Madeira, Portugal, September 21-25, 2009

Organization
Pedro L. Granja, INEB – Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, University of Porto.
Helena Tomás, Centro de Quí­mica da Madeira, University of Madeira.

Venue 

CS Madeira

Overview

The BRIDGE Summer Course on Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine is an initiative part of the Work Package 4 on Education, of the BRIDGE Project (EU Funded).

This Course is designed for PhD students that have enrolled in the Bridge Educational Programme.

The Course consisted in 5 full days at a single location, based on 2-3 lectures per day given by internationally reputed speakers on several topics of Biomaterials Science and Regenerative Medicine. Each lecture provided background concepts, as well as advanced topics.

The activities in this Course are interconnected with previous activities of this Educational Programme. Bridge PhD students, organized in groups, presented a Business Plan drafted during the Winter Course (Budapest, February 2009), aimed at valuing the results of research in this scientific field. In addition, students were also be given the opportunity to present their work in a Poster Session and develop a Research Project during the week, in the format of a grant application, which was discussed and commented by the lecturers.

Overall, the added value of this Course to PhD students relies on:

• High level and focused lecturers
• Advanced training
• Course design including poster presentations and research project
• Continuation of Business Plan from Winter Course
• Working in international teams for a single goal
• Working innovatively under time pressure

Topics

• Biomaterials
• Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
• Engineered artificial extracellular matrices
• Infection and implanted devices
• Drug and gene delivery
• Hard tissue regeneration
• Soft tissue regeneration
• Organ building
• Stem cells in tissue regeneration
• Clinical studies
• Translational research
• Social impact of regenerative medicine

Programme

Lecturers were asked to participate in other lectures and social events to foster discussions and interactions with the students.

• The origins and evolution to the present day of the controlled delivery field – A Hoffman (U Washington, US)
• Infection and implanted devices – H van der Mei (U Groningen, NL)
• To really engineer tissue, should we engineer the collagen? – R Brown (U. College London, UK)
• Biocompatibility in soft and hard tissue: Taking into account mechanotransduction – J Hilborn (Uppsala U, SE)
• Engineered artificial extracellular matrices – M Lutolf (EPFL, CH)
• Developing tissue engineering applications for clinical use – Z Lacza (Semmelweis U, HU)
• Materials for augmentation and regeneration of hard tissue – H Engqvist (Uppsala U, SE)
• Stem Cells: Potency and Control – P Di Nardo (U. Roma Tor Vergata, IT)
• Bench to Bedside and Beyond – The principles and processes involved in the structuring and governance of translational research (TR) pipelines – S Grange (U College London, UK)
• Tissue regeneration via gene delivery – H Tomás (U. Madeira, PT)
• Building organs: an architectural challenge – TG van Kooten (U Groningen, NL)
• Social impact of regenerative medicine – PL Granja (INEB, PT)

Research project

• Similar to grant application
• Students organized in groups with members from different countries
• Subject other than own thesis
• Literature review and strategy discussion in free time
• Presentation (last day)
  • State of the art
  • Objectives
  • Work Programme
  • Milestones
  • Budget
  • Expected results
  • Repercussions

Poster presentations

• Dedicated session
• Prepared before Summer Course
• PhD work of participants
• Presence of lecturers

Interconnection of activities

Official website

http://nanobridge.eu