Posted: July 28, 2010

International bioengineering and nanotechnology experts to present the latest research advances in Biopolis next week

(Nanowerk News) The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, will organize the 5th International Conference on Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (ICBN 2010) from August 2-4, 2010. Over 300 international delegates are expected to convene at the Biopolis for this interdisciplinary conference, and members of the media are welcome to attend to find out more about the latest research advances in science, engineering and medicine from around the world.
ICBN 2010 will feature 24 distinguished invited speakers, including 3 plenary lectures, as well as 26 contributed oral presentations and 62 poster presentations. This also marks the 3rd time that IBN has partnered with the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE), an American Institute of Chemical Engineers Technological Community, to organize the ICBN conference since its launch in 2004.
The first Keynote Lecture (August 2, Monday) on "Supramolecular Structures of Block Copolymers as Smart Nanocarriers for Gene and Drug Delivery" will be delivered by Professor Kazunori Kataoka fromThe University of Tokyo, Japan. Professor Kataoka received the National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS) Award in 2009 for his outstanding research achievements and contributions to developing functional nanodevices for drug and gene delivery. His talk will focus on the development of new polymeric carrier systems, especially block copolymer micelles for drug targeting.
The second Keynote Lecture (August 3, Tuesday) on "Multimeric siRNA Conjugates for Highly Efficient Gene Silencing" will be presented by Professor Tae Gwan Park from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea. Professor Park has successfully commercialized PLGA scaffolds (Innopol-DÒ) for soft tissue engineering and licensed out several protein and gene delivery technologies. His talk will focus on how cleavable multi-siRNA can be applied as potential gene silencing therapeutics for the treatment of genetic diseases and cancers.
The third Keynote Lecture (August 4, Wednesday) on "Healing a Heart: Harnessing the Macrophage and Stem Cells for Cardiac Reconstruction" will be presented by Professor Buddy R. Ratner. Professor Ratner is the Director of University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials Engineering Research Center. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2002) and received the Founders Award of the Society for Biomaterials (2004). His talk will explore the feasibility of developing a tissue engineered h eart muscle for reparative treatments.
Conference topics include:
  • Drug, Protein and Gene Delivery Systems
  • Cell and Tissue Engineering
  • Biodevices and Biosensors
  • Pharmaceuticals Synthesis and Green Chemistry
  • Nanoparticles, Nanocomposites and Nanoporous Materials for Bio-Applications
  • Please refer to the enclosed annexes for the speakers' bios and talk abstracts. More information about the event and the speakers are available at www.icbn2010.com.
    Source: A*STAR