he joined the labs of Prof. Jon Molina and Dr. Monica Echeverry at IMDEA Materials Institute to work on the characterization of 3D-printed metamaterials and the development of new in vitro models for cardiovascular applications. Among others, Jesús was selected by the European Space Agency and the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research to participate in the 3rd ESA-FAIR Space Radiation School, in Germany, and he was organizer of WAB 2024, the first workshop on additive biofabrication celebrated in Spain. He is now part of Osteobionix PS, a start-up focused on bone implants and regeneration.
Dr. María Puertas Bartolomé is currently a researcher at Technical Proteins Nanobiotechnology, S.L. (TPNBT), and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Valladolid. She holds a BSc in Chemistry (2014), an MSc in Polymer Science (2015), and she obtained her PhD in Biomaterials from the University of Valladolid in 2020. Her doctoral research, conducted at the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC) under the mentorship of Prof. Julio San Román and Prof. Blanca Vázquez Lasa, focused on developing bioinspired functional polymers for regenerative medicine. She further expanded her expertise as a visiting researcher at the laboratories of Prof. Joachim Kohn in the USA (2018) and Prof. Aránzazu del Campo in Germany (2019), where she was introduced to different biofabrication techniques. Her thesis was recognized with the prestigious Julia Polak Award from the European Society for Biomaterials. After completing her PhD, Dr. Puertas moved to Germany, where she joined Prof. Aránzazu del Campo’s group at the Leibniz Institute for New Materials. Over three years, she specialized in engineered living materials and biofabrication. In 2023, she returned to Spain as the Scientific Manager at TPNBT focusing on developing smart biomaterials from protein polymers for tissue regeneration. Currently, Dr. Puertas holds a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship to lead the PROINK4D project at the Bioforge Lab (Valladolid). Her research continues to advance protein-polymer biomaterials, with an emphasis on applications in regenerative medicine and soft robotics through cutting-edge 3D printing technologies.
Dr. Sergio Acosta is currently working at the Bioforge lab at the University of Valladolid as a postdoctoral researcher. Dr. Acosta holds a BSc in Biotechnology from the University of Leon (Spain) and a MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the University of Valladolid (2015). In 2020, he obtained his PhD in Biomedical Research from the University of Valladolid. During his thesis, he worked on the development of self-assembling antimicrobial biomaterials under the supervision of Prof. Rodríguez Cabello and completed two research stays at the MDRCBB of the University of Minnesota (USA), where he worked with Prof. Conrado Aparicio. He received the Julia Polak Award from the European Society for Biomaterials, recognizing his thesis as one of the best in Biomaterials in Europe. That same year, he began working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) Department at the university hospital Uniklinik RWTH Aachen in Aachen (Germany), alongside Dr. Alicia Fernández Colino and Prof. Stefan Jockenhoevel. He worked for over two years on the development of biomaterials for cardiovascular implants and the study of interactions between blood components and the biomaterial surface. Since December 2022, he has rejoined the Bioforge lab, where he works on the development of new smart biomaterials from protein polymers for tissue regeneration.
Dr. Zaida Alvarez currently leads the Biomaterials for Neural Regeneration group as a Ramon y Cajal Group Leader at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Spain. She completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2014. In 2015, she joined the laboratory of Professor Samuel Stupp at Northwestern University in Chicago as a self-funded postdoctoral fellow to work on peptide amphiphiles for neural regeneration. In 2019, she was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Feinberg Medical School at Northwestern University, where she continued her research on supramolecular biomaterials for in vitro modeling of human IPS-derived neurons in injury and disease. Since 2019, she has also served as a consulting engineer for various technology firms in the US, contributing her expertise to four active patents related to innovative biomaterials for neural repair. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards including the Young Baxter investigator award in 2019 and the Rafael Hervada award in 2021. Her current research with the IBEC group focuses on understanding the molecular dynamics of regenerative failure in the central nervous system and leveraging this insight to devise biomaterial-based strategies aimed at overcoming paralysis.
Dr. Camarero-Espinosa was educated at the University of the Basque Country (Spain) where she obtained her BSc. degree as Chemical Engineer and M.Sc. in Engineering of Advanced Materials. After a 2 years stay at the CICBiomaGune institute (San Sebastian, Spain) she moved to develop her doctoral studies at the Adolphe Merkle Institute (Fribourg, Switzerland). She obtained her PhD degree in 2015 in Polymer Chemistry and Bioengineering and was recognized with an award for an outstanding PhD thesis by the Swiss Chemical Society. After gaining an early post-doctoral fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, in 2015 she moved to Brisbane (Australia) to work at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology where she continued her research in instructive biomaterial scaffolds and their interaction with stem cells. She then joined in 2017 the MERLN institute at Maastricht University (The Netherlands) where she focused her studies on the fabrication of additive manufactured/3D printed scaffolds for the regeneration of complex tissues. In 2018 she was recognize as Future Faculty Scholar by the PMSE division of the American Chemical Society. In 2020 Sandra joined the BERC POLYMAT as an EMAKIKER and Marie Sklowdoska-Curie fellow to develop her research in stimuli-responsive scaffolds for the regeneration of the osteochondral interface. In 2021 she estabished the BioSmarTE Lab and in 2022 she became a fellow of the Young Academy Europe. Her research group interests revolve around the regeneration of complex tissues thourgh the design of smart implantable scaffolds that can stimulate the generation of healthy tissue. This passes through the synthesis and functionalization of biomaterials, the development and exploitation of biofabrication techniques, the design of stimulu responsive systems, the understanding of stem cell processes and their interactions with biomaterials, and the design of cellular models of disseas that allow us to understand the underlaying phatologies.
Dr. Luis Rojo del Olmo is a Tenured Researcher and Vice Director of the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Polímeros - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the Biomaterials Group at the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), wich is part of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Dr. Rojo del Olmo specializes in polymeric materials and biomaterials science. His research focuses on creating functional materials with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-regenerative properties.
Dr. Luis Diaz-Gomez is an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He earned his Ph.D. from the same university in 2016 and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Rice University in the Department of Bioengineering from 2017 to 2019. Upon returning to the University of Santiago de Compostela in 2019, he served as a Xunta de Galicia Postdoctoral fellow until 2022, when he was promoted to Assistant Professor in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology. He is also Associated Researcher at the Institute of Materials (IMATUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela. Luis Diaz-Gomez main research lines focus on the design, processing, and evaluation of novel biomaterials to be used as scaffolds for tissue engineering or as carriers for controlled drug delivery. His work encompasses the development of innovative strategies for orthopedic scaffolds, dental implants, and ophthalmologic drug delivery systems. He is a pioneer in biofabrication technologies, such as supercritical foaming, printing methodologies, and fiber engraving, enabling precise control over scaffold properties and cellular organization.
Dr. Tomás González-Fernández is an Assistant Professor at the Bioengineering Department at Lehigh University (Pennsylvania, USA). He began his independent research career in 2022 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Davis with Prof. Kent Leach where he explored biomaterial functionalization to instruct stem cell phenotype for enhanced musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. Tomás obtained his PhD in 2018 from Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland) under the supervision of Profs. Daniel Kelly and Fergal O'Brien and his thesis focused on the integration of gene therapy and 3D bioprinting for articular cartilage regeneration. Currently, He directs his own research lab centered on the use of novel synthetic biology tools for the development of smart cells and materials for achieving enhanced tissue regeneration.
Dr. Dr. Carles Mas Moruno is Associate Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). He did his PhD in Chemistry at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine of Barcelona - Universitat de Barcelona (2009) and was visiting scholar at Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA). After graduating, he joined as postdoctoral researcher the Technical University of Munich (Germany, 2009-2011), where he was also appointed as Project Team Leader at the International Graduate School of Science and Engineering. Afterwards, he joined the group of Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering (BBT-UPC), first with a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (2012-2015) and then with a Ramón y Cajal Grant (2016-2022). He earned a permanent position as Associate Professor at the UPC in 2022. His research focuses on the development of multifunctional biomaterials for regenerative medicine. To this end, he explores the design of innovative peptide-based molecules with integrin-binding affinity and their combination with osteogenic and/or antibacterial features to simultaneously address tissue regeneration and reduce bacterial infections. His scientific career has been recognized by several distinctions, including the “XV Premi Claustre de Doctors de la Universitat de Barcelona” (2011) and more recently the “Marcial Moreno Lectureship Award 2020” (awarded by the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry). He is currently Principal Investigator of several national and European projects, including the MSCA funded Bio-TUNE, acting as coordinator of a large consortium with partners across Europe, Asia and America.
During his career, Dr. Sergio Martín Saldaña has always worked at the frontier of Biology and Materials Science, mainly focusing on inflammatory processes in the central and peripheral nervous system. He started his career working on drug delivery systems with potential as otoprotectors against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity, developing new polymeric nanovehicles capable of efficiently transporting highly insoluble drugs to the inner ear. He also described new therapeutic targets to improve the effectiveness of current treatments. After his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the industry (Gihon Laboratorios Quimicos SRL, Mar del Plata, Argentina). He worked in the Micro/Nanotechnology Division conducting pilot-scale synthesis of biopolymers from natural sources for the circular economy. As Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellow (MSCA-IF Project number: 797716) he was focused on testing the effect of Extracellular Matrix inspired hydrogels in neural homeostasis restoration after inflammatory insults His current research at Polymat focuses on synthesizing nanogels with therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative processes.
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