IKC Annual Review 2016 1 | Page 23

ANNUAL REVIEW | 2016
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Annual conference

Building the Regenerative Devices Industry – the IKC and Regener8’ s first partnered annual event.

2016 marked the first IKC conference – partnered with Regener8 – bringing together project partners from across the sector to share best practice in translating regenerative devices. The event was held in Leeds in July 2016.

Four things we learned from this year’ s annual conference:

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LASER-BASED TECHNIQUES CAN BE USED TO GENERATE HIGHLY PRECISE 3D SCAFFOLDS WITH SUB-MICRON RESOLUTION, AND FOR PRINTING BIOLOGICAL CELLS INTO 3D PATTERNS.
Professor Boris Chichkov, from the Nanotechnology Department at Laser Zentrum Hannover, delivered a keynote presentation on the application of physics to regenerative medicine, focussing on his interest in the latest laser technologies for the production of implants, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.
INJURIES AS A RESULT OF SEVERE TRAUMA, BOTH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN, MAY PROVIDE A NEW CHALLENGE TO ESTABLISHED REGENERATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH PROGRAMMES
Through the event’ s community-sourced call for submissions, the Medical Technologies IKC invited the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory( Dstl) of the UK Ministry of Defence to lead a session on‘ Regenerative medicine on the frontline’. Innovations in regenerative medicine have the potential to generate novel solutions for battlefield interventions and the medical needs of Service personnel with life-changing injuries. The session received excellent acclaim from delegates.
ONE-MINUTE PITCHES FROM EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS OPEN THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A LIVELY NETWORKING LUNCH AND DEBATE
Fourteen postdoctoral and PhD researchers presented projects as one-minute pitches to the conference auditorium before taking questions from delegates.
Ben Golland, a PhD student from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, said:“ The pitches gave me the opportunity to let the whole room know about my work, rather than relying on them to visit my poster. My project is in its early stages, so it was useful to hear a range of opinions about my approaches from different stakeholders.”
THE IKC IS LEADING IN SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION IN REGENERATIVE DEVICES
The event also included six team presentations from Medical Technologies IKC partners and supported academics and their collaborators, updating delegates on progress in their proof of concept projects moving closer to market. We were reminded of the importance of collaboration and of networking to discover potential project partners and access expertise from our community in order to realise these innovations.