Blog Posts – UKSB

#UKSB2025 Travel Bursary Winner Ellamay McIlhatton

By Ellamay McIlhatton, University of Ulster

Thanks to the generous support of the UKSB Travel Award, I had the opportunity to attend and present at this year’s UK Society for Biomaterials (UKSB) conference. The event brought together a diverse community of researchers and industry professionals, all working at the forefront of biomaterials science.

I was fortunate to both give an oral presentation and present a poster on my PhD research, which focuses on enhancing the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloys through calcium phosphate coatings for orthopaedic applications. It was a rewarding experience to share my work with others in the field and to receive insightful feedback and questions.

The conference also offered a valuable platform to engage with new ideas, covering topics such as regenerative medicine, next-generation implant materials, biofabrication techniques, and translational biomaterials research. These presentations provided valuable perspectives on current challenges and innovations in the field.

I’m sincerely grateful to UKSB for funding my attendance. The experience not only deepened my understanding of current trends in biomaterials research but also helped build connections that will benefit my future work.

UKSB2025 Travel Bursary Winner Frances Hasson

By Frances Hasson, University of Ulster

I had the privilege of attending the UK Society for Biomaterials (UKSB) 2025 Conference hosted by Lancaster University, thanks to the support of a Travel Award from the UKSB. I had the opportunity to present both a flash presentation and a poster on my recent work involving semi-crystalline polymer composites for biomedical applications, which sparked engaging questions and thoughtful feedback. A standout moment was being awarded the ‘Material Horizons’ poster prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry – a huge honour that affirmed the impact and relevance of my project.

Many of the conference sessions were closely aligned with my interests, particularly those focused on calcium phosphates and bioactivity in bone-interfacing materials. I found the talks on in vivo translation and replacing animal research especially insightful. Conversations with industry representatives, early career researchers, and fellow PhD students gave me valuable insights into current challenges in biomaterials development, particularly in the areas of polymer processing, bioactivity enhancement, and translational considerations for clinical use.

I’m incredibly grateful to the UKSB 2025 organising committee for a wonderful conference, and to the UKSB for the opportunity to attend through receipt of the Travel Award. I look forward to building on this experience and continuing to contribute to the biomaterials research.

Undergraduate Experience at #UKSB2025 Conference

by Victoria Pope, BEng Product Design Engineering (Year 3)

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of attending the UKSB (UK Society for Biomaterials) Annual Conference 2025, hosted at Lancaster University. As a recent undergraduate with a growing interest in biomaterials and medical device design, the conference offered a valuable platform to learn about the latest developments in the field and connect with professionals from all stages of their academic and career journeys.

One of the highlights of the event was presenting my poster titled “Towards a Cost-Effective Simplified Mechanical Fuse: A Feasibility Study”, based on an accelerated KTP project I completed at Canterbury Christ Church University in partnership with eXroid Technology Ltd in just six months. It was both humbling and empowering to share my work among a group of talented researchers, many of whom were master’s or PhD students presenting their final projects. As the only undergraduate at the conference, it was a rewarding challenge and milestone.

Inspiring Talks and Innovations

A standout moment for me was the presentation by Jessica Senior, who showcased her work on chronic wound models for medical students and training. These models provide lifelike feedback, are biodegradable, and can be reused, helping to reduce medical waste while offering effective simulation-based education. I found her work deeply aligned with my own interests, and it was a privilege to connect with her.

Networking and Career Advice

The conference provided me with the chance to network with professionals and academics across various disciplines and career stages. One particularly encouraging conversation was with a recent PhD graduate who had a similar university journey to mine. We discussed the benefits of going straight into a PhD after a Bachelor’s, as well as whether a master’s might be a better stepping stone.

Several attendees shared their own transitions into postgraduate research, noting the steep learning curve, but also how much they had grown, both intellectually and personally, through the process. These conversations gave me valuable insights into the realities of further study and helped clarify my own aspirations.

Lessons in Communication and Presentation

Aside from the networking and academic content, I also learned a lot about effective science communication. Observing the diverse poster designs and flash presentations gave me ideas on how to improve my own approach, whether that’s incorporating more graphics, using colour more strategically, or refining how I present complex ideas in a limited time. Watching three-minute presentations highlighted how important it is to balance factual content with clear messaging.

Looking Ahead

As a result of this experience, I’ve come away with:

A stronger professional network in biomaterials and medical devices
A clearer understanding of potential postgraduate paths
New ideas for how to present research more effectively

Final Thoughts

Attending the UKSB Annual Conference 2025 was a fantastic experience. I learned so much, made meaningful connections, and gained clarity on my future direction. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and highly recommend this event to any student or early-career professional interested in biomaterials research.

If you would like to write for UKSB please get in touch.

ESB Travel Award Blog by Anushree Ghosh Dastidar

Anushree Ghosh Dastidar from Queens University Belfast received a travel bursary from UK to attend ESB2023. Here she reports on his experience at this international conference.

This report is with regards to attending the 33rd European Society for Biomaterials Conference held in Davos, Switzerland, 4th – 8th September 2023 (ESB 2023) for the UKSB Travel Grant 2023. The ESB conference is an annual conference that brings together researchers, scientists, and students from both academia and industry to discuss critical developments in the field of biomaterials. The conference was held in person and consisted of oral presentations and posters from early-stage researchers and leading researchers, and plenary talks from professors in the field of biomaterials and regenerative medicine.

This is by far the largest conference I had been to with over 1200 speakers and 10 rooms running parallel sessions simultaneously. The oral presentations consisted of sessions from students and professionals on their research findings and extended talks from academicians on the ongoing research in their labs. This gave a good insight into the advancement of tissue engineering and all related applications across the world. The research findings on biomaterials and degradation characterisation for scaffolds were especially beneficial to understanding the work that is going on in the world related to my topic.

I was allowed to present an oral presentation on ‘Investigating the regenerative potential of 3D-printed PLLGA/Alginate composite scaffolds for the treatment of articular cartilage defects’ where I answered questions from the audience. This in-person session was beneficial as the experience of presenting and answering questions from a large audience was a learning experience. The questions helped me gain experience on the kind of questions that I would be asked in the future regarding my topic.

This was also the first time I presented my PhD work on an international platform which was a wonderful experience. On top of this, I even won the Best Oral presentation award amongst 1200 presenters which was a prestige to bring for my university Queens University Belfast and the UKSB Society!

This has helped me become more confident in speaking and presenting which is an essential skill every PhD student must possess. The plenary talks from professors in the conference spoke about the different topics ranging from batteries, composite materials on tissue engineering, computational modelling and so on which helped me understand the impending research questions and challenges. Apart from this, there was a PhD & Post-doc mentoring session where we were divided into tables of 6-7 people and a senior faculty-mentored us. They spoke about the requirements for applying for a grant and the general process that an academic would follow. They patiently answered our questions on how we need to focus our careers after a PhD and gave valuable advice on each of our progress so far.

Another seminar organized by several chief editors of journals spoke on the process behind article writing and submission. As a PhD student, this helped me understand the expectations that come from an application made for a grant or submitting a manuscript that will be very beneficial for me in the future. There were also careers workshops from several industries that manufacture organ-on-chip, orthopaedic biomaterials, bioscience and biotechnology companies. Professionals from these companies also spoke on the ongoing animal and human trials for products which helped me understand the products that are currently available in the market and the scope for future products.

Overall, it has provided me with a good insight into the research labs across the world that are working in the field of bioengineering and regenerative medicine. I sincerely thank the UKSB society for providing me with the funding to attend this conference which has been an enriching experience to take away with me for my PhD.

UK-Poland Bioinspired Materials Conference

23rd-24th November 2020

Conference addressed to UK and Polish Early Career
Researchers (postdocs and PhD students)

This online event via Microsoft Teams will take place on Monday
23rd and Tuesday 24th November in partnership with the British
Embassy in Warsaw and the UK Science & Innovation Network.

UK-Poland-Bioinspired-Materials-conference-23-24-November-2020-revised

Please use the following application form if interested to attend.

UK-Poland-Bioinspired-Materials-conference-Abstract-Application-Form Download

BlogSpot: Joint Virtual Conference 24-25th June 2020

Dr Caroline S. Taylor, PDRA, University of Sheffield

My research in peripheral nerve repair (PNR) was featured at the joint UKSB/CDT conference. I delivered a 3 minute flash presentation about the potential of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as scaffold materials for PNR and was delighted to receive the runner up prize. PHAs are an attractive material of choice in tissue engineering as they are biocompatible, biodegradable and elimate concerns used with other FDA approved synthetic polymers. Using a novel ex vivo nerve injury model, a combination of 3D printing and electrospinning, different materials, and fibre diameters, can be investigated for PNR with medium throughput. PHAs were significantly better at promoting longer neurite outgrowth distances, and Schwann cell migration distances, from Dorsal root ganglia, compared to a polycaprolactone control.

Image of my flash presentation and schematic diagram of the 3D *ex vivo* model used to test different material scaffolds.

The virtual conference was absolutely brilliant. It was well organised, ran smoothly and a variety of topics in Biomaterials and tissue engineering were discussed. The conference began with a talk from the key note speaker Prof Liam Grover who talked about his work using additive manufacturing techniques in areas of bone/cartilage and skin regeneration, and cornea repair. Two sessions ran parallel to each other after the key note talk, in which I attended clinical applications 1, followed by the poster discussion session. I particularly enjoyed clinical applications 2, on day 2 of the conference, and the talks by Jessica Wiseman and Simon C. Kellaway. Jessica’s talk highlighted the use of neurosurgical grade biomaterial Duragen PlusTM, containing collagen type 1, to repair traumatic spinal cord injury and Simon’s talk used an alternative approach to PNR engineering Neural Tissue from Decellularised Biomaterials. Both these talks compliment my own research in PNR. Overall, the virtual conference was a huge success and I would like to thank the organisers for including my work in the programme.

Caroline submitted the blog as part of the conference competition. She has been selected and has won herself an intensive 2-day training course in lyphilisation sponsered by Biopharma Group. Well done!
Dr Paul Roach, UKSB President

World Biomaterials Congress Goes Virtual in 2020

Dear WBC Community

In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the WBC 2020 Organising Committee has decided to cancel the physical 2020 congress. However, we are thrilled to announce that WBC 2020 will now be a fully virtual congress taking place from 11-15 December 2020 – same dates, new place, all online.

We want to thank you for your continued support for WBC 2020 and we are fully committed to creating an excellent virtual congress – an online space to meet, network, and exchange knowledge in a safe and accessible manner. Please cancel any remaining bookings you may still have for travel to Glasgow.

The WBC 2020 Virtual Congress will include live streaming and pre-recorded talks, plenary lectures, workshops, e-poster sessions, industry symposia, and more. Programme and registration information will be released soon and we are delighted to announce that the registration rates will be substantially discounted in comparison to the physical event – yet with access to even more content than before. There will be no need to decide which parallel sessions you should attend, you can go to all of them! Activities as part of the programme will start in July, building to December for Biomaterials Week.

Along with the virtual congress, we will also launch the World Biomaterials Community. Each one of you will automatically become members of the community when registering for the congress. Detailed information regarding the benefits will be released soon.

We look forward to meeting you all online – be sure to visit the WBC website for more information.

World Biomaterials Congress

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Statement

Following the recent developments in the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the 11th World Biomaterials Congress which was due to take place in Glasgow on 19 – 24 May 2020.

The UKSB will be holding a special meeting within the World Congress and are proud to be a part of, and support the international conference.

As demands on the health service will increase significantly over the next few months, and the UK government has recently recommended social distancing and restricting travel we do not feel it is appropriate for us to run large-scale events. Our congress brings together professionals from all around the world, and our Board of Trustees is keen to avoid the risk of transmission to our delegates.

The congress will now take place from 11 – 16 December 2020 remaining at the SEC in Glasgow and we will automatically be moving the current programme over to the December schedule and hope that you are available to attend at this time.

If you are taking part in this congress we will be in touch with further details soon.

WBC Conference Secretariat

wbc2020.org/

Job Advert

Research Assistant, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences

King’s College London (KCL), London, United Kingdom

The salary will be paid at Grade 5, £32,676 per annum, inclusive of £3,500 per annum London Allowance.
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 12 months.
This is a full-time post.

Applications are invited for Research Assistant to work alongside with Dr Sherif Elsharkawy in the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Science at King’s College London. The research project will be focused on the design, synthesis and purification of recombinant mutated and non-mutated proteins, known to be involved in dental hard tissue development. These proteins will be employed to fabricate protein-based matrices to understand biomineralization mechanisms at multiple lengthscale. The goal will be to generate in vitro models to investigate developmental and pathological mineralisation. Alongside with the principal investigator, the candidate will play a major role in setting up a Biomineralization Lab at King’s College London.

Ideally, you will have (or near completion) a PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Molecular Biology, or Engineering and experience in biomineralization as well as one or more of the following areas:

1) Protein Production.

2) Protein-based mineralization.

3) Disordered proteins.

4) Hierarchical materials.

The selection process will include a panel interview and a presentation.

To apply, please register with the King’s College London application portal and complete your application online.

Informal enquiries should be emailed to Dr Sherif Elsharkawy at sherif.elsharkawy@kcl.ac.uk

Closing date: Midnight on Friday 24 January 2020

Dr Caroline J Harrison Lab-2-Lab Award

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Bioengineering and Healthcare Technologies Group,School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield

Host laboratory:
Prof Alastair Sloan, Dr Wayne Nishio Ayre and Mr Jabur Khan The Mineralised Tissue Group, Dental School, Cardiff University

The purpose of the placement was to develop an ex vivo bone infection model to screen antimicrobial and osteogenic bone regeneration materials. The Mineralised Tissue Group at Cardiff University has considerable experience of developing these models so a 3 week placement was undertaken to in order to understand the methods involved in the development of ex vivo models.

Prof Alastair Sloan and Dr Wayne Nishio Ayre arranged that I could work with Mr Jabur Khan, a PhD student currently developing an ex vivo bone infection model. During the first week Jabur demonstrated the ex vivo bone infection model that he is currently developing and trained me in the various techniques including the sectioning of the bone and the setting up of Trowell-type cultures which are essential for keeping the bone viable whilst preventing excessive migration of the cells out of the bone. Jabur also showed me the immunohistological techniques he is currently optimising to be able to assess the distribution of biomarkers in the bone models. Furthermore, I observed the setting up of other ex vivo models including a model to assess the viability of the gingiva in a mandible culture model which Dr Amr Alraies is currently researching.

Over the next two weeks I was able to set up my own ex vivo cultures in order to investigate the effect of the dual action bone paste currently under development by the research team at The University of Sheffield. It was very useful to get hands on experience setting up the model as well as investigating different methods to apply the paste to the model. I assessed my models using viability assays and histological techniques. My lab work went very smoothly which was in part due to the fantastic technical support staff at the School of Dentistry, University of Cardiff. The laboratory managers and technicians including Dr Fiona Gagg, Dr Sarah Youde and Ms Wendy Rowe all provided excellent inductions and support material, which allowed me to work in the laboratories with ease and confidence.

I was very pleased with the consistency of the data from the assays I carried out, and I would say this was my professional highlight of the visit. My personal highlights were some lovely sunny lunches in the small nature haven provided directly outside the entrance of the University Hospital of Wales (see picture). Due to the success of this placement we are now looking forward to establishing future collaborative projects between the Mineralised Tissue Group at Cardiff University and the Bioengineering and Healthcare Technologies Group at The University of Sheffield.