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Symposia:

A Symposium is designed to focus our attention on a specific topic within the large disciplines that make up the Society's membership. The symposium highlights a well-defined topic that is not addressed by the regular sessions of the annual meeting. The format includes a single lead speaker followed by related abstracts. The lead speaker either presents the current concepts of the topic or presents cutting-edge research within the area.

• Controlled Interactions of Proteins and Peptides with Biomaterial Surfaces
• Cell Function on Biomaterial Gradients and Arrays
• Biomaterial-based Bridges for Neural Regeneration
• Translational Research in Nanomedicine: It is Happening Now
• Biological Modification of Cardiovascular Biomaterials for Medical Devices: Translation from the Laboratory to the Clinic
• Regenerative Medicine and Clinical Translation
• Surface Modification and Characterization of Orthopaedic and Dental Implants at the Nano/Micro Scale for Improved Osseointegration
• Self-Assembling Biomaterials
• Nano and Microparticulate Drug Delivery
• Biomimetics and Nanoscience: Advances in Protein/peptide-based Biomaterials
• Developing Best Practices in Tissue Engineering Education
• Advances in Biomaterials Science: A Symposium by the Leaders of Biomaterials

• Controlled Interactions of Proteins and Peptides with Biomaterial Surfaces
  Cell responses to surfaces are mediated by specific interactions with biomolecules present at the tissue-implant interface. Multiple factors, including the type, amount, orientation, and conformation of the molecules, play important roles in determining how the cells behave. For example, a surface bound protein can be bioactive or bioinactive depending on conformation or orientation of the molecules. Uncontrolled or non-specific interactions generally lead to a repair response rather than regeneration of the native tissue. Significant previous work has explored nonfouling surfaces and nonspecific protein adsorption. This symposium focuses on experimental and computational research directed at developing, characterizing, and understanding biomimetic surfaces that bind protein/peptide molecules in a controlled manner and/or orientation to direct specific cell and tissue responses
• Cell Function on Biomaterial Gradients and Arrays
  Gradients and arrays are finding numerous applications in biomaterials research and many new methods for creating gradients and arrays of biomaterials have recently been developed. These gradients and arrays are being employed in a wide range of uses such as functional biomaterials, platforms for materials optimization, and tools to probe cell function. The innovators in this rapidly growing field come from diverse backgrounds and this symposium will bring them together to present, compare and discuss these exciting new approaches. The talks will focus on new techniques for creating biomaterials gradients and arrays and how they can impact regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.
• Biomaterial-based Bridges for Neural Regeneration
  Biomaterials are a fundamental component of growth-promoting bridges designed to direct and stimulate axonal regeneration across scars, gaps, and cavities resulting from traumatic injury to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Engineered biomaterial functionality includes fiber and channel-based topographic guidance and the incorporation of adhesion ligands, trophic factors, and recombinant DNA vectors targeted to regulate interactions with infiltrating astroglial cells and regenerating axons, as well as controlling the differentiation and function of transplanted cell populations. This symposium will cover recent advances in neural scaffold fabrication, activation with bioactive molecules, elicited responses of transplant / endogenous cells, and in vivo testing in animal injury models.
• Translational Research in Nanomedicine: It is Happening Now?
  Recently, fundamental research in nanotechnology (the use of materials with constituent length scales in the nanometer regime) has led to the development of medical products necessary for the improved diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of numerous diseases. Abstracts are invited which clearly demonstrate the successful bridging from fundamental research to the development of a nanomedicine-related product benefiting human health. Examples of recent translational nanomedicine research which are currently being used clinically and/or have made it to the marketplace appropriate for this symposium include (but are not limited to) nanostructured implants, tissue engineering materials, drug delivery devices, bioseparation devices, membranes, and imaging tools. Importantly, abstracts which simply advertise a nanomedicine-related product (without emphasis of fundamental and translational research which led to their development) are strongly discouraged.
• Biological Modification of Cardiovascular Biomaterials for Medical Devices: Translation from the Laboratory to the Clinic A collaborative symposium with the International Society for Applied Cardiovascular Biology [ISACB]
  The focus will be on preclinical and clinical testing of biologically-modified biomaterials (containing proteins, genes or cells), micro-fabricated or nanodevices, and tissue engineered products with potential medical application in diagnostics or therapeutics.
  
  Speakers will address topics such as:
  • Evaluation of chemical and mechanical properties of modified biomaterials
  • In-vitro assessment of biological activity
  • Evaluation of cell phenotypes and tissue quality in-vitro and in-vivo
  • Animal models for evaluation of biologically-active biomaterials and medical devices
  • Novel challenges engendered by the testing these biomaterials devices to demonstrate mechanisms of tissue-biomaterial interactions
  • Effect of patient variability of safety and efficacy
  • Novel regulatory challenges

At least one of the key-note speakers will have a clinical background. The speakers will outline challenges faced in translational biomaterial research by giving specific examples of successes and failures in the past. These talks will be followed by presentations from submitted abstracts which focus on testing and clinical applications of biologically-modified biomaterials.

The symposium will enhance understanding and communications among basic scientists, clinicians and translational researchers, which will contribute to more effective and efficient research and development.

• Regenerative Medicine and Clinical Translation
  This symposium will focus on the application of various biomaterials towards the clinical translation of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine technologies. Use of “intelligent scaffolds” through the integration of biological, chemical and pharmacological substances to enhance cell, tissue and organ functions would be covered in this symposium. Moreover, efforts to accelerate cell function, tissue formation and maturation using various preconditioning methods such as the bioreactor systems will fall into this category. This session will serve as a bridge between the basic materials sciences and clinical applications to repair and restore normal tissue function. Conceptual application studies, pre-clinical and clinical studies are the emphasis of the symposium. Utilization of progenitor and stem cells in applied studies are also encouraged.
• Surface Modification and Characterization of Orthopaedic and Dental Implants at the Nano/Micro Scale for Improved Osseointegration
  The long term successful performances of orthopaedic and dental implants greatly rely on the ability of implants to promote osseointegration while preserving their biomechanical properties. Surface engineering is an elegant way to improve implant performance as the nano/micro structure and chemistry of implant surfaces are known to significantly modulate bioactivity. An array of unique top down and bottom up approaches including laser and electron/ion beam assisted modifications, chemical deposition and biological surface modifications are currently being developed and investigated to improve implant performance. Equally as important is the evaluation of the physical, chemical and biological properties of the interface using TOF-SIMS, XPS, scanning probe techniques, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, and confocal raman microscopy. This symposium will serve as a forum to discuss recent developments in surface modification and characterization of orthopedic and dental implants with an emphasis toward improving osseointegration.
• Self-Assembling Biomaterials
  Several emerging approaches to biomaterials design rely on substrates or matrices that assemble via non-covalent interactions. This symposium will address key issues related to the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of self-assembling biomaterials. Talks will describe approaches that use non-covalent inter- and intra-molecular interactions to build materials, including self-assembly of model substrates for cell biology, bio-inspired self-assembly of tissue engineering matrices, and assembly of drug and gene delivery systems.
• Nano and Microparticulate Drug Delivery
  Nano and microparticulates may be one of the most widely used controlled and sustained release vehicles for small molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids due to their simplistic fabrication and attractiveness as minimally invasive therapeutics. Furthermore, these particles are also extremely desirable from the standpoint of targeted cellular delivery for applications ranging from vaccines to cancer therapy to regenerative medicine. Self assembling nanoparticles have become a mainstay in the testing of new cationic biomaterials for the delivery of anionic DNA in the quest to enhance non-viral gene therapy. This symposium will focus on current advances in the field of nano and microparticulate drug delivery in order to provide a forum where leaders in the fields of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and biomaterials can communicate the state of the art on this topic. Applications that will be highlighted include: controlled release of new biologically active agents, gene delivery, immunotherapeutics (including vaccines), particulate delivery for cancer, novel functional materials for particulates (polymers, lipids, micelles, dendrimers), advances in fabrication methods, methods of particle surface modification, particles in imaging strategies, and particulates for delivery in regenerative medicine including use in tissue engineering scaffolds
• Biomimetics and Nanoscience: Advances in Protein/peptide-based Biomaterials
  Protein- and peptide-based biomaterials, using the whole or part of the protein as basis for biomaterial construction, have attracted attention in recent years because they are a great alternative to their synthetic counterparts. This symposium is designed to provide updated information and to discuss current trends on protein/peptide-based biomaterials. This symposium will highlight novel research and development strategies, the use of protein/peptide in nanobiotechnology, recent development related to the construction of protein/peptide-based implant materials, the host response after implantation, and compatibility assessment
• Developing Best Practices in Tissue Engineering Education
  This symposium addresses the content and educational strategy of current tissue engineering courses and curricula, with a focus on the integration of biomaterials and related disciplines. It will bring together educators, scientists and students to discuss their experiences, current trends and best practices in tissue engineering education at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The topics to be covered include effective teaching strategies, course content, laboratory experience, and industry needs as related to tissue engineering courses and curricula.
• Advances in Biomaterials Science: A Symposium by the Leaders of Biomaterials
  The objective of the Tutorial Symposium will be to examine the impact of biomaterials in biology and medicine.  This is a continuation of the successful 2006 symposium.  All featured invited speakers of this two-day symposium will be Past Presidents of SFB who have kindly agreed to participate without any support of their expenses or honorarium. In recent years, there has been considerable work in preparing materials and finding new uses for hybrid structures based on biomaterials.  Uses such as modified surfaces, stents, carriers for controlled and targeted drug delivery, and microdevices have shown the versatility of these biomaterials.

  Why do we observe such explosion in the field now? In one scenario, medical devices now have reached a stage of dimensions comparable to those of biological macromolecules. This raises exciting possibilities for combining microelectronics and biotechnology to develop new technologies with unprecedented power and versatility. While molecular electronics use the unique self-assembly, switching and dynamic capabilities of molecules to miniaturize electronic devices, nanoscale biosystems use the power of microelectronics to design ultrafast/ultrasmall biocompatible devices, including implants, that can revolutionize the field of bioengineering.

  For example, polymer surfaces in contact with biological fluids, cells, or cellular components can be tailored to provide specific properties or to resist binding depending on the intended application and environment. The design of surfaces for cellular protection or adhesion, and surface passivity encompasses a number of techniques such as surface grafting (ultraviolet radiation, ionizing radiation, electron beam irradiation). Certain techniques can change the chemical nature of surfaces and produce areas of differing chemistry as well as surfaces and polymer matrices with binding regimes for a given analyte.  In addition, biomimetic methods are now used to build biohybrid systems or even biomimetic materials (mimicking biological recognition) for drug delivery, drug targeting, and tissue engineering devices.
  
  The 2006 tutorial symposium developed around the theme “What we have learned from our mistakes”, including the requirement to better understand the biological systems and disease etiologies that we endeavor to repair, replace, or regenerate with biomaterials.  The proposed 2007 tutorial symposium continues on this track, focusing on micro- and nanoscale phenomena and tissue engineering.